Welcome to Ruby's page!

3 / 20 / 2004

I (Dan) started feeling really sick last night. I must have caught the bug Julie has been battling. I took Ruby down for breakfast but I wasn't feeling well enough to eat much. The buffet breakfast here at he White Swan is pretty big. There is a huge koi pond with waterfall in an atrium where the coffee shop is. Ruby liked checking out the waterfall. Because the US Consulate for the children's visas is here in Guangzhou all American families must end their trip in Guangzhou. A lot of them stay at the White Swan so the coffee shop is loaded with babies and their new families! A lot of cute looking little girls! Their is also a playroom here that is sponsored by Mattel. We meet there in the morning before heading out each day. Mattel even gives each family a special edition "Going Home" Barbie. This Barbie has a Chinese daughter. I guess they figure it's an easy way to try to get them hooked on Barbie's!

This morning we had to get photos of the babies and medical exams for the visas. The Medical exam was fairly simple. Ruby weighs 17 lbs, a peanut. While we were there Richard talked to the doctor about the symptoms Julie and I were having and got some medicine prescribed for us. I started the antibiotics. I was feeling really poor and tired after the medical exam and came back to the hotel to sleep. Fortunately Julie was well enough to take over for today but still isn't feeling too well.

They went out shopping and Ruby got 4 pairs of shoes. One of them were "squeaky shoes". They squeak when she walks! The shoes were between $3-5. She also got Ruby a linen traditional summer outfit. There are a lot of shops around the hotel to cater to us tourists! Later, they went down to the play room to play. Ruby liked to grab everything! It's probably a little too overwhelming right now.

Julie picked up some noodles for us to have in our room for dinner. We got Ruby to bed, ate and then crashed out. Hopefully tomorrow we will both feel better. Sorry, no digital pictures today. :-(