Aug. 10

Most of what I know about journalism I learned as a student at West Virginia University. Go Mountaineers!

The girls woke up around 7:15 a.m. For once we were not in a hurry. We took our time getting ready for breakfast. This meant that we had all of the right equipment with us for once! It was nice to be back at the Majestic Hotel because we wanted to see all of the families again with their new daughters. We soon discovered that many of us would be on the same flight (depating at 6:10 p.m.) from Nanning to Guangzhou and everyone indicated they were going to stay at the famous White Swan, too.

Scarlett wore an "I Love My Mommy" bib and Sienna wore an "I Love My Daddy" bib. By the way, that was just a coincidence based on grabbing whatever was ready to go. We hope each girl loves each of us, just as we both love each of them.

Scarlett focused again on plain yogurt and milk. We put some banana slices into the yogurt and she enjoyed it. She was not interesting in her congee, either.

Sienna focused on her noodles. In fact, Sienna threw the broccoli pieces into the middle of the table. She also put two packages of sugar into her pocket for later use. She fiddled with the Equal packets, too, and even said, "Equal." Her new "word" is "shhhh" which she apparently thinks means "Louder please." She puts her finger to the side of her nose and says "shhhh" in a low voice, but often when you tell her "shhhh" she simply yells "Baba!" at the top of her lungs.

After breakfast, we went upstairs to use the bathroom and get ready for the day. I was exhausted from lack of nighttime sleep. Peter readied the girls for a stroll outside the hotel while I readied myself for a nap. (Someone needed to stay in the room to meet Glen to get the paperwork and instructions.)

I caught only a few minutes of sleep and Glen arrived. He needed some more money to pay for various administrative services, and he presented us with nine copies (for each girl) of adoption-related paperwork that we needed to proofread (at least the English part such as the girls' new American names).

I attempted to go to sleep again, but soon Peter and the twins were at the door. Their stroll was cut short because Peter took a photo of some official house behind the hotel. Apparently that was a no no. He showed the guard the photo (of the girls) and then left quickly before the guard could detain them further.

The girls all seemed interested in cuddling with me on the bed for a nap. So that's what we did for about two hours. It was heavenly. Peter reminded me that it would be a good time for a bike ride, but I just couldn't resist the allure of a nap in a real bed with the girls. Meanwhile, he used the Internet to check his e-mail, etc.

Peter let us know that it was time to get up. We had a simple lunch in the room (Peter had cheese and croissants with tea, I had two mini-buns with vegetables and cheese, Scarlett had a lot of yogurt with banana slices and Sienna had crackers, banana and nuts.) Then we packed up and met Glen downstairs around 4 p.m. as planned.

Glen still didn't have the girls' passports, but he said that he would have them by 5 p.m. So that meant that a typical Friday evening flight delay would be a blessing! We filled in the evaluation form for Glen and gave him high marks, a good tip and a gift bag of American goodies.

The ride to the airport took more than 30 minutes. Glen helped us check in. Our four bags were over the weight limit for a domestic flight, but Glen said something to the agent about our international itinerary and there was no problem or extra charge. We are able to accrue Delta SkyMiles for the China Southern flight (and the girls will accrue on Continental since that is the only frequent flier account they have at the moment since each account will eventually require a name change).

Speaking of name changes, the girls' Chinese passports are in their Chinese names. We also call our girls by their Chinese nicknames, Jun Rui (Scarlett) goes by Rui Rui (pronounced Rae Rae) and Jun Hua (Sienna) goes by Hua Hua (pronounced Wah Wah). We haven't introduced them to their American names yet. And even then, everybody needs a nickname, right?

We saw a lot of familiar faces in the check in line. Everyone seems to be in the same situation of needing passports for the girls so they can eventually get their American visas and fly to the U.S. Sending the passports with an unknown Finnish couple who will arrive on Sunday seems a bit risky.

Even though our flight wasn't delayed, Cindy (our guide from the first day in Nanning) was able to pick up the passports and come via taxi to the airport. What a relief! While we waited, I fed Scarlett two containers of yogurt. Peter tried to rush us, but when she is hungry and willing to eat, I want to feed her. Her belly looks bigger each day, but the rest of her body is still too thin.

We were surprised to learn that we were allowed to take some liquids on board (something like three 500 ml bottles per person). The liquid ban is really a U.S./U.K. issue. If your flight doesn't begin or end in either location, chances are that you can still bring liquids on board an airplane.

