Long Time No Update

We have been very busy. Yesterday was the Guangzhou zoo and safari park. The boys loved it, but it was just shy of 1 million degrees which made it somewhat difficult to fully appreciate! *I will attach pictures later* Aiden is really suffering from jealousy and insisted on riding in the stroller and would have meltdowns of epic proportions if not allowed to do so. That left Ethan to either be carried or walk on his own. We discovered something alarming (at worst) or disheartening (at best). Ethan was walking and decided he didn't want to go in our direction. We waved bye-bye and started walking away. He waved, too, so we kept walking. He looked mildly interested that we were leaving but certainly not concerned. We decided to hide behind a bush; Ethan turned and walked the other way. This coupled with the fact that he still often tries to grab others' hands and walk away is a bad sign. It doesn't bode well on the bonding front. It would appear he and I will have to hunker down in the house for a couple of weeks to try to establish trust, then attachment, and hopefully bonding.

Today we had our consulate appointment. We took our oath and should get Ethan's visa by 4:00 tomorrow. It's kind of sad, but no cameras are allowed, so there a no pictuers of the "big event." After our appointment, we went to Shamian Island. *Pictures to follow* Oh how I missed that place. So quaint and European in feel, and all the cute shops are so fun. Sorry ladies. For those of you who wanted purses, I only got one. :( I stopped in the store I know of for the purses, and she informed me that the gov't is really cracking down on that and regulating it, so she only had a couple and the prices were higher than last time. (And only a couple were even very cute -- pretty disappointing.) We spent a few hours there, did a little shopping, and at Lucy's -- an adoptive parents obligation -- but had to be back to our hotel by 3:00 for paperwork. Ethan slept and Aiden watched Scooby Doo and played iPod.

I'm in a rush, so pardon the typos and lack of accompanying photos; we're off to a night cruise on the Pearl River. We will be dining on....Papa John's pizza. :D Wish us luck. Aiden is overtired, and they're both overly active. This could be fun or it could be a couple hours of sheer torture.

More later, but tomorrow we're off to Hong Kong and homeward bound on Thursday. How is it that this is already over...?? It seems like we just left! Ciao for now.