Consulate Appointment and Toy and Gift Market

Today was a big day, our US consulate appointment.  This is where Valerie applied for her Visa to enter the US.  All of the paperwork had been done ahead of time so it's just the last step in the process.  As long as the consulate computers don't go down between now and then (this doesn't happen often but once every couple years is enough to make adoptive families nervous) we'll be able to pick up her Chinese Passport with the US Visa in it on Friday. And we'll be free to travel home.

After our consulate appointment we visited the Toy and Gift market.  A nine floor mall - over 1000 shops!  They sell all kinds of stuff!  A little overwhelming but fun to see.

We also enjoyed a hot and humid walk through the beautiful city park across the street from the hotel.

Valerie has been mostly happy and fun today but her screaming fits continue.  I'm not taking many pictures of them since it's pretty stressful at the time and they aren't pretty. They don't last too long now but seem to come out of nowhere.  It's a little unnerving when we're sitting eating in a restaurant.  We find ourselves quickly devouring our food so we can make a speedy escape if the screaming starts.

The flight home is on Saturday. Over twenty-seven hours of travel time. Start praying now!!

Cleaning seaweed out of the lake at the park - they put it in bags and filled up a van with it. Do they dump it or serve it at a local restaurant? We'll never know!

Rubik's cube store at the mall!