UPDATE - Look what I found on my email!!
Today they visited the Tengwang Pavilion, built during the Tang Dynasty. They did get pictures of the girls there. They also visited the porcelain market where they did a little shopping and then on to a large shoe store that has squeaky shoes. Tara said they just weren't too cute so she's waiting for the 'good' store in Guangzhou where she plans to load up. They discovered today that they were only a few blocks from a KFC, yes that's Kentucky Fried Chicken, so you know where they had dinner-- Tara said it was wonderful!
Tomorrow they get the remainder of their Chinese adoption documents and then fly out in the afternoon for Guangzhou, about an hour or so flight (and the girl's first). They will then travel by bus to Dongguan, about 40 miles south of Guangzhou where they will spend the rest of their time in China. Usually families stay right in Guangzhou where the American Consulate is located and where they complete the US side of the adoption and get sworn in as American Citizens but there is a very large international trade fair that happens twice a year in Guangzhou and there were no hotel rooms available.
The girls will be leaving their birth province Jiangxi on the first leg of the long trip HOME. I know Tara and Dirk have tried to get pictures and mementoes for these little ones so they will always have something to connect them to their heritage. Nanchang, where they have been for the past week is the capital of Jiangxi, it is a city of around 3.7 million (considered a smaller sized city by Chinese standards). It is known as an industrial city where there is much food processing, paper manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and metalworks. It is also known as the porcelain capital of China. Ford Motor Company is currently setting up a manufacturing plant there.
Sounds like the girls are really coming around, giving Dad High Fives and they love to play "pretend" where they pretend to give Mom or Dad something and then take it back and giggle uproariously. They can kick, pinch, and push each other with the best of them and when they don't get their way will have an occasional tantrum. Seems that they are acting like regular kids so I guess they've decided these folks are going to keep them after all so they don't need to keep up the 'best behavior' act -- seems they've decided to keep Tara and Dirk too cause they're calling Tara "Mama" and Dirk "Papa" or "DaDa". I do believe they're feeling like a Forever Family.
