Update!

Recap of Wednesday and Thursday

Tuesday... again:
We were supposed to travel to Charlotte's city this day to apply for her passport.  In the morning we took a bus to get our adoption certificate.. That was an adventure.. the roads were covered in snow.. crazy snow.  The bus almost got stuck at the office.. somehow we all got inside and got our certificate and then headed back out.  We had just over an hour to gather our items to head back out to Luoyang.  David and Robyn ran out to grab Subway sandwiches and we met Rita downstairs with Donna & Joel, whose son Jason is also from Luoyang.    So here we go.
We walked over icey sidewalks to the Subway(not the sandwich!).. crammed into a with tons of Chinese people to the Zhengzhou Station stop.. once we got there we learned that there were no more bullet train seats left.. so back on the Subway back to the hotel.  Charlotte fell asleep.   Ok.. she's 21lbs..  21lbs of DEAD WEIGHT!  omg this kid is heavy.  I find it easier to carry Robyn's helpful 40lbs then dead weight!  She still wasn't keen on David, but when she was asleep.. what she doen't know won't hurt her!  Turns out our adventure was a test run..
 We'll try again tomorrow.  We spent the evening Skyping family.. eating those sandwiches and resting up for tomorrow. 

Wednesday:
Ok..First Charlotte had a rough night..  LOTS of congestion and coughing.. I think I got maybe 3 hours of sleep.. ug.  then we got up early got breakfast and had to be in the Lobby at 7:40am.  Again we walked ot the Subway, it was crazy busy.. rush hour!   And getting in to the subway is crazy.. you need to push and shove, politely otherwise the doors will close on you!  We had our Bullet Train tickets.  It was another icy walk over to the Bullet Train station.  After a few security checks we were in the waiting area for our train.  It was about an hour ride to Luoyang.. crazy snow outside and you really couldn't see far for the snow/fog/smog.
Once there we were there Rita split us up in taxis and we headed over to this government office.  We finally learned why you can't apply for your passport in any city, you have to do it in the city you were born.  It took like five minutes each.. crazy short.  Next we took a cab over to a Pizza hut and had some lunch.  Charlotte LOVED the Spaghetti Bolanese. 
We had a some time until the next train.. we got to the station and had to hang out for about an hour .. .Robyn and Charlotte finished off the Gerber Yogurt melts.. they are a hit!  Finally back on the bullet train.. totally was expecting Charlotte to crash.  NOPE.   Robyn almost did.  This time we had sunshine and blue sky!!!  Very unique topography in this area.. then it was back to the station.. over to the subway.. and back to the hotel.  What an exhuasting day.  We had dinner downstairs in the hotel and crashed.  uG what a loooong day. 

Thursday.. Happy Thanksgiving!!
FREE DAY!  Charlotte had a roughish night...  David took over.  I put in some earplugs and checked out for the evening.  It was awesome.  We took our time in the morning and went to Breakfast and then Skped with some more folks and then Charlotte fell asleep.  Robyn and I took this opportunity to have some Mommy time and we ran over to Walmart to get a few things.  She picked out a great hooded warm vest and we got jammies for Charlotte.  and some more Chinese snacks... all the while being stared and looked at by the locals.  I'm starting to get tired of that.  Didn't miss that part at all from our last visit.
We got back to the room, David had hand washed some clothes to get us to Guangzhou.  The laundrey service here is very expensive.  And Charlotte wasn't up yet.. perfect.  Now we just hung out at the hotel.  We eat VERY large breakfasts so we sorta just snack thru the day.  And give Charlotte a bottle.  Robyn had a great time playing with the other kids here.  Again we have this hotel floor to ourselves so they were running up and down the halls playing.. yelling.  great Fun.  After a quick paperwork meeting, some of us gathered up to head to Zax's BBQ for Thanksgiving.  With traffic .. and I mean GROSS traffic a 20mins ride took over an hour.  but it was worth it.  The food was good, the company was fun.  Robyn was done, so that wasn't great.  We all loved the baked potato!  the food was good, I couldn't eat the meat.. it was just too spicy for me.  It was definitely Atlanta/southern style.. but too spicey for me.  Makes sense tho, the Chinese like their spice.. generally speaking.  We met the owner, he saw David's hat and was like .. nice hat!  We talked some baseball and then we all ate.  Great Lemonade too!  yum.  the ride back was crazy quick and Charlotte was STILL GOING!  Robyn fell asleep!  We tossed her on the bed and Charlotte did a big o'l stinky poo and got her to bed.  Finally some great sleep by most of us.  Robyn had a nightmare during the night, but Charlotte finally slept through the night again.. and her fever, she had a low grade one all day.. was gone this morning!

Friday.. FREE DAY!  today!

we are going to pack.. clean up.. Skype and hang out.  Last day in Zhengzhou before we head to balmy weather in Guangzhou.. CAN'T WAIT..  we are sick of the ice and snow and cold.

Sending pictures in next post.  seems that blogger now has a limit to the mgs you can post from an email.  what a pain!

Zaijian,
~Donna