June 6, 2007

Hope was awake on this morning at about 4:45 for a bottle. She was sleeping again in 45 minutes and I was SICK. Who knows if it was the weather, something I ate, an accidental rinse of my toothbrush, but I was not well at all. So...yea for Cipro. I was so thankful that we had the medicine along.

By 7:30 we were up for the day and getting ready for the breakfast buffet. Big news of the morning? We have POOPIE! We were so proud. Who knew that when you become parents you'd be excited about poop? All the families were talking about it. :) It was nice to have one of us with a tummy feeling better.
Ready to Go



We were on the bus at 9:15 for our trip to the countryside.
One Stop on Our Way


Yiling Village


















It was incredible to see how the people live there. They were gracious hosts to let us stroll through their village. They even offered our cameras a few smiles.

Did I mention that it was HOT? So, add the heat, some motion sickness from the bus ride, and quite a walk to the village, I wasn't well. Ron wasn't excited about it, but Hope and I decided to lag behind the group a bit in the village. We just stayed in the shade and sipped on our water. We were just fine with some down time together. There were lots of dogs and cats wandering (not wild, but also not pets) to watch. The scenery was breathtaking with spectacular mountains, lush green trees, and bright striking tropical flowers.






























































Our lunch today was very good. We had a LARGE assortment of foods to choose from and all (that I tasted anyway) were delicious. Hope at well, too. All the girls were served congee and steamed egg. We weren't sure about the egg for Hope. Her paperwork suggested a possible allergy, but also with her heat rash we just weren't sure what all was causing her itching.

At the end of our meal we had the meltdown of the century. All of a sudden Hope was again afraid of both of us. What could we do? We were scared too.

We eventually made it back to the hotel where Hope and I napped while Ron went with some other group members to Wal-Mart (shhh - don't tell Uncle Brian).

Overall today was a bit happier for Hope. She was still pretty clingy with me but was tolerating more attention from Ron. Yesterday was so hard for us! She was very sad all day. It broke my heart to listen to her cries for "mama" knowing they weren't for me.