Thursday was another tourist day. We took a boat ride on the West Lake – which is what makes Hangzhou one of the biggest tourist towns in China. We say "town" in jest however – there are over 7mil people who live here.
Ellie got hungry or tired or just decided she was 2 and comfortable today. She was a little "atti-TWO-dy" while walking around. Our guide asked her if she wanted to stay and play around outside for a bit longer and she stomped her foot with a "NO!". It's been awhile since we have had a 2 year old, we are trying not to laugh out loud at her behavior.
After tourist stuff – we were able to find her finding spot (The place where Ellie was found after being abandoned). Our guide was excited it was still there as sometimes buildings are torn down and new ones put up. She was left in a busy, but residential area, so she would have been found very soon we think.
For lunch Rob went with our guide to a nearby noodle place. They were not at all happy about the westerner being in the store and were VERY slow in preparing the order – serving plenty others before ours. We are convinced had we not had the guide, we would not have been allowed to order at all. The noodles however were fantastic, and we wanted some for dinner – so we asked one of the bell boys to go get us a bowl of noodles, which happened for him in lightening fast speed. Even with a huge tip to him, our total was only $3 for a bowl at dinner.
Uneventful evening around the hotel – Ellie was a bit more fussy then she has been – we don't know if she is just becoming more comfortable and therefore more 2ish, but when it became close to bedtime – she actually started to whine and pointed to the bed. As if to say "why are you keeping me up so late?". It was funny and as a big bonus, she let Rob put her to bed, so that was a happy ending to the day.
Friday will be a big day for Ellie. We will start the day by going to the orphanage. We are quite nervous about this because of how withdrawn she became the other day when we were back in the room where we first met her. She will not have an official naptime due to the schedule (hoping she'll sleep on the flight), we are switching hotels (could be stressful for her), and finally it will be her first airplane ride. Please keep us in your prayers. I think that we'll make it through fine today, but it might be quite a rough day.
More pictures will be posted later/tomorrow.
