Rounding second…

and headed for home! Today was another off day and all we had planned was to
meet with Mary to review our documents before we prepare to leave for
Guangzhou on Friday, so we slept in again (or tried!) then made plans to go
to Wal-Mart for some toys for Aiden so that we can prepare for his first
airplane flight on Friday!

Last nights sleep was another exercise in futility for the girls, but Aiden
was a bit better and not as restless, and once again Daddy got a good 6
hours of sleep!  Once the crew was all gussied up and ready for breakfast we
headed downstairs to see that the chefs had in store for us! Much to our
chagrin when we walked in we noticed that Western style breakfast was not
set-up and it was almost 8:15!  Not to worry, after we gathered some items
for Aiden and Savannah the young waitress came over and supplied us with a
“made to order” card so we could order up anything we wanted!  Ann Marie and
I assumed that most of the non-Asian crowd has dispersed and we were the
only ones left! Well, not to fear as we consumed our bounty of eggs, bacon,
fruit and dim-sum and headed back upstairs full to the brim!  Only on more
morning in Nanning before we head to Guangzhou!  The hotel staff has been
very good, the room sufficient (sans the mattress supplied by Home Depot and
courtesy of Georgia Pacific!), and the food both at the hotel and
surrounding establishments have been tasty and enlightening!

After a quick clean-up and receiving our clean laundry we grabbed a bad and
headed over to Wal-Mart and the surrounding shopping area.  First, how much
would a cab in a major US city cost you for a 3 mile ride?  In Nanning its
about a $1.25!  Crazy!  Great mass transit here, albeit crowded, and you
cannot walk 25 yards without hitting a cab! Once we hit the shopping area we
were amazed with the fashions available and the stores were packed! Its just
like being at home, just no one looks like us!  We grabbed some toys for
both kids and some goodies for the trip then high tailed it over to
McDonalds thinking Aiden and Savannah would enjoy another Happy Meal.  Well,
we were 50 percent right, but Aiden was totally out of sorts and refused
almost everything. We persevered and stayed our ground and just packed up
and headed back to the hotel for nap time to get us all back on track!

Once we all got up from nap we decided to spend a little time bonding in the
room watching a couple of video’s, Savannah and I played some badminton and
Aiden and Mom played with some things as we passed time until Mary showed
up.  Around 4:30 Mary came by to go over the documents, checked on Aiden and
the set up everything for our departure on Friday. After Mary left we all
prepared for our last dinner in Nanning.

Once again we headed to the local restaurant (not the hotel) for some great
food and we were not disappointed!  As Aiden did not eat much for lunch we
were trying to carefully select items that we thought we may be able to
enjoy so while Ann Marie stayed with the kids I did the unenviable task of
working with a wait staff that spoke some English, cooks that could not
understand my mispronounced Mandarin and photos of items that were used to
select your dinner.  For Daddy the selection was his favorite Sichuan spicy
noodles Savannah got egg fried rice and spaghetti, Aiden got congee and
shared Savannah’s egg fried rice and spaghetti and Mom settled on corn and
vegetable pancakes along with some steak and pepper noodles.  Well, the
first item to the table was my favorite Sichuan spicy noodles and Aiden
started to cry for them!  We gave him a few and he begged for more!  Before
I knew it the kid had about polished off my entire entree and then started
working on Savannahs!  It was too funny!  We had an absolute blast at dinner
as the photos will attest to, but we are a little worried about how this
will all “come out”, if you know what I mean! Oh well, we was a satisfied
little man when we headed back to the hotel for bath and bed and that’s all
that matters!

Tonight we had some other firsts as Aiden really opened up to me tonight,
actually coming to me and hugging me and called my name when we played hide
and go seek with Mommy! That made my night and I hope it’s a sign that we
are slowly becoming the family of 4 we have all wanted for some time now!
After playtime and some bedtime Jell-O fun we are all settling in for the
last night here at the Majestic Hotel Nanning.  It has been a lot of fun,
some frustration and something that will never forget.  So for now I bid you
all a wǎnān and hope you will tune in tomorrow night for an update from the
White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China!

Till then……

Michael (The West has won, Màidàngláo……sad.  Look it up and you will
understand), Ann Marie (I am ready for Lucy’s!), Savannah (does Santa know
we are changing hotels?) and Aiden (more spicy noodles please!) Kennedy

Hello? Can I order room service please?

Dad, why do you keep playing the Grateful Dead on the iPod?

"Its Noodlerific!"

 Christmas decorations at the Majestic Hotel Nanning

  Fun time with Mom and Dad!

Dad, why do you always close your eyes??