Last night in China

Well, here we are at the end of our trip. Today was another hot and busy day at Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was scorching hot and absolutely full of people - at 10:00am! When we get home and have better internet access, we'll post some videos so you can see just what the crowds are like. I started out the trip really anxious and uncomfortable in the crowds, but I've gotten used to it very quickly. You just have to be assertive and shove your way through just like everyone else! Having said that, I'll be very, very glad to get back to the Island way of life.

After a free afternoon, we picked up our finalized paperwork. Cohen is a Canadian citizen!!! Yay!!! We all three danced and clapped to celebrate. Cory commented tonight how much he loves Cohen's little personality. He's a complete ham and loves to laugh as much as his parents do.

Tonight we had a Goodbye China party with all the families. Cohen's traditional Chinese outfit was a hit with his girlfriend M and everyone else. The party was a wonderful evening with a great meal, a magician performing for the kids, gifts, and cake. The sugary cake made for an interesting bedtime when we got back to the room. Cohen was so wound up, it took about 45 minutes to get him settled for bed. His eyes would droop closed, then he would open them wide, grin, and do something silly to try to make us laugh. At one point, he lifted up his shirt and grabbed my head and pulled it down to kiss his belly. So hard to try to be serious with this little monkey!

When we finally got him to sleep, Cory and I started packing things up for the trip home tomorrow. The luggage is going to be busting at the seams with all the haggling Cory did! We leave the hotel at 1:00pm tomorrow and our flight leaves just after 6:00pm. We are scheduled to arrive home at 11:30pm Thursday. Strange how the time change makes it seem like the trip should only take 4 and a half hours... I wish!

My next post will be from home sweet home. Thank you to everyone for your comments and messages - they helped us feel connected to home over the two weeks. And thank you China for the trip of a lifetime... and a gift we will treasure forever.