Monday with Maren

Yesterday we finished out the afternoon with swimming at the hotel pool (it is an outdoor pool...sort of on a rooftop). We then walked to a restaurant our agency had recommended, and then walked through a pretty park (most of the parks in China are more landscaping and not playground equipment as we are used to seeing).

This morning, Maren slept in. She has been sleeping well during the night. After breakfast and skyping our family, we took a taxi to Shamien Island. We walked around and did some bargaining with the local vendors. We used a friend's baby bjorn carrier, and Maren enjoyed her time. We ate lunch at a Subway (we were so excited...it tasted just like it does in the U.S.). We returned back to the hotel for Maren's nap. This evening we ate at our hotel (Maren is not fond of much American style food, so we ate at a Chinese restaurant), and then have spent some nice time playing in the hotel room (beach ball, books, and bubbles).  We are looking forward to Maren being able to play in a larger space than the hotel room. I wonder if she thinks she is going to grow up in a hotel room since the first 10 days with us are in a hotel! 

We are eager to get home and introduce Maren to her brothers and sister.  We are blessed to have caring family members who are taking great care of Mora, Bryce, and Bennett while we are in China.  They are having a wonderful time seeing family and friends.  We attached a photo of Mora, Bryce, and Bennett acting like pirates at a restaurant celebrating their great-grandparents anniversary.