Happy Birthday Kelsey!

It's hard to believe that Kelsey's 19! It seems like it was just yesterday that we were walking her around in a stroller in the park... oh wait -- it was just yesterday except it wasn't Kelsey, it was Kylie! We walked across the street, actually under the street, to another park for a late morning stroll after breakfast. Yue Xiu Park is the largest in Guangzhou and has 90+ acres of walking trails, beautifully landscaped, that wind up a hill. At the top of the hill is a soccer stadium that we think may have been used for some of the Olympic competitions. Along the paths we saw people doing Tai Chi, a group of women performing some type of ballet dance, some very traditional Chinese music performers, a man training a cat -- it was such an interesting collection of people in the park.

This was the sign at the entrance of the park -- thought it was appropriate to have Kelsey's birthdate in Chinese lights. The park entrance was packed with people waiting in line to renew their annual pass. We had to wait for maybe 10 minutes just to buy tickets to get in!

Just a few of the sights along the way.

A bright-eyed smiley Kylie.

We celebrated Kelsey's birthday with a very nice dinner at Cafe Veranda. Kennan and Hank braved the dinner buffet again and struggled through the all-you-can-eat steak, fried shrimp, braised pork short ribs, duck breast, roasted chicken, steamed veggies, and ice cream. Kelsey loved her fettucini. Once we returned to the room, we sang Happy Birthday in Chinese and shared a mango cheesecake that was elaborately decorated and quite yummy!

Kylie sporting her new purse.

Another hilarious translation on a sign at the park.

We also went to Shamian Island to do a little shopping. It is an area that caters more to tourists and is the location of a number of foreign consulates. Many of the shop owners speak decent English and they have become very adept at their sales techniques. We spent a few hours there roaming the streets and going in and out of shops. Apparently the area is a great spot for wedding and fashion photography -- we saw at least three different brides having portrait photos taken in the gardens.

Kylie did not want to miss anything during her day -- she went strong all the way through dinner and then fell asleep before her head hit the pillow. It was a good day with her -- she is definitely feeling more comfortable with all of us and we are learning to read her better and better each day. Only 1 more full day for us here before we head home.

Hank