Sunday, June 7th

Today was a really good day! We went to a Children's Park that had all sorts of rides, and surprisingly hardly any shops or people hawking their wares. You paid an admission just to get in, and then you bought individual tickets for rides. (Can you say coming and going?) YunLong had been here before, and had ridden some, but not all of the rides. XiaoMei had never been to a park like this. Sometimes she would be hesitant to try a ride, but YunLong was always encouraging her to try it, and that it was fun, not scary. He also is now quick to reach for Bo's hand to come ahead and see things with him. He's doing so great! It's harder for me to tell how XiaoMei is doing, but our guide says that whenever she asks her, she says she is very happy.
Towards the end of our time at the park, Bo and YunLong went into a building that has snow, and tube and sled riding, and forts. They give you a parka to wear, although YunLong had on shorts and Bo had on sandals, so they got quite cold. During that time, Jane and I got to talk with XiaoMei about some things at her orphanage. Through Jane, I told her that she will always be a part of our family....that it's forever.
YunLong wanted MeiDonLaw (written phonetically, I have no idea of the pinyin for that) which is McDonald's. He tried to convince XiaoMei, but she wasn't having it. She's not such a fan of American food! We ended up getting some take out from McD's and taking it back to the hotel room, since we have noodle bowls to heat up here for her. She ended up eating some of YunLong's drumsticks, after all though. (Their menu also has KFC type stuff on it here.) And just like last time we were in China....FRIED pies! You don't get any sweets here, and we've pretty much eaten rice noodles this whole trip, so it's a nice break from the monotony.
The whole day was incredibly fun, and the only iffy time was right before bed. It kept getting later and later, and they would not settle down. Constantly getting out of bed, turning on lights, noisy video games, even though they asked if they could just stay up to read, etc. Then the notes started. YunLong was writing notes, and XiaoMei was totally cracking up. I'm pretty sure they said something to the effect that we're schlumps or something! Oh well, today was certainly more than two steps forward, one step back. Closer to five and one, I'd say.