We boarded the plane with no problems. We had no problem with take-off or cruising at high altitude. But when we descended and the pressure changed, Scarlett cried profusely. I tried to comfort her, but I knew there wasn't much I could do. She was feeling the way I feel when I'm on ocean currents. She put her hands to her ears to indicate pain. We tried to feed her something so she would swallow (and relief the pressure), but she refused to take anything. The moment we landed her crying stopped. Sienna was fine the entire time. She opened one of her packets of sugar from breakfast and ate the crystals as a treat. During the one-hour flight we were served a bottle of water and a large packet of cookies.

Just as we landed Peter began to wonder if our new guide had been informed about our earlier arrival time (since our original 8:30 p.m. flight was cancelled and Glen had put us on the 6:20 p.m. flight). We collected our bags and sure enough, there was our guide. She was meeting several families and we were the last ones to come out. We all boarded a bus to get to our hotels. Interestingly, all of the families on the bus were staying at the Victory Hotel (which is luxurious yet inexpensive) while we were staying at the White Swan (which is luxurious and is the traditional hotel for American families who have adopted children in China). One of the other families is with our same adoption agency. The girls and I had already taken a seat at the back of the bus. They had fallen asleep and I was hesitant to move forward to sit with the other families. I assumed we were all going to the White Swan and that we would catch up with them later. But that wasn't the case.

The ride from the airport was at least 45 minutes. Then we waited at the Victory Hotel for the others to get off and get checked in. Finally we made it to the White Swan which is one of the Leading Hotels of the World. I'm never impressed with a hotel until I get the Internet connection to work in the room. And now that it is working (with no technical problems), I am officially impressed.

I was surprised that there were no people mobbing the bus to help us with our luggage. Under normal circumstances, Peter and I dislike this sort of thing. But on this trip, we undeniably need assistance with our gear. Peter went inside the lobby to ask for help while I sat with the girls on the famous "red couch" were newly adopted children sit for photos.

Our room is quite nice. It has everything we have come to expect -- a refrigerator with a few free bottles of water, nice toiletries, two bathrobes, plush towels, a tea maker and high-speed Internet access. However, we didn't have any cribs and there were no "Going Home Barbies" in the room either. The cribs were quickly brought to our room, and the dolls were promised to arrive the next day.

I attempted to order room service, but the line was busy. So I asked the concierge where I could buy milk and yogurt at this late hour (approximately 9:45 p.m.). He said to go to the fourth floor. At the fourth floor, they referred me to the third floor. There I was referred to the second floor and from there I was referred to the first floor. At that point one person told me to go out of the hotel and turn right and someone else said to go out and turn left. I decided to turn left since she also was pointing to the door. Sure enough, there was a small deli that had milk and yogurt. I also purchased some vanilla and mango ice cream. And I learned that the reason the milk dates always appear to indicate expired milk is that the date refers to the date of production (which must be equal to or less than today's date) rather than the "sell by" date (which should be equal to or greater than today's date). This is good to know!

There was a small shop between the hotel and the deli. I couldn't help but notice two folding bikes for 1900 and 3800 yuan each (while we paid just 299 yuan in Nanning). Peter was quick to point out that there was a "quality difference." Whatever. I'm not training for the Tour de France.

While I was out, Peter gave the girls a bath and put them in their pajamas. Scarlett didn't want to eat anything, but we felt it was best for her to have something since it had been quite a while since she had eaten. She fussed the entire time. Sienna ate some of the ice cream and seemed to enjoy it. However, they were both so tired that they just wanted us to stop bothering them and let them go to sleep.

They insisted on falling asleep in my bed. I figured after a few minutes I would put them in their cribs. That seemed to work. I put a panda doll in each crib with them as their "instructions" said that they prefer to sleep with a doll. About 20 seconds later, Sienna through her panda into Scarlett's crib. (She has done this nearly every night we have noticed.) This upset Scarlett tremendously, so I picked her up and allowed her to sleep some more on my soft comforter. About 30 minutes later I put her in her crib and I confiscated both pandas.

I fell asleep reading an English-language newspaper that was placed in our room. I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and got out of bed about 20 minutes later. It is now nearly 7 a.m. and Peter is stirring. The girls are still sleeping soundly.