Sunday in Guangzhou

Today was a very good day!  Elsie had another diffcult night Saturday and I had to hold her for several hours, but when she finally fell asleep, she was good until morning.  We started out our day with the breakfast buffet.  We noticed that Elsie didn't eat at much as usual, but still plenty for a 21 month old.  She was much better natured with Brad too.  We met our guide and travel partners for sightseeing and shopping at 10.  We went to the Temple of Six Banyan Trees.  It was really interesting.  There were several temples for the different Buddhas...Chinese, Thai, and I forgot the other one.  The smell on incense was really strong and there were lots of worshippers bringing very unusal (by my standards) gifts. We were offered the option of having the Monk blessing of the children, but since we are born again Christians, didn't feel quite right about a Buddhist blessing. From there we went to Liwan Square. for shopping.  We went to the wholesale pearl market. Our guide told us that it is traditional for parent to give a strand of pearls to their daughter on either her 16th birthday or her wedding day.  She said the strand we chose was very good quality.  They redid the strand in front of us, making sure that each pearl was tied separately.  We then chose our clasp and they made us a complimentary pair of matching earrings.  We spent quite a bit there, but it was so much fun.  Elsie wasn't crazy about it or about having daddy carry her.  All the women in the store were paying attention to her and holding her.  From there we went to a store that sold silk dresses, where we bought a few to bring home.  After that we went back to the hotel as the babies were both a little cranky.  Elsie fell asleep before lunch so I left her and daddy to take a nap and adventured out on Shamian Island.  First I took the laundry to a little store just outside the hotel.  Then I bought some shirts and robes...then I had to come back to the hotel because I was running out of money! When i got back Elsie and daddy were still sleeping.  In all they slept about three and a half hours.  Naturally she was starving when she finally woke up.  We fed her in the room and she has been the happiest baby ever since.  She played with daddy for a very long time.  Then we all went out shopping on the island together (and spent ALOT of money).  She let daddy hold her the whole time without screaming!!!!!  When we came back to the room, we had Papa John's pizza delivered to the hotel and ate it while we watched HBO on TV.  Best of both worlds.  We of course bought something else for Elsie and she was in a very playful mood all evening.  What an awesome day!!!!  Consulate appointment tomorrow.