Continuing the Journey

Just a Rainy Day in Zhengzhou…

We had horrible thunderstorms last night and were greeted this morning with a forecast of…well, rain. We wanted to head to the park down the street to explore but the rain changed that plan. That’s OK. We can improvise. Molly was full of energy…
…smiles and laughter today, so it was easy to make the best of a yucky day. After breakfast, we headed to our travel mate, Julie’s, room…

…where Molly enjoyed playing with little Kaden’s toys. (He was a perfect gentleman and allowed her to touch all of his stuff. His Mama is raising him right!) Molly especially liked the bubble blower…

…and Kaden enjoyed the bubble show she provided.

Julie was sweet enough to allow us to call Meggie and Carson using her Skype…it was wonderful to see their faces and hear their voices. Carson wanted two things…to talk to Daddy (“I have one question…” as he always says) and then to get away from the computer to watch the movie Grandma had started for him. Seeing Meggie’s reaction to Molly’s face…and Molly’s reaction to seeing Jie Jie and Ge Ge in person…made up my mind. I went right back to our room and downloaded Skype on our computer. (OK, so Julie’s sister Beth helped me…) We didn’t have a web cam, but I was still able to call Meggie and she could hear Molly’s voice as she jabbered on in Chinese.

We planned to walk to go shopping to get a web cam but it was torrentially raining. We decided to wait until after lunch, hoping this “monsoon” – as Daddy called it – would pass over. To fill the morning, Daddy decided Miss Molly might enjoy a trip to the pool. Since two of the four incisions from my gallbladder surgery decided they wanted to split open a bit during this trip, I figured swimming wasn’t a great plan for me. Don’t really need a raging infection in those open wounds, right?! (For my nurse friends, don’t worry…I’m fine.) Molly and Daddy changed into their suits…

…and headed off to the pool…

…where they require that all swimmers wear swim caps. They don’t want people’s hair to get in the pool but have no problem with them spitting in the grates that surround it – disgusting! Anyway, Molly was more than willing to put on her swim cap.

Uh, sweetie…I think that might be Daddy’s swim cap.

Ahh, much better! For those who think this is mean, let me forewarn you…I’m going to put a picture in here of Daddy wearing a swim cap. I had his full and complete agreement to take this picture…

…and I think it is adorable! Looks like they’re ready for the water. Daddy bravely jumped right into the water. Molly, on the other hand…

…used stall tactics (like removing her swim cap) to put off the big plunge. We got the swim cap back on, then she needed…

…her pink (of course) swim ring. Hmmmm…think she’s not a swimmer? Daddy finally coaxed her into the pool…

…and she HATED it! In her defense, the water was a bit cold. She lasted about four seconds and started squealing to get out of the water. I wrapped her in the towel to dry her off, but she wasn’t ready to give up quite yet. Just because she didn’t want to swim didn’t mean there was no fun to be had. She was quite content…

…playing with her rubber duckies in their little bucket swimming pool. One thing I can say for this girl…she can keep herself occupied very well!

After pool time was over, we decided to eat lunch in the room (we brought peanut butter crackers and plenty of snacks)…well, actually, I had a raging headache and slept through lunch but Molly and Daddy ate lunch in the room. After lunch, we figured it was time for an outing. So we gathered the Winnie the Pooh umbrella, borrowed a large umbrella from the concierge downstairs, and took a long, wet walk…

…to the Chinese WalMart!

Molly was very excited…

…to sit in the cart with “Wa-Wa” (which is Chinese for “baby doll”), hoping she might get some more stuff today. We did buy her a little vanity set with jewelry (hey, a Princess MUST have jewelry), another pair of pink shoes…

…and a cute little sun dress.

Daddy didn’t even complain. He knows a girl needs to have wardrobe options! (What a great Daddy…no wonder Molly loves him so much already!!)

We found a web cam…and I can’t seem to make it work! Uggghhh! I even asked Tasha’s husband, Jim (who is an IT guy by profession) to help me…no luck. Guess we need to walk back to WalMart tomorrow and exchange it for another one. Super!

It’s OK, though…Meggie called me and we were able to talk via Skype for an hour. It was awesome to talk to her, laugh with her, have her mock me (yes, I even miss THAT), and to see my silly Little Man in live action! (Their camera is working fine, so I can see them but they can’t see us.)

While Jim was working with my computer, Aaron and Lilly played with Molly. Thought I’d take a few pics for Emily…

…of these budding friends playing so nicely with Molly’s Lego blocks. Isn’t that adorable?! (Emily, I hope you appreciate the specialized service you are getting via my blog!!)

A few pics of Molly in action…

…clapping along with music…

…dancing with Daddy…

…and showing off her pink-haired doll. (Can you believe we found a pink-haired doll wearing a pink dress?! Molly was in pink heaven!!) I actually was trying to get a picture of Daddy when she put that doll up for me to see. Why was I taking a picture of Daddy? To catch him on film as he put a rubber band in a Barbie doll’s hair for Molly. She saved his macho ego…but I guess I just blew it by telling you about it, huh?! Sorry, dear…at least I don’t have proof, so you can deny it when your friends give you a hard time! (Chris, this means you!)

Better go to bed now…the kids are going to call us on Skype at 6:30AM (which is 6:30PM their time) and I need to get some sleep. Not without my traditional send-off, of course…with a bedtime theme tonight.

Aren’t they adorable when they’re sleeping?!?!?! Goodnight to all!