Cruisin' Down the Pearl River (Guangzhou)

The story is almost complete, but not before a few more memories from the journey. 

On one of our last nights in Guangzhou, we hoped on cruise down the Pearl River. 

We'd always heard less than stellar reviews, so we'd planned to go to a highly recommended circus.

Unfortunately, Evie wasn't feeling well that day, so we decided to join the cruise fun and make the most of it.  When in China, make the most of every single second, right? 

 

So., I boarded the boat with these two cuties.

Thankfully, we gobbled down some pizza before boarding, because the food was less than stellar, but the littles had a blast,

and we got to eat with this sweet family. 

 The lights of the city drew lots of ooohs and aaahs,

and there was plenty  of time to get our silly on. 

 The entertainment was...memorable.  Eli even got a chance to get in on the act. 

 

 

 So grateful to our sweet guide, Aron, who also was our GZ guide with Claire!  She was the best guide that we had the whole trip!

 

Shamian Island

 While in Guangzhou, we did what adoptive families do.  We spent two afternoons shopping for keepsakes and silk dresses for our littles.

 We had artists make chops (stamps) for Elijah and Evelyn with their Chinese names and paintings to go on our China wall alongside Sophia and Claire's. A couple of the adoption appts with the US government used to be on the island, but both have moved off.  Now families just go there for shopping in souvenir shops. 

We had lunch at Lucy's and played on the playground while Mark, the master negotiator, worked his magic. 

It was really sweet to be here where we spent time on Claire's adoption trip.  So many friends and their new little ones have strolled these same streets and taken pictures with these statues.  

Shamian Island is a beautiful and quiet spot to escape the big, big city of Guangzhou, almost even feeling like Savannah.   So grateful for the time to reflect on the story God has written for Claire, Eli, Evie and so many other children so dear to our family.