Day 14 - Gardens and Chen Acadamy

Sorry for the late post, but an afternoon on the go meant no good nap for Mayah, and she was a pistol last night.  She was crying, and fighting us for a few hours, and by the time she went down, we were too tired to do anything other than eat a little dinner and go to bed ourselves.   It was a tough one for sure and really tested our patience.   We really want to come home to get her into a schedule and routine.   Only a few more days.  We are awake now really early on day 15, for our US Embassy appointment.  So a long night, and a quick turnaround today.  Lets hope we can get her down for her afternoon nap today.  Anyways, the sightseeing on day 14 was nice.  We first went to the Chen Academy.  Not exactly sure what it is for, but the building was very interesting.  Lots of carvings in the walls, and inside.  From Stone carvings, to ivory, wood, jade.  Very detailed and amazing work.  From there we went to a garden.  Their version of the botanical gardens.  A beautiful place.  Jack, you would have been in total peace there...

Here we are with some random Chinese guy.  Just kidding.  This is Bill.  He works for our adoption agency and is our person on the ground in China that keeps everything going and moving forward with updates, and anything else the Chinese adoption agency needed during the entire waiting period, and while we are in country.  He is also the translator for us everywhere we go.  This trip would be so much more difficult without Bill along every step of the way.  Thanks Bill!

Family photo at the garden.

Mayah checking out the flowers.

Stone (or brick) carving on the building's facade.  Check out the detail (if you can).  This is what it was like throughout the Chen Academy.

Family photo.  Balancing the camera on the stroller was a bit difficult and resulted in a less than ideal angle.  But it worked.  This was a very neat tree, as the trunk was more of a root system.

Mayah, right before she destroyed this poor rose in the very large rose garden.  She loves to grab everything.  With her grip, this flower didn't stand a chance.

And we thought the loaner stroller we have from the hotel was bad. 

Another view of the grounds at the gardens.  The colors, the smells, it was like spring.

Mayah and daddy after a long and hard late afternoon and evening.  This didn't last long.  She woke up shortly after this photo was taken.  

Ok.. Off to get Mayah's visa so she can come home.   As a reminder to those meeting us at the airport, we are scheduled to land at 11:05am.  We are estimating at least an hour to get off the plane and get through customs and immigration.