Meeting Ava

After an exhaustingly long flight, we made it into Guangzhou with no problems.  Our awesome guide, Grace, met us at our gate and helped us check into the hotel.  The drive to our hotel was really pretty....tropical and lush.  Also very humid!!  Since we tried staying awake for the whole flight, we were exhausted.  So we passed out as soon as we checked into the hotel.

This morning, we all woke up around 5am.  So far, there's been no real jet lag.  After breakfast and a little paperwork, our guide showed us around the shopping street next to our hotel.  It was very very loud!  Lots of random noise and shop owners trying to draw people's attention.  Sophia loved it.  I tolerated it....but I also go shopping maybe once a year.

After relaxing a little bit, we headed out to meet our girl.  I was so nervous to meet her foster mom.  I didn't want to meet her because I knew it would be painful for her to say goodbye.  I was relieved to find out that she was moved back to the orphanage about a month ago to prepare for the transition.  The orphanage director and nanny brought her instead.  We had arrived early and were just hanging out when, all of a sudden, this little ball of energy popped out of the elevator.  And when I say ball of energy, I really mean BALL OF ENERGY!  Maybe it was the 2 hour car ride she had just taken, but this girl was bouncing around something crazy.  But we immediately noticed her sense of humor.  Ava and Sophia bonded immediately.  But enough talk, here's some pics.....
This is Ava and her nanny while at the orphanage.

 Trying to get this little sprite to stand still for the picture was a task in itself....

 After talking with the nanny a bunch, we all left and hopped in the van to go back to the hotel.  She sat quietly in the van for about 10 seconds while she waved goodbye to the people driving by. 

And then she sat back like she owned the place...happy as a clam. 

 When we got back to the hotel, she finally stopped bouncing around when I handed her the Kindle to play with....... Ava and Molly are going to get along really well.....

 I think it's going to be a pretty good adjustment.  Believe me when I say, she fits right in.