We're Here!

It was with great joy and total exhaustion that I laid down to go to sleep last night. Our whole family is finally in the same city! Yun Xi is just a short car ride away.

We left our house about 10:30 Friday morning. We had a non-stop to Beijing and then an additional three-hour flight to Kunming. I was so proud of our kids. Except for a brief whining episode from Cholita at about the 9 hour mark on the way to Beijing, they were perfectly behaved. Walking through the airport, I was reminded once again how unusual it is to see American children in China. Rose and Lucy are total rock stars here--lots of smiles and good-natured finger pointing and lots and lots of photo-taking. About 20 female groupies each posed for pictures with the big girls, some more than once. Cholita was literally squeezed out of the shots and she looked completely shocked. Not that we garner much attention in the U.S., but if anyone in our family was going to get an extra look at home, it's Cholita. She didn't know what to think about people fawning over her sisters and hardly giving her a second glance.

Lucy saw that Cholita, standing off to the side with pushed-out hip and crossed arms, was not pleased and grabbed her to be in the pictures too. This morning, Cholita had completely changed her perspective on the whole episode. "They wanted pictures of us, but I know I was their favorite."

Everyone but Bruder slept for all or some of the flight to Kunming. It was early-morning Seattle time. I should have taken a photo of Lucy and Rose sleeping on the plane to use as blackmail at some point in their lives. Rose was conked out with her head thrown back and her mouth so wide open you could see her palatal expander. Lucy was flattened out on the tray table in front her, arms hanging down and face smushed, looking like a she'd expired mid-dinner.


Our guide, Helen met us at the airport and we drove the 20 minutes to our hotel. The city looks very modern with lots of lights and tree-lined streets. It's COLD here! What happened to the City of Eternal Spring? Our guide said it's unseasonably chilly, so apparently Kunming's nickname should be changed to, City of Most-of-the-time Spring.

We have a free day today and will meet our guide and another adopting family in the lobby tomorrow morning at 8:30. We'll make the short trip to the Civil Affairs Office, meet Yun Xi, sign papers, and then we're a family of seven! Yesterday, walking through the airport, people were literally counting our kids. "Ee, Ar, San Tsuh." And then they'd say, "Tsuh guh hidezuh!" (Four children!) I told one woman that we were "tsuh guh hidezuh" today, but will be "woo guh hidezuh" tomorrow. She looked completely shocked and said something that sent everyone in her group into fits of laughter. I'm guessing that it was along the lines of, "This woman is nuts!"

We've unpacked our things and gotten our room put together. There was already a crib next to our bed. I don't know if he'll fit in it! The big kids slept like logs. I woke up at about 4 in the morning China time and there was Cholita, sitting up in bed too, awake and ready for the day. We lounged for a couple more hours and then got ready for the breakfast buffet. Lyle, king of the potlucks, is in heaven. He had: Yunnan noodles, black rice congee with fresh ginger and walnuts, fried tomatoes, sticky buns, cooked vegetables, various fruits (including yellow watermelon), a salad with tangy vinaigrette, cabbage, and bacon. I'd say he's set until lunch.

The kids are ready to go explore Kunming, so I'll sign off until tonight!