Wednesday in Shijiazhuang - part 1

We were at breakfast when I noticed a Caucasian couple walk into the hotel restaurant with two little Chinese girls. One thing we’ve learned, especially in THIS province, is that just because a person is Caucasian doesn’t mean he/she is American. The majority have not been. In fact, I don’t recall seeing any other Americans since we’ve been here. As it turns out, this particular couple IS from the US of A.

Tema returned from filling her plate at the breakfast buffet and excitedly told us about meeting the wife. Her and her husband are from Connecticut.

We had only been eating for a few minutes when the wife, Amy, walked up to our table. Bless her heart...she seemed very relieved to meet us. Her and husband Steve received word from their agency only a couple of days ago that they were traveling and they flew in yesterday. We don’t return to Beijing until Friday so I’m sure we’ll get together and let the girls play sometime. They are just one floor above us.

We were to meet Amy in the lobby at 11:30 for lunch. Even though breakfast wasn’t fully digested, we were downstairs by 11:45 and walked maybe 10-15 minutes to the restaurant. After lunch we stopped by a mall that was an endless maze of stores. Eliana brought a stuffed animal back to the hotel.

One of the things I wanted to do this trip was take pictures of everyday life in China. Here are a couple from our little excursion:

On the return trip to the hotel, Eliana was thirsty so we plopped the kids down at a little corner vendor where we’ve been buying our juices and water.

Tom...these are for you, buddy.

This journal offers a peek inside the Henderson home where you'll find two Little Empresses. Eliana stole our hearts on October 29, 2002 and Karys forever became a part of our family on September 17, 2007. Is a Little Emperor in the future?