Moving on

Today was our last full day in Guangzhou. Tomorrow we take a train to Hong Kong and the day after that we fly home. The main event for today was our trip to the US Consulate where we swore an oath that we had been truthful throughout the adoption process. It is the last thing you have to do before they give you your child's passport with the immigration visa stamped inside. Once Henry touches down in the US he will automatically become a US citizen. The consular officer who administered the oath said that our children were part of nearly 4,000 children who became US citizens through adoption from China this year and would join the 70,000 already residing in the US. Even after citing those statistics and having led thousands of families through the oath even she got a little emotional during the recitation.

Aside from the Consulate visit, movement was the word of the day.


First, we saw the local school kids on the island outside for their daily calisthenics.


We saw a preschool group also out for their walk before the rain started.


We moved inside to the Mattel Swan Room to continue to burn off some energy.


The room was full of other families with the same idea.


After dinner, Sadie played in the hallway with a friend from the trip.


Henry got a hold of the ball and chased it back and forth until the ball went one way and Henry went the other way, straight into the wall.


His first official black eye with us as his official family.


He cheered up by bed time but went to sleep softly repeating "Ouch... Ouch... Ouch..."