Thinking of Pandas

Here's an Olivia Carlson Original.

Domestic Bliss

We've been home for a week now. Jet lag is only a recent memory, Libby is back in school. And we are beginning the day to day realities of life in our expanded family. This past week has been rather easy. Being on family leave, and remaining in the family bubble makes it quite easy to cope.

Owen is a real champ and is adjusting well to his new life so far. Libby was so excited to take him as her show and tell item at school and he seemed to really enjoy all the attention. I suppose with a big sister as social as Libby, he better get used to it.

Thanks to those of you who joined us on our trip blog. We really appreciated reading all the comments of love and support. Being so far away from friends and family on this trip, and during our "nesting" period at home is not easy, but it is comforting to know that even in our absence, we still have our friends and family with us. We look forward to reconnecting with you over the coming weeks and months.

Thank you and good night.

Matt, Kris, Libby and Owen.

Home at Last!

It's been a long and exhausting journey, both physically and emotionally. On our last adoption trip, Kris and I both cried as the plane took off in Guangzhou toward home. Bringing our child from the land of her birth to her new home was a bittersweet occasion. Over the past few years, and especially on this most recent adoption trip, we have grown to love China even more and feel a deep abiding connection to the country that has provided both of our children. I wasn't as sad to leave this time. Partly because I have some experience with sharing our children's Heritage with their birth country, and partly because I have little doubt that we will return as often as possible to continue to explore our adopted country. Our twelve hour flight across the Pacific Ocean was uneventful. We left China at 9PM on February 12th, we flew for 12 hours and both Children slept most of the flight, and we arrived in Portland at 11PM, the same day. It was still February 12th. February 12th was a very very very long day indeed. The good part about the night flight is that if you are lucky, and we were, the children sleep most of the flight which makes wrangling children on an airplane for 12 hours a pretty easy task. The downside is that after sleeping for about 10 hours or so, the children wake up and, lo and behold, it's still night time!?

We were met at the airport by a skeleton crew. Grampa Ken and Grandma Pam picked us up and Amanda came to meet Owen and help cart our luggage. Owen has taken to his car seat with no fuss at all. It seems to be the way he is approaching just about all the new experiences he is having. He is a very mellow little guy.

We arrived home shortly after midnight to find our house decorated (thanks to Grampa Ken and Grandma Pam and Aunt Amanda) and our beds were all turned down (including the little chocolates!). It seems that Aunt Amanda really heard my concerns about being unable to continue to receive turn down service after leaving the 5 star hotels in China. Thanks Aunt Amanda!

Libby was very excited to show Owen around his new home. She immediately wanted to take him upstairs to show him his new bedroom and toys. What a great jie jie (big sister)! After letting the children play with toys for about an hour at 2AM (It's just what you do when you encounter a 16 hour time change). We decided it was bath time.

Turns out Owen REALLY LOVES taking a bath. When we put him in the tub he laughs with delight and begins frantically kicking and splashing in the water until the whole bathroom is wet. We're going to have to invest in more bath towels for the bathroom floor.

This shot was taken about 3:45 or so, when Owen had finally fallen back asleep. What a sweet child!

Owen Becomes an American

Before coming home to America. Every adoptive family must come to the American Consulate in Guangzhou to pick up their child's Visa which is stamped into their Chinese passport. Since cameras are not allowed in the consulate, we have no pictures of this happy event. Upon clearing the security checkpoint, you are shuttled into a large room with about 50 or so other families. Everyone sits in chairs arranged in rows facing the service windows. when your name is called you go to the window and receive your child's visa, and VERY IMPORTANT immigration paperwork in a sealed brown envelope which can't be opened before you present it at immigration upon arriving in the US. We were told that if the envelope was opened before being presented to the immigration officer in the US, we would have to immediately return to China and have all the paperwork redone before we could return. This is a scary thought. After all the families receive their paperwork, everyone stands up, raises their right hands, and swears to uphold the constitution of the United States. It's a wonderful feeling to be a part of a swearing in ceremony, and can make even far-left liberal like myself feel very patriotic.

The Infamous Red Couch at the White Swan Hotel

Although we were sad to be leaving China to be sure, we were all definitely ready to be home. As I said in an earlier post, we were tiring of living in Hotel rooms, even the five star hotel rooms. No one leaves the white swan without an adoption group photo on the famous red couch. We have several pictures of Libby's adoption group on the couches from our trip on 2006.

It seems, however, that the days of large group shots on the couch are over, and instead more intimate family moments are the couch fare upon departure from the White Swan.

The Chimelong Safari

After an amazing and exhausting night of the circus, we back down to the Chimelong resort to see the safari. Part zoo, part drive through safari, this very large zoo is an amazing place. Where else can you feed and pet the elephants, the giraffes, and the highlight was definitely when Libby got to hold the baby White Tiger.

Here's a tip when feeding the baby elephant. You may be tempted to step back when this baby monster comes at you with its trunk. But don't, baby elephants get VERY MAD when you tease it by withdrawing the banana. Your best bet is to endure the ticklish trunk and give it the tasty treat so it doesn't growl at you. Libby got a lot of tickles and giggled madly when the elephant tickled her with its trunk. Then she made me buy about a dozen more bananas before she was done feeding the elephant.

When feeding the giraffe, be sure not to hold onto the branch too hard, when the giraffe pulls, it pulls hard, and can easily lift a small child right into the corral. We found this out the hard way. After an initial attempt at feeding, the giraffe pulled the branch right out of Libby's hand. Disappointed, she was determined to hold on the next branch a little harder. She finally let go after being lifted out of my arms.

Libby absolutely beamed when she gets to hold the baby White tiger.

If you are ever in Guangzhou with kids, this safari park is not to be missed, but make sure you have plenty of time, it takes at least 4 hours just to do the highlights.

Bears on Wheels

After a few days of resting up in Guangzhou, the whole family boarded the tour bus for the cross-town trip to the The Chimelong Circus. This circus is truly something to behold. It is a cross between the Cirque du Soleil, an old school Barnum and Bailey Circus complete with bears, lions, tigers, elephants, and a Mardi Gras with outlandish costumes a plenty of scantily clad women. Fun for Mom, Dad, and the kids! The pictures below show each of the extravagant acts. If you have never seen bears riding bicycles, it just might be worth the plane tickets to see it. Libby absolutely loved it, but it was a bit much, and a bit loud for Owen, who had to outside the show with Mommy for a little respite.