July 23

On this day, I realized that Lyric had been our daughter for one week and oh, how we loved her.  So much had happened and our hearts had mysteriously grown so big, so quickly -just big enough to engulf Lyric. <smile>

I love this sweet little smile on her face.

We went back to the medical building to check the TB skin tests (negative, of course.) It was 1/2 way to the Guangzhou Safari Park and so we had the option to go ahead and go to the zoo or catch the subway back to the hotel. By this point, I was tired. I had a two-year-old whose behavior was much better but still sorta iffy and who would most likely, at only 2, be pretty oblivious to the whole thing. I had SEEN zoos, I'd been to the Atlanta Zoo (multiple times) and the San Diego Zoo and many more in between.  In fact, the Atlanta Zoo has a breeding program so I'd seen all sorts of Panda Bears, from babies all the way up to big adult ones. :)  (In 1999 the United Parcel Service (UPS) airlifted two pandas - loaned from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding -  from Beijing to Atlanta.) I mean they ARE cool but...have I mentioned that I was tired?   BUT there would be other adult people there, people who easily spoke English and who understood what it was like to be miles away from home with a new child and... I REALLY didn't feel up to navigating the subway system back to the hotel. So, we went but honestly I just went for the company.

Then we got there, and um...WOW!    It was the largest zoo in all of China and, somehow I missed this in the actual name of the place, but it was much less "zoo" and much more "safari park."  Lyric did really well. We, of course, still felt like one of the exhibits. hahahaha We had a running joke of betting that the Chinese had to pay extra to get in when there were foreigners to view. hahahahahaha 

Yes, she's screaming. I put her down, didn't I?  :)

We rented that stroller to put the stuff in, I knew it when we did it.
I brought the Ergo to put Lyric in.

Anyway, if you like zoo pictures, enjoy.  (Well, I did add some "witty" comments and a few pictures of us just to spice it up, a bit. :) )

If I HAVE to be an animal in a zoo, I would pick to be a small primate in THIS zoo.
They had the whole run of the place 
and just climbed around and checked the tourists out. 

Yes, it was THAT hot.

Every imaginable Panda item was for sale in the Panda House Gift Shop.

Work it, Mr. NC!

Mr. NC, you didn't buy that hat?

Do I really have to tell you what she had for lunch?
(Look closely, that is a spear of broccoli in her hand 
AND she is sitting in the stroller!)

I just really LOVE this picture.

Lil' NC was such a cutie!

Yep, oblivious - MUCH more interested in her "jewels."

Done and headed home. Lyric actually put her hands out to her dad on the bus ride home and went to him on purpose. She used him to get down to the floor but still, she was really coming along.

Yes, there is a video that goes with this.
No, it won't load.
You've seen the "Bonus" so just imagine that
..with Panda hats.  :)

As much as I enjoyed the zoo and I really did enjoy it, my favorite part of the day was "after" in the hotel room.  Lyric and her dad played and played.  At one point I tried to join in and it was "explained" to me by the cute little two-year-old in the room, in no uncertain terms, that this was a Baby Girl/Daddy moment and to go find something else to do. hahahahahaah She was FUNNY and she could TALK! She just babbled along in some sorta Hepu/Mandarin?/Baby Talk language.  We had no idea what she was saying but she was so CUTE.

What you can not tell right away is that they are on "cell phones."
They'd hold their hands up to their ears and talk away.
He'd say just enough to keep her going. hahahahahahaha
We have a video of this (and one of her lying on the couch that is hysterical)
and she got more and more intense as she talked until
finally she dropped the "phone" and was gesturing with both hands at whomever was unlucky enough to be on the other end
of that phone call. Oh, K-Man and I laughed at her.

Regardless of the fun, we were becoming more and more ready to go home.

I wrote this in my notes on the computer that night:

"This is getting REALLY old. I miss my boys. I just miss them."

"We’re ordering Papa John’s tonight, we are that worn out and that tired of Chinese food."