More Guangzhou Fun

Today we headed to Shamian Island, which is actually in the middle of the Pearl River in Guangzhou.  The White Swan hotel is located here, where most American families used to stay while adopting, however it is currently closed for renovations.  The style of architecture on the island is more European, and there are a lot of shops that cater to Americans adopting
(lots of Chinese "big brother/sister/mom/dad/grandparent" shirts).  We got some souvenirs and walked around quite a bit.  For lunch we went to a Thai restaurant that was nice - especially because it had air conditioning! Anna did pretty well, but she does get tired of being held. 

When we got back to the hotel she was content to lie in her crib and look at her new bracelet that one of the store owners gave her - it has some little jade beads on a red string - and it's fun to watch her stare at something new. Anna spends quite a lot of time looking at her hands (her favorite "toy"), and often she will end up crossing her fingers.  I laugh to myself whenever I see her with her fingers crossed and wonder if she's thinking, "I hope this whole new family thing works out..."

Mom and I both got to watch our church services today, which was wonderful!  Mom's church has an internet service, so she watched as Anna and I listened to that this AM.  David set me up on his computer so I could use Skype to watch the JBC 9:15 AM service tonight in China.  It was fun, even though the picture was grainy and sound kept cutting out - it was great to be around the world and still "at church" back in Baton Rouge!