A very weird restaurant

Snakes - LIVE


Chef weighing TOADS for dinner.


We went to the front of a restaurant where you could choose from different live animals that they would cook for your dinner. There were snakes, snapping turtles, WATER BEETLES, piranhas, eels, enormous shrimp, and sand worms. We watched while the cook weighed three TOADS for someone's dinner!!!!!!! We decided NOT to eat there.

Our guide told us that the Cantonese eat "everything in the air except airplanes, and everything on the ground except automobiles." I would agree.

Our trip to Chuzhou

On Thursday we went to the orphanage where Zoe is from. We took a large van to Chuzhou. We had a driver and a guide. The guide's name was Eva and she was nice and kind. She spoke English and Chinese. This was good because the people at the orphanage could talk Chinese but did not understand English and we do not speak Chinese.

The trip took about two and a half hours. Zoe got real quiet and started crying and then she got sick just as we got there. She felt horrible most of the time we were there because she had been sick - and she was sad.

At the orphanage Zoe got to see her best friend Chao Chao (pronounced Chow chow). Her friends were very excited to see her. They all ran up to the video camera I was using. They seemed happy.

We went outside and played on the playground with her and her friends. Zoe was beginning to feel alot better and started laughing again. I started playing with her on the playground.

The Director invited us to a private lunch. We drove to a restaurant. It had dead fish and meat hanging on wires on the front. They took us back to a small room with a round table.

In the middle of the round table was a big round thing that turns. They put all the food on that and we turned to get our food.

There were alot of interesting foods. My dad ate almost everything but really didn't like the pig ears. EEEEEEWWWW. My mom gave me some meat that had a ribcage in it - I just found out it was a bird. I ate some of it. We are not sure what kind of bird.

Some of the other foods were great. They cooked a fish that they called a grape fish because the meat looked like grapes. (well kind of ) They made some foods just for us because we were Americans. They made steaks that were very thin and soaked in rice, then fried. They had fruit, beef, and peanuts! Eva called Skylar the PEANUT KILLER because he just ate peanuts for lunch.

During our lunch Eva explained what the Director said in English to my mom and then explained to the Director what my mom said in Chinese to the Director. It was pretty confusing to me and boring to Skylar.

A funny video of Grayson and Zoe

We took this on the day we were leaving Hefei, January 19th. I will post more about our time in Hefei!! It was really interesting

What Gotcha Day was like

Gotcha Day is what they call the day you get your sister. We woke up real early because we were about to get Zoe and we were nervous. We rode in a small bus to the building where we would meet Zoe. As soon as we got there we took the elevator to the 7th floor and there she was standing right on the wall with her nanny. She was scared at first.

We had to go to a different room before we got to play with her. They called out her name and then she sat down with us and we played with her. She liked the food we gave her and the drink. She started laughing and sharing her food with us.

After a little while we got on the bus with Zoe and went back to the hotel. We played with her some more in our room. She painted but mom got to play with her the most on the first few days.

We took her swimming but the pool was closed. Instead we went to the hot tub and she could not swim but she proved that she could do a little bit under water - like dunk her head. She really liked it. She kept splashing and playing with us.

That first night we watched a movie and she liked it.

I like having a sister because there is always someone to play with.

Meet our New Sister!!

This is Zoe and us at the Hefei Zoo.

We are in Hefei!

We arrived in Hefei. It was about a one hour plane ride from Shanghai.

It was snowing!! Tomorrow is when we get to meet Zoe!!

Skylar as the newscaster

It was actually a department store. Toys were on the brain!

Grayson eating steamed buns in Shanghai

Yesterday in Shanghai

Yesterday we went to an old part of Shanghai to see some gardens. It was surrounded by lots of small shops and places to eat. There were a ton of people.

The best part of the day was eating the steamed buns. They look like the dumplings I had yesterday but here they call them buns. We watched them make them through a window. These are supposed to be the best steamed buns in Shanghai. Alot of people waited a long time in line for them.

While we were waiting alot of people kept coming up to me and Skylar. They wanted to take pictures of us and with us. One lady even made sure I had my hat on!

Mom let us buy meat on a stick from a cart. It was really good. Skylar had two!

We walked alot after that and saw lots of shops and buildings. I got wet paint on my new coat. I thought my mom would kill me but she didn't.

We were really tired.

Making steamed buns in Shanghai

More from first morning

I have just woken up and Will A. sent me a letter on Webkinz. We can get it here in China but mom and dad won't let us play too much.

The building next to me looks like a peacock on top.

At the hotel I am in you get to eat in our room. We are going shopping soon because mom and dad forgot our jackets!

In our room, Skylar found Chinese chocolate so he is begging for it.

Shanghai is a city like New York but it has many many more buildings.

First morning in Shanghai - from Grayson

I have reached China and am in a really fancy hotel.

4 MORE DAYS TILL WE GET ZOE! I am so happy we are so close to meeting her.

The hotel I am in is so cool. They have a 25 inch TV on the wall but barely any channels. At the airport I saw a really nice guy wiht a sign saying Monica Hagewood, David Hagewood. Soon I showed mom the sign but we didn't get to ride in a limo. I thought we would. The car we rode in was a small van.

The airplane I rode in was great. There was food and I napped almost the whole way to China. (mom says oh, no I didn't!)

The plane to Tokyo took 11 hours. Mom, Dad, Skylar and I met a really nice woman. Her grandchildren live in Japan. So that is how we met her. I really wanted to go on the fancy part of the plane but I couldn't.

This picture is from the Shanghai airport!! We are so tired!

We are on the way to China!!!

June 10th

We are traveling to LA now. We have figured out that it will be daylight practically the whole time we are traveling to China - 24 hours with all the flights. We will be riding on nine different planes during our trip. The next flight will be about 12 hours and will take us to Tokyo. Then a 2 and a half hour flight to Shanghai, China