Last Full Day in China

I'm thankful Mr Luke got this crib instead of Miss Katie. 

When I was messing with our perpetually damp laundry, I snagged myself on these loose staples. 

Looks like there used to be another wooden piece like this one on the left side. While I wish Luke was not so incredibly delayed, at least that kept him from potentially hurting himself on this bed. No chance of him pulling to stand or trying climb out. 

Speaking of laundry...  DO NOT try this at home. Paul called this his 40 watt clothes dryer. We did send out a load of laundry at one point. But it cost $50, and I didn't mind washing in the bathtub a couple of times. The problem is that clothes here don't DRY. 

Actually, whether it's putting dry clothes on a damp body in a hurry to get out the door on time, or putting slightly damp clothes on a dry body because there's nothing else left to wear, or going out in dry clothes that immediately become damp with sweat, it feels very soggy here. It will be nice to get home and dry out. 

After dinner last night, we stopped at a little bakery on the way back to the hotel and had a treat. Paul had a German cheese custard, and I had Black Forest cake. Katie had some of each, of course. 

After dessert, it was bath time. 

It's a little bit like washing a cat (which I've actually done) to rinse Luke's hair. 

Today was our first day with no activities here in GZ. We got to Sleep In. Which is awesome because Luke doesn't sleep though the night. 

After breakfast, we hung out in the hotel playroom for a while.

Today was the first day since we got Katie that the kids haven't worn coordinating outfits. We're getting close to running out of clean clothes, and I wanted to make sure they had something dry to travel in tomorrow. 

Baba and Katie had fun making a Lego structure and Katie threw her very first fit for us when we cleaned up to leave. Real tears, but it was short lived. 

Luke scootched  himself backward in this walker, but more out of anger than intention. He was too tall for it, really. I think we're going to be looking at some sort of therapeutic stander to get him used to bearing weight on his legs and help him gain the balance he needs to learn to stand and walk. 

After play time, we hung out in the room for a while, packed our bags, took naps, waited for our guide to drop off the kids' passports with their visas, then went out for a quick dinner. Now we're channel surfing for a bit (a good reminder of why we don't have tv at home) and hoping for an early bedtime, as we're getting up at 4:30 to head out for the airport. We fly from here to Beijing, then to Seattle, then home to Sac. It's thirty some odd hours of travel, but because of time zones, we get home the evening of the same day that we leave. It's just a really really REALLY long day. On the way home last time, I hit the wall about 7 hours into the long flight home. I just wanted OFF that plane. Not good when you have another 5 hours on that plane and you have to get on yet another flight after that. 

Please pray for no delays, safe travels, and sleepy kids. Can't wait to get home and hug my herd!