The Guangzhou Zoo

Today we went to the Guangzhou City Zoo. We had breakfast at the hotel and left on the bus at about 9:30. Most of the families in our group went today, the ones that didn't go with us had already been there on previous adoption trips. It was very hot and muggy today, so that made the zoo trip and all the walking up the stairs with strollers even more fun!!

The first main exhibit we visited was the Asian Bears. They were very cool, and one of them was in the pool, just swimming with his head above water. There was another one that was pacing along the bank of the pool. They looked like black bears in the USA with bad haircuts! They were really funny looking, but fun to watch. Cooper doesn't know the difference, so he didn't get the haircut joke. Next we saw the tigers, and Ronda filmed a young pair of tigers playing in a pool of water. It was another cool thing to watch. They play pretty rough! The last main exhibit we saw was the pandas. I have heard people say you need to do two things while you are in China: climb the Great Wall and see some pandas. If that's the case, then mission accomplished, let's go home.

The Main Entrance to the Zoo

Funny Asian Bear Taking a Dip

Tigers Playing in the Water

Panda Watch

Don't Pet Me!

Cooper had a good time at the zoo, but the humidity combined with the increasing heat made for an extremely sweaty time. We were happy to get back on the bus and ride back to our 5-star hotel. When we got back, Grizzy got us lunch at McDonald's and we had lunch in the room while Cooper took his nap. Grizzy volunteered to watch Cooper while Ronda and I went to the pool, so we took advantage of the offer. The pool at this hotel is very nice, and we had a good time hanging out talking with a few other couples in our group who were also try to get some relief from the heat.

Cooper's Nap Time

At 4:00, our reps met with us in the hotel business center to go over all the paperwork needed for our consulate appointment on Thursday. It was exciting to get out all the documents we've been preparing, notarizing, authorizing and mailing over the past six years, and placing them in a pile for their final purpose... to get our son a visa in his passport so we can take him home!!

For dinner we decided to take Cooper for a walk back down the street to the restaurant we ate at on Sunday night. We think that the medicine he is taking to get over his cough makes him a little drowsy, which also makes him a little cranky. He fussed the whole way the and back, which made the whole trip somewhat difficult... I know, welcome to parenthood!

Tomorrow we go the the Guangzhou Pearl Market and we're going to visit the Shaman Island area for some shopping. Another day of fun before our main purpose here, the consulate appointment on Thursday. Until tomorrow, Ryan.

On the Bus... No, there aren't any car seats.