True Colors

Today's been another full, enjoyable day! Amanda is really beginning to show her true colors! Today was a day full of running, laughing, pitching a few fits (usually over food or not going where SHE wanted to go), and lots of squealing with joy! She loves to run anywhere and everywhere we'll let her. She also is a bit obsessed with escalators (points excitedly and makes a beeline toward any that come into sight) and loves to go out on excursions (if she feels like we've been in the hotel room too long, she walks up to BahBah, puts up her arms for him to pick her up and then points at the door!) Any time we're somewhere new, she's always quiet at first, just taking everything in with her wide, curious eyes.

Our morning began with another delicious breakfast buffet at the hotel-

and then after many escalator trips in the hotel lobby we headed over to get Amanda's picture taken for her Chinese passport (which we're told is only used for our trip home and after that she'll need a US Passport as she'll officially be a US citizen). The wait was a little longer than we'd expected, so we had lots of opportunity to let her run around and laugh and squeal loudly - VERY loudly! Goodness, that girl's got some lungs! ;) We've decided with her love for laughter, her crazy amounts of energy and general loud behavior, she'll fit RIGHT in with our boys! God sure knew what he was doing when he matched her with us!

After that we headed to the Chinese version of Walmart, Carrefour. It was fun to see all the Chinese New Year decorations going up. And the magnetic people-mover conveyor belt system for moving people and carts between the floors was really ingenious - and Amanda thought the ride was pretty fun!

They had an amazing selection of cooked food there, so we chose to grab some potstickers/dumplings for us and a giant meat-filled bun for Amanda to eat later (all for the bargain price of about $2.20!). We then headed to our guide, Jack's, favorite local teahouse. 

It was really an amazing experience! He gave us a lot of history on the Chinese teas (I bought some 14-year-old delicious black tea - it apparently gets better with age!) and Amanda even got to try some! Later, after nap time, we decided to try out our Boba carrier and venture out into Guangzhou. Amanda loved riding with her BahBah,

but we think she might have loved riding with Mama even more since she could sit so much higher and see so much more! ;)

As we got further and further from the hotel, we decided that the area where we're staying is like "Western-Town" (an American version of Chinatown). Just a few short blocks away were more traditional Chinese shops, selling fruit, stationery, and tea. We peeked into a courtyard between some apartment buildings and saw families and friends playing ping pong and exercising together. It was so much fun seeing a little more "Chinese" China! (Jack frequently tells us that Guangzhou is not "China";)) 

Overall, we had another great day! We're missing Austin and Jackson terribly, but Skyping is really helping. We just can't wait till Amanda can meet her brothers in person! And here's one more pic of Amanda, just because I can't resist. ;)