She has good lungs!

Saturday was a busy day compared to our slow days in Changsha.  We met the
other four families from our adoption agency.  Three from Minnesota (one
as close as Northfield) and one from Texas.  All wonderful families each
with a different story that lead them to adoption.  Ashlynn was again the
youngest of all children, the oldest being 4.

Our morning appointment was for a photo and medical exam needed to get
Ashlynn's visa next week.  She sat up nice and tall for her picture but
didn't care for the doctors and nurses at all.  We hadn't realized until
now how loud she can scream.  Molly kept saying "she has good lungs".  By
the time they were done with her, she had worked up herself up into a
sweaty mess.  A bottle of pedialyte and some puffs quickly calmed her
down.  Ashlynn was 29.5 inches tall and weighted 15.5 pounds.  Derek and
Mason, we'll have to work on helping Ashlynn eat lots of good foods when
we get home!

We then returned to the hotel and spent some time in the hotel's play room
with the other families while Molly walked the dads through all the
paperwork over the Ping-Pong table.  Thankfully it appears we
remembered all of our important documents and they are now in order for
our U.S. Consulate appointment on Tuesday.

Ashlynn loved being around the other children.  She was content to sit in
the middle of the room, hold a few toys, and watch all the action.  Well,
that is until another little girl wanted to share the blocks she had in
front of her.  Apparently we have some work to do on sharing!

We then ate lunch together at a great restaurant called Lucy's (the other
adoptive parents reading this probably know what we are talking about).
The family from Northfield has been here a few days already so they were
able to give us some tips on the restaurants and shops.  After lunch we
walked around with a father from Golden Valley and his new son.  His wife
is expecting in early August and at the last minute was unable to make the
trip due to a complication with her pregnancy.  It sounds like mom and
baby are going to fine but sad to be missing out on this great experience.

Our hotel is located on Shamian Island, a popular tourist attraction in
Guangzhou.  The island is located on the Pearl River and is only .3 square
kilometers (or about 74 acres) in size.  It has a few hotels along with
many shops and restaurants.  Just walking around yesterday, we found that
it's historic buildings and green landscape along the river also makes it
a location for professional photo shoots and wedding pictures.  It is also
very popular for Western adoptive families.  We have seen many!

While the temperatures were only in the 80s, the humidity is high.  We
were glad to return to our air-conditioned hotel room for a late afternoon
nap.
We look forward to exploring the island more in the days ahead.  And
Brandi and Ashlynn can't wait to go shopping!