Nanning fei ji Guangzhou...

Catching up from our long commute yesterday!

I cried a little.

{Thanks for the shirts, Fannie! They actually helped get me through the day. CHEESECAKE WARNING: It didn't matter if I was looking at him do somersaults across the crowded floor or squeeze my hand in excitement, his shirt was a lightening bolt reminder every time.}

It was a long day.

Breakfast as usual, then back to the room to pack. Easy enough. Roman was so cute, asking, "Can I take this to Guangzhou (toothbrush)?!" "Can I take THIS to Guangzhou?! (washcloth)" and then squealing after each yes and stuffing it in his backpack.

I knew we were going to need to go out for lunch because we wouldn't eat again until the airport at night (and boys are always hungry). But when we tried to leave, he started trying to carry all the bags- ready for GZ. He was not happy when I wouldn't let him bring the luggage with us and was whimpering "qu nali (where going)? No Guangzhou?"

 We decided ice cream would hold us over just fine.  It's actually the first time he hasn't passed on the sweets.

Then it was time for The (first) Great Wait.

We had to check out of the hotel, but our driver couldn't come get us for two hours.

Of course, we had all of our luggage so we couldn't exactly tour the city.

We stuck it out in the lobby, but by the time our guide arrived I was nearing the edge. 

Then Cale shot me with some ugly words. He didn't mean it... well, actually, he probably did mean it, but he said it that way because he was as exhausted as I was. And because we were reaching the peak of Mt. Stressmore, a horrified look just kinda flashed across my face before I could control it and I started crying. He felt awful and let me explain that it's just hard. I'm tired and yesterday was just hard.

He got it. And even though Roman was off the charts in the van after that (SO EXCITED TO RIDE IN AN AIRPLANE), Cale took his hand and whispered "I love you." Cried again. 

Cale has not been perfect. He's had his moments of humanness, but considering all I'm asking of him... LAWD. He is my favorite Cale in the whole wide world. And I've been around it twice.

We were supposed to go with our guide to pick up Roman's passport, but for some reason, they dropped us off at another hotel. I cried again. I just wanted it over. We were only there about 20 minutes before they came back to get us. I'm still confused about why we didn't just wait in the van, but whatevs.

Next stop: airport. 

Little guy was a lil nervous since he's afraid of heights.

I cried a little here too because I knew it meant it he was really leaving his home.

We said our goodbyes to our guide and hung out outside of security sharing some bread and water, because we didn't know what our options were on the other side of the magnetic wand. We were expecting a 3 1/2 hour wait before boarding, so we looked around and grabbed some real food.

Our flight was actually moved back up, so we walked to find our gate... and Roman SAW HIS FIRST AIRPLANE... EVER. 

The joy and delight coming out of him was utterly contagious!

And BONUS: easy entertainment while we wait.

We boarded at 8:05PM and he loved almost every second it- save, the seatbelts. In Nanning, kids don't have to buckle up. Heck, even toddlers ride on the motorbikes/scooters that are zooming around. In the van, he would walk around, stand next to the driver, roll in the floor... I had to find a flight attendant that spoke English to tell him in Mandarin to stay buckled. Other than that, he did great on the flight! It was just over an hour before we landed in GZ and a nice introduction for what's to come later next week!

We finally got to our room about 11:30PM, super grateful to Momma Marriott for arranging an upgrade to the suite for us! We didn't know that we needed the space, but now that we have it, everyone is happier. The boys crashed hard until I woke them early for today's appointment. To be continued....