Guangzhou

A quick tour through our last week!  I figure I have about five minutes, as Vivienne pretends to read her favorite books to her daddy....

We spent an hour or two at the pearl and jade market- a seriously satisfying yet efficient shopping trip facilitated by our great guide!  These ladies are incredibly fast with knotting pearls.  Pretty to watch!   

Chen Lineage Hall- An endeavor by many, many Chen families in the late 1800s, as a place to study and make sacrifices.  Chen is a prevalent name in Guangdong Province, and the families wanted to build this together for their decendants.  It has since become a folk art museum for the province, with incredible architecture, silk embroidery, furniture, and artwork.  There were lots of exhibits and shops to visit, open air style with courtyards and vaulted walkways.  

Vivienne, impressed.

This is not the piece we purchased, but this artist uses only his hands to do even the most intricate landscapes, mountains, waterfalls, trees, boats, pandas even.  Of course with our little Chongqing treasure, we had to make sure our piece had pandas incorporated!

Vivienne loving the music!  We grow increasingly aware of how deep her love for music really is, but this and her insistence on listening to Daddy's music in the mornings were our first clues.

And Daddy pursuing Vivienne's heart some more.  Now there were things only her Daddy could do for her... like properly play with her on this xylophone we found at a toy market.  Given her choice of any toy in the shop, little girl still picking music.  And colors- don't forget very bright colors (along with white and pale pink somehow)!  

A few photos of the waterfall outside the breakfast area at The Garden.  The Garden IS amazing, y'all. You walk out on step stones to this bridge in the middle of the water, and there are a ton of koi waiting for the inevitable, and probably frequent, bread to rain down.  Vivienne actually released HER bread, her security item leaving meals while she learned that food will always be available for her, to see them eat it!  Not that you can tell in these photos, but the bread was shared generously, bless her heart!

Our best attempt at a family photo here!  

Yes, on the way back through the breakfast room, there was a bread display and there was replenishment :-)  And a certain little girl was letting Daddy hold her more!

Back in our hotel room, having a fit over "peek a boo" with the blanket, after we brushed teeth (as you can see!).  Psst!  We did not do brushing the first couple of days.  Gasp!  I know.  But it was one more new, invasive thing.  I let her watch me brush my teeth first.  Then I brushed just her front teeth and did big yays.  By the fourth day, she was reservedly letting me at least address her teeth, and by the end of week one, this two year old opened her mouth wide and let me brush all her teeth in every quadrant, and cheered afterwards!  I really think letting go of the urge to clean all her teeth every day early on, going easy with her, made all the difference in us not having battles now.   

Full of herself.

She tried everything mama did.  Everything- all food, all activities.  She would sit for 20 minutes while I did my hair and makeup.  Those were the days!  

Red, White, and Blue Day, getting ready to leave The Garden for the morning.  As part of Vivienne's adoption process, we went to the US immigration office, right to the front of the line so to speak.  We have worked on processing with immigration for the last year, step by step.  With this step completed, Vivienne became a citizen upon landing in the United States!  

We visited Shamian Island, which is a British colonial island, literally built up by colonists to provide good defense via the waterway surrounding it, and with beautiful colonial architecture.  However :-)  It was very rainy!  We also had a grumpy baby by this time, and we cannot show you the architecture!  Sigh.  We did get a photo of a calligrapher recording Vivienne's Chinese name, new name, birth date, and family date!   

Squeaky shoes were popular in China long before they hit the states, and I tried my hand at bargaining all during the island trip.  I feel I could have done better, but the shoes were my best effort.  Note the child above trying on every single pair we purchased!  This child absolutely refused to have on any shoes but her beloved white ruffle shoes (which she wore the entire trip and still wears often!), until we got "home."  These shoes became our little Vivienne Alarm our first week home.  She wore them around the house, and we always knew what she was up to while she got used to the do's and don'ts of living in a house (as compared with a hotel room, which was already a leap at the time!) :-) 

Shamian Island was every bit as peaceful, pretty, and relaxing as everyone says.  We are so glad it was our last sightseeing trip before leaving China!