Apparently many big cities in China boast a park named People’s Park. Nanning’s People’s Park is where we spent our Wednesday together with David and the other Lifeline adoptive family who was with us. It was right near downtown with crazy traffic when we pulled up, yet after a short walk through the gates we were in a gorgeous park surrounding a lake with no sign of the bustle that was outside. There was a walkway lined with beautiful foliage, and every few feet we would happen upon a group of locals doing something interesting. If you’re curious, you can find out more. Also, We saw groups of friends sitting at stone tables playing Mah Jong, musicians playing traditional music, groups doing Tai Chi, and a sweet old couple ballroom dancing. By far the most bizarre was a solo dancing woman decked out in bright orange ruffle pants with a sports bra on top of her shirt! My favorite had to be the large group of dancers with their very own Asian Patrick Swayze ala Dirty Dancing in their midst doing some complicated dance routine. I had fun watching them while waiting for my boys to come out of the restroom!
Did I happen to mention that it is HOT and HUMID in Southern China? We were there in mid-April, and it felt like July in Alabama. We stopped off for lukewarm Coke and mystery fruit flavored ice cream to cool down. What you don’t see in the picture is the locals standing in groups around our table, watching us eat and talking loudly and pointing at us! None at this particular location asked for pictures with us, they just did a lot of staring.
After walking through the lake area in People’s Park, we arrived at a cool little amusement park! The boys talked David into riding the dragon with them (like the ride at the fair that swings forward and back until it almost goes upside down), but he wouldn’t get on the next roller coaster they chose! Before it took off, a horrendous buzzer sounded that resulted in this look of utter terror on Grant’s face! Not until the ride began did the boys realize that it spun in circles as it went! We just chalked that one up to unexpected adventure! Both Grayson and Grant were quite happy to step off that ride.
Next it was Lily’s and my turn to ride the carousel. She started smiling as soon as we sat on the horse together, and when it started to go, she just laughed and squealed the whole time! She would look up at me with a look of pure joy on her face… I will never forget that moment. Jeff caught one of the looks in a picture that I will treasure forever!
Our last stop of the day was at a Dim Sum (dumpling) restaurant. David ordered a big spread for us all to share. It was so amazing… I could eat it every day! True to form, Lily tried everything and packed it all in! We learned that in China, typically you order lots of dishes, and everyone just reaches in with their chopsticks and helps themselves. The boys enjoyed trying so many different things. I was really glad at that point that we don’t have picky eaters! They would have missed out on a really cool experience. What I didn’t realize until we were finished and walking back to the hotel was that this restaurant was on the 5th floor of the mall adjoining our hotel. I was thankful for the short walk back to our room and the air conditioning to do it in!
My sweaty little sweety was ready for a nap the second we got back in our room!
Up to this point, we had not made Lily take a bath. I had “spit-washed” her with a damp washcloth, but I wanted to give her time to feel comfortable with us before I bathed her. I decided to sit on the side of the tub with my legs in, because the tub was very deep, and I couldn’t have reached her to bathe otherwise! What I didn’t expect was for her to cling to my legs in terror and scream bloody murder the whole time she was in the bath. It just didn’t occur to me what a scary experience this would be for her. Mommy fail! We just got her clean and out of there as quickly as possible that first time, and made sure one of us got in with her in a swimsuit from there on out! It only took a few times of doing that until she was completely fine to be in the tub on her own. That night, the crying was less as she went to sleep, probably because she was utterly exhausted!
All clean and being comforted by Daddy