Today and today only … two blogs for the price of one!  Downside is that it is LONG!  Maybe walk away from your computer for a few minutes right now and let everything load.

Yesterday we went to the Chime.Long Safari Park and Circus.  We have been to the Park five times now (once per trip) and I think this is the third time to the circus, but it is a great way to fill a down day!

As is usual, Riley has been working very hard as our part-time translator and she has been honing those skills quite well.  Not only that, she is our crises manger.  On Sunday night we went to dinner with some other families at a local Irish pub.

We enjoyed a nice walk back to the hotel together.

Once back at the hotel, we had a pretty large group so we all split into separate elevators.  Riley, Jessie, and Peyton went in an elevator ahead of us.  But, when we got to our room, there were no girls!  For some reason one of the other key cards would not let them on our floor and they were stuck!  I rode the elevator back down to find Jessie and Peyton patiently waiting in the first floor lobby and I asked about Riley.  She had taken one of other boy who was also stranded and she was trying to convince them to issue her new room cards … using my name!  On the way back up to our rooms, she told Jessie, “You see?  You don’t need to get all nervous and scared when things go wrong.  You just have to use your head and think!”  I have few concerns about this girl.

The Safari Park starts with a safari ride!  Which, was a little challenging for Madison due to her spine issues.  Kelly was able to adapt things so that she could still see.

I have posted plenty of animal pictures in the past blogs from here, so I will not bore you.  But everyone likes a kangaroo!

It isn’t easy being a bear …

When the ride was over, the wheel chair was no where to be found!  I had to run up the road and grab it and run it back to Kelly before her arms fell off!

We then went and walked through the rest of the zoo, Riley exceptionally happy she brought her FitBit and Jessie lamenting the fact that she does not have one yet.

This may have been the prettiest exhibit of the day!

It’s always fun to watch the monkeys!

And even the zoo animals!

It can be challenging for Madison to see everything, even more so than Leah, but we worked to try and make the experience enjoyable!

Peyton kept up pretty well for a little girl.

Kelly has been holding up well also, but we think she is nearing the end of her rope!  Thankfully we leave in just two days.

She even has a namesake at the zoo who is trying to keep up with her family size!

Riley and Peyton spend a lot of time together, most likely because of how much time they spent together in the orphanage.  Here they are trying to catch up!

Peyton drove the safari truck right into the tiger exhibit!

Tiger’s do not scare her!

When the terrain is not too challenging, Peyton likes to be a helpful little sister and man Madison’s wheelchair.

Here are all my little beauties (at least the ones on this trip minus their equally beautiful mother).

Peyton was concerned that one of the Kuala’s was drooling!

This is one of Peyton’s new favorite modes of travel!

After the Safari Park, our driver took us over to the Chime.Long Hotel for a little dinner.

A little fried rice …

…dumplings …

… and spring rolls!

It was a really nice break.  The past several years our driver has picked us up at the Safari Park, hot and sweaty, and drove us straight to the Circus where we would have to wait for a couple of hours.  This allowed us a little time to sit in the air conditioning and get some rest.  We were ready to go!

In addition to translator and crises manager, Riley has also taken on the role of the family photographer.

On our way in to find seats.

There was a handicapped section in the auditorium, but it was way up at the top and we thought it would be better for Madison to be a little closer to the action, so we loaded her up and headed down to better seating.

And … yes … in our advanced age we have become THOSE parents.  After resisting the urge for how many adoptions, we caved and bought the girls souvenirs.

There are plenty of pictures of the circus on last years blogs, and even some video, but I will share a few of Riley’s pictures.

Peyton loved the elephants.  She even danced an elephant dance for us the other day.

This act was one we had not seen before.

I tend to like the opening and the closing the best.

This morning it was up and out relatively early for our consulate appointment.  Since we would be spending a little time on U.S. soil, I figured I would iron my shirt!  What a cute little iron.  And cordless to boot!

We are all smiles at the Consulate, the final hurdle in getting the girls home on Thursday.

Everything went just fine at the appointment (unlike the craziness last year when Ashley’s birthday was wrong on her Chinese passport and we were thinking someone was staying in country with her and she was worried she was going to be sent back to her orphanage!).  We went back to the hotel, had lunch, and went for a walk.  The overhead walkways in the eighth largest city in the world do make things a little challenging, but we make do.

Another day … another park …

… another exercise area.

I’m not sure you are using that correctly!

Even Riley pumped some iron, even though it didn’t get her steps on her FitBit.

The girls get by with a little help from their sisters.

Exercising is TIRING!

A really big turning point in our China trips.  Kelly used a squat toilet!  One trip to Vietnam and five trips to China over nine years and she has finally adapted to the local customs!

Peyton’s OTHER new favorite mode of travel.

This guy has a lot of skill carrying this long ladder all by himself!

In case any of you did not think that Kelly was superwoman already, here she is manning the wheelchair in one hand and Peyton in the other.  She is amazing!

So … let’s have a little conversation about ice cream.

If you have never been to a country like China or India, you probably can’t appreciate how certain things make you feel a little closer to home.  You are in a place where the culture is very different, everyone speaks a language that is VERY different to yours, and sometimes it feels like you are 6,000 miles from home.  Because you are.

And then you have ice cream.  Not the popcorn flavored ice cream that McDonald’s is trying to peddle over here.  But good old vanilla ice cream.  Sometimes even a cone in each hand.

For some reason it makes things a little better.

So on a 31 degree Celsius day,  we choose to follow the Charlie Rule and feel a little closer to home.

It makes everyone smile …

… even if it disappears a little too quickly.

The day is coming to a close.  Madison has been a trooper putting up with Peyton in her wheelchair, even with her knees digging into Madison’s arm!

Finally … back to our room!

Cameron