Last day in Nanjing

The camera cord is packed so no new pics from today. I'll post some when we get settled in Guangzhou tomorrow. Today was the day I'd been promising the kids all week we could just lounge around at the pool. All official business had been completed and no commitments 'til the celebratory dinner with the group tonight. It rained all day. Oh well.

We met up with our group and headed to the German restaurant right across from our hotel for lunch. It was WONDERFUL. Chinese waitresses in Dirndels (sp?) and very good food. When we saw the waitresses, Spark said to me, "Mommy I want to wear my dirndel now." Ooops! Didn't pack that! Anyone coming to the Nanjing Grand who might get a little tired of Chinese food, be sure to check out the German restaurant across the street and next to the stadium building. We all wished we had tried it earlier in the week. And I hated the German food in Milwaukee. We've also been told that the pasta at the Mexican place on the other side of the hotel is very good. Yup, Mexican pasta in China.

Crushcake was a bit more animated today and played a few little giggle-y games with us. AS LONG AS SHE WAS SAFELY IN J'S ARMS. She continues to scream, bite, and claw at me if I attempt to hold her. When J puts her down she follows him around crying and sticks herself to his leg crying til he picks her up. The temper in this one is rather astounding. She'll bite her own fingers/hand when she can't get to him fast enough. I wish I could make her realize and understand that she can trust all of us. We won't leave her tied to a potty chair and screaming for 1/2 hour. We will comfort her when she fusses in the night. We will make sure she has food whenever she is hungry. Anything to take away the fear she has inside her now.

Speaking of food when hungry, she is still packing it in. And we just found out that not only can you not bring any liquids on a Chinese flight, we cannot even pack dry formula powder in our carry-ons. I'm not sure I trust the dairy products on China Southern especially when it's in the 90's everyday, so Crushcake is gonna be cranky and hungry by the time we get to the White Swan Hotel!

Tonight's group dinner was hectic since all of our kids were hungry and tired be the time we met the bus. We would have called off plans of any sort had we been at home, but we had to eat and the group was waiting so we soldiered on. They pulled it together pretty well. And mommy & daddy had beer, so that was good. #1 has been doing so well with the Chinese food. He won't try anything bizarre, but he's great at eating familiar items prepared in a very unfamiliar way. Very proud of him. #2 and #3 on the other hand, had french fries and chocolate milkshakes for lunch and maybe 3 kernels of corn for dinner. Dinner was very tasty for the rest of us. There was an eggplant dish (Yep, eggplant which is not on the top of my list of veggies) that I could have eaten all day every day. And steamed veggie dumplings that were wonderful. It was in a flashy part of town that seemed upscale and it was hoppin' tonight. J looked so sweet walking down the sidewalk (really more of a walking mall like Burlington's Church St or Boulder's Pearl St) holding hands with The Spark on one side and Cupcake on the other. The girls wore their traditional Chinese silk dresses to dinner, so they looked extra cute. By that time I had drool all over my skirt from #2 falling asleep on my lap at dinner so I, on the other hand, was not looking sweet or cute.

Checking out in the a.m. and getting the group bus to the Nanjing airport. Looking forward to the White Swan and the ease of getting around on foot near the WS hotel. Plus a great pool and good restaurants that I am excited to revisit and share with J,C,W,L,C, and Heather.