Beihai Visit

So the post right before this one I actually wrote last night, but the internet went down and I could not post..so I copied it and am posting now....
Florie slept until 11 pm and i was able to move her to her crib...she was just exhausted and emotionally spent.  She only took one ounce of her bottle at 11 pm, then slept till 5 am again when she woke crying.  She still wanted us to hold her close.  The boys had been up since 330 or 4...jet lag is hard on them.  So we all started playing, and she giggled like crazy with them while William and I got dressed.  breakfast went well, and then it was time to head to Beihai..it took about 3 hours by our van to get there. She did GREAT on the trip there....and took a nap with William holding her.  Our first stop was the orphanage.....we wanted to get pictures of the outside, and of her finding place outside of the orphanage gates.  BUT, we were lucky enough for the two nannies who had brought her to us in Nanning were out, and they came to talk to us...then 3 other nannies showed up, including Florie's "ayita" as she calls her.  Florie lit up and was smiling from ear to ear.  t We stayed about 20 minutes, and were able to find out a few more details....like the fact that she likes WHITE rice over fried....and apples :)  we could so easily see how much all of the nannies LOVED Florie.  They knew her, they loved seeing that she has 3 big brothers to love and protect her.  They had been so sad since she had left, and said they felt better now.  They did bring out  a little girl who is Flories' buddy who is getting adopted next week to somewhere in the US...she was pretty excited to see Florie, but Florie was more interested in the nannies.  THEN, it was time for us to go.  That was really really hard on Florie (as we expected)....big sobs, big screams, big tears.  I felt so badly for her.  She hung on to me the entire time, but pointing out the window.When we went to eat at the restaurant (about 5 minutes later), she warmed back up....and ate well (white rice, of course!).
we took a walk around the center square of Beihai, and saw the big shell statue with a pearl and sea gods around it.  There was an awesome 130 year old banyan tree in the square, and many beautiful golden raintrees like the ones in Tennessee.  William is already planning on getting one for our yard when we get home.  I bet we had our picture taken 20 times while we walked around the square.  The blonde boys AND Florie were quite a sight, I think.
we then went to Silