Shopping in Guangzhou - Day 9 with Ella

Today was a day for shopping in Guangzhou, no other organized activities. We started our day at the bus at 9:30 am for our 1 1/2 hour trip to Shamian Island and the famous "White Swan" experience. We first stopped at the Pearl Market and that was absolutely crazy, literally over an hour to get all the pearls strung and purchased. Ella was amazing just hanging out in the carrier for that length of time in a very hot and crowded room. She napped on the bus both ways again and is asleep now but had a really rough time getting to sleep this evening so I am interested to see how the night goes.

Anyway, after shopping we went to the Cow and Bridge (a really good Thai restaurant) with most of our group. After that, the shopping began. While Tom, Rob and Bella hung out for several hours, Jill, Ella and I shopped (and again, she was amazingly charming and fun and so good the whole time). We found plenty of great gifts and stuff for the girls. The challenging part is that given where we are staying we really needed to accomplish many days of shopping in a single afternoon. I would say we did our best and I even bought the extra piece of luggage for our purchases.

After shopping, we headed to the White Swan for the famous "red couch" photos of the babies (Ella screamed the whole time) and the photos of our group. It was nice to finally get pictures of everyone that we can share when we get home.

After we got back to the hotel (and checked out the loot again)we went wandering the streets of our neighborhood with the Skoogs. It is definitely hot out here but it was nice to get out and walk a bit with the babies. We walked down a very interesting side street with many street vendors and you could tell by the reaction that not many westerners walk down these streets. Since we missed the night market in Beijing I figured it is good for us to check out the local culture a bit.

Tomorrow we are off again in the morning for our Consulate Appointments and Oath Ceremony. Amazing that in just a few short days we will be getting off the plane at home. I look forward to seeing everyone then or in the days that follow with my darling little girl!