Shamian Island will never be the same. This place is the shoppng mecca of Ghuangzhou about a 15 minute ride from our hotel. It's a quaint and clean little island that caters to adoptive families with all the souvenirs and keepsakes you'll ever need to recall your China trip at dirt cheap prices. There are tons of little shops that line the streets and you can just walk around on foot. Our first and best stop of the day was Jennifer's Place. Darrin and I ended up with a huge bag full of stuff for about $65 US dollars. These business owners are happy to negotiate a price, which was fun for me, but I caught Darrin on saying to them when he found something he really liked, "That's a great price." So that pretty much sealed the full price for us : ) We both had fun and I'm headed back tomorrow to finish the shopping with some girls in my group. Darrin has had his share--he even ventured out today alone via taxi to the department store he missed going to when he was sick. He is back in full swing--whew! Today's finds included squeaky shoes, silk dresses and a chop (stamp with Caroline's name in Chinese) plus some gifts for family and friends. I'm hoping to get Caroline a small gift to give to her to celebrate every gotcha day. I've got a ways to go on that, but I really like the idea.

After Darrin's illness he's afraid to venture our much on the food so it was McDonald's again for lunch and we headed to a hotel restaurant for dinner where he had a jumbo hot dog and I got bolder with wonton soup and beef and chicken satay (a firstm, but it was good).

Caroline is such a joy to be around. We have so much fun that we actually hate to put her down for a nap. She, on the other hand has gotten livelier and instead of laying down and going to sleep right away has figured out how to stand up in her bed. She also has mastered clapping today and raising her arms above her head when we say "big girl."

Our fed-ex package that had to be sent from the states with our document requested from the US Consulate came today. Only a day to spare. Our guides take our paperwork to the US consulate for us tomorrow and so hopefully everything will check out.

Well off to bed for me...as usual I'm the last one there. I enjoy these quiet moments.