The three of us will begin our adventure May 3rd. A true gift - mom is coming with us! As first time parents I can't tell you how comforting it is to have Jia's Grandma Barbara joining us - this is incredibly special in so many ways. Thanks mom!!
May 3 - Fly to Hong Kong
May 4 - Arrive Hong Kong 6ish pm - stay in HK for the evening
May 5 - Take train to Guangzhou
May 7 - Jia Day!!! Morning at Whiteswan meeting room to fill out paper work and get all documents in order. 2:30pm, bus taking everyone to Civil Affair for Gotcha. Gotchatime is at 3pm.
May 8 - Morning, guide will take families to shop baby needs
May 9 - Morning, Guangzhou Zoo. (Optional)
May 10 - Morning, Six Banyan Temple. (Optional)
May 11 - Morning, Botanic Garden. (Optional)
May 12 - Medical check in the morning.
May 13 - Orphanage visiting day. (Optional)
May 14 - 11am at Whiteswan for group picture. All paper work for Consulate part should be checked and gotten ready by guide.
May 15 - US Consulate Appointment at 9am.
May 16 - At 2:30pm, guide picks up everyone to go to Consualte for Swearing In Ceremony. Child's Visa should be ready around 4:30pm.
May 17 - Take train to Hong Kong from Guangzhou
May 18 - Flight from Hong Kong arriving home 6 ish pm
The international date line is a crazy thing - almost 24 hours of travel time gets us home on the same day we leave HK only 8 hours after we depart!
This, of course, will feel like 6 am. We'll be looking lovely no doubt.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Countdown - T minus 6
As the countdown to lift off begins, we are getting closer to being ready! It's Sunday morning and as I relax writing this post my mind is racing - I think we've got it pretty much all together.
Nursery - check.
Carseats - check.
Rx - of an unbelievable variety - check.
Food, toys, safety, clothes - check.
Nicole and Mary to watch Nora - check.
Clean house - ha.
Blog up and running - I hope.
Electronics inventory - check.
Packed - in my mind.
Tickets - check.
Hotel reservations - check.
Gifts for nannies - still needed.
Oh, by the way, if any of you visit Bath and Body Works and ask if their products are made in America they have no clue. My spaced out salesperson looked like I'd asked her what she thought gas prices might be in 2020 when I asked this relatively simple question. She had to yell for Marsha - who proceeded to say oh yes, their products are made in America except for their exclusive lines made in France or Israel. Cool, I thought, easy in and out for nanny gifts. Aforementioned salesperson tried to steer me to the 5 for $25 sale - no I explained, too heavy. We settled on the small sized gift packs - they were on sale too. Once found she said - "well, see ya, here's your convenient shopping bag, my shift is over" - and she was gone in a flash. I picked up two gift sets, walked to the counter and turned over the boxes - MADE IN CHINA. See ya Bath and Body Works. Geesh.
Nursery - check.
Carseats - check.
Rx - of an unbelievable variety - check.
Food, toys, safety, clothes - check.
Nicole and Mary to watch Nora - check.
Clean house - ha.
Blog up and running - I hope.
Electronics inventory - check.
Packed - in my mind.
Tickets - check.
Hotel reservations - check.
Gifts for nannies - still needed.
Oh, by the way, if any of you visit Bath and Body Works and ask if their products are made in America they have no clue. My spaced out salesperson looked like I'd asked her what she thought gas prices might be in 2020 when I asked this relatively simple question. She had to yell for Marsha - who proceeded to say oh yes, their products are made in America except for their exclusive lines made in France or Israel. Cool, I thought, easy in and out for nanny gifts. Aforementioned salesperson tried to steer me to the 5 for $25 sale - no I explained, too heavy. We settled on the small sized gift packs - they were on sale too. Once found she said - "well, see ya, here's your convenient shopping bag, my shift is over" - and she was gone in a flash. I picked up two gift sets, walked to the counter and turned over the boxes - MADE IN CHINA. See ya Bath and Body Works. Geesh.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
And so the fun begins............
In an attempt to journal our adventures in travel to reach our beautiful daughter we will begin a blog. Hopefully the exercise will not prove too difficult and we will actually accomplish our goal of having our family and friends join us on our trip to China. We'll tell scads of entertaining stories along the way (wishful thinking) and have many new experiences. The most important of course is the experience of parenthood! I think I should be doing what my mom is doing - toting around 15 lbs of books - to prepare my aging and not so in shape bod for the shock of 24/7 babydom. Oh heck, it's going to be great! Here we go!
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