Too funny!

We took Lori's advice and went to the book store across from Wal Mart. Children's books are on the 5th floor, no elevator/escalator and no air conditioning!!

I know one thing that people who have adopted older children regret is not getting books in Chinese for their kids. It is very difficult to buy them at home and the choices are slim.

So we had a great time picking books to help Wan Yun maintain her Chinese, some picture books with English/Chinese to help her learn new words, and other activity/coloring books to have in the room.

I don't think we counted on this.

Grace is being subjected to a lesson on Chinese by Wan Yun reading each caption from a coloring book about The Lion King, Timon, and Pumba. She is like a drill sergeant to Grace, who has to repeat everything she says. I asked Grace if she knew what she was saying and she doesn't. But Wan Yun is relentless on getting through this very long book!

Grace is coloring in the meantime and I'm not sure if she is really learning anything!

Every now and then Wan Yun tells her "yeah", or no, no, no, then OK or good.

It has rained most of the afternoon which should have made it cooler and probably did, but we got so wet that we couldn't tell.

We spent the afternoon swimming in their indoor pool. Met a man whose family just received twins for their referral. Now have 3 children under 18 months old! Wow, I like my way much better.

Wan Yun did pretty good for her first time in the water and only took off her floaty once. It scared her pretty badly and she still doesn't trust me enough to believe I can carry or hold her. After that she stayed in her floaty. Grace on the other hand is like a dolphin, diving, swimming like she has done it all her life.

Then we met our guide and the destination was WAl Mart. But it took us for ever to get a taxi and then we were let off across the street and the underground crosswalk was flooded. I saw KFC and decided we needed to eat first. Got a bucket of chicken of unknown origin and we ate it all.

Then we still couldn't get across the street to Wal Mart because of the traffic and rain, so we ducked into the book store instead. Guilan felt like we had cut the day short, but we had lots of bags. There was a department store right there and I seem to have lost 2 watches to both girls. So we ducked in there, found a Swatch counter and bought them each a watch.

All of a sudden I looked at Grace and tears were streaming down her cheeks. She doesn't cry often and I could not get her to tell me what was wrong. I was in a panic that she was jealous, that I was spending more on Wan Yun, that someone had said something rude, I just crumbled inside. She promised to tell me when we got back to the room.

After a prolonged and sweaty cry, she finally admitted that seeing the stray dogs in China upset her. She started thinking about Nina and Ollie at home and just didn't know what would happen to the stray dogs in China.

Maybe we are just too tired tonight!

More later!