Day 3 with Elle - Tuesday January 14

 



First of all, today is an extra special day for the Newsome's.  Not only are we here in China with Elle, it's Zach's 18th birthday.  We started our morning off with a call to him to wish him a Happy Birthday and then Skyped with the Kids. 

 

Here in Lanzhou, China, it is very cold and smoggy.  Today was a "down day" from any adoption related items so we took the opportunity to take a walk to a shopping mall about 10 blocks away from the hotel.  We were able to get out of our hotel room and not freeze once we got there.  It was amazing to me how expensive everything is in the mall.  I don't know how "normal" people buy anything there as in most cases the prices were more than at home (maybe that's why the markets are always so full and the mall, not so much).

 

Here's some pictures from the morning just before breakfast:

 

 

Got to love that monkey hat, right..

 

Here are some photos from outside of the mall in Lanzhou:

We got back to the room and just hung out for the afternoon and evening.  Although its only been a couple of days, wow what a difference a couple of days make.  Elle is opening up a little more day after day and her wonderful personality is as well.  She's a very smart, funny, and inquisitive little girl.  Here's some pictures of her...

 

Here's her little Princess wave she does..

 

For Wednesday, we're off to do some local sight seeing so we'll see what that brings.