Journey to Gia: Day 9--Children's Day, Guangzhou Style

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Today is Children's Day in China. How appropriate that we are here to celebrate CHILDREN on an adoption trip. We couldn't have planned it any better. We had a great day today with our 3 precious children.

The day started with yet another yummy breakfast. Let's just say that we're kind of spoiled. 
After breakfast, we fed the koi...again. While we were feeding the fish, the hotel staff was preparing for the Children's Day celebration.









Then we met several families in our group and took a bus to the Chen Clan Academy and Museum. The last name of "Chen" is like the name "Smith" in America. There are so many that they decided to create this museum to honor the Chen family tree. (You might be interested to know that this exact museum was the site of an Amazing Race task in this past season.) It is a beautiful place! The carvings and colors are amazing.









We had a chop (name stamp) carved with "Gia" on it in English and Chinese. I was able to watch the man carve it right before my eyes. 






Next, we moved to a wholesale shopping mall. Here, we purchased 3 jade pendants for the Gs as well as a pearl necklace for Gia Pearl. (The other two Gs already have one.) The gal tied the string of pearls right there in front of me. I was able to choose the color and quality of the pearls as well as the clasp. Very cool!










By this point, we were exhausted from the humidity. The heat, on its own, is tolerable. But toss in the humidity at upwards of 80%, and it wipes these Idahoans completely out! We returned to the hotel, ate lunch in, and had some quiet time. After a couple hours, we took the girls down to the hotel grounds to experience Children's Day. It was very similar to a carnival. There were booths, games, various foods, and people dressed up in costume. The Gs all got in for free, so BONUS! The only problem was that after about 10 minutes, we were drenched in sweat. It was just.so.hot.













This was the point where we decided to go to the pool for a bit and then have a late dinner. Ahhh! The warm pool actually offered some relief from the humidity. We purchased some floaties yesterday, so we had fun trying them out in the pool today. 














I am so blessed by these precious children of mine! And I am so blessed to be a child of God!

Happy Children's Day, everyone!!











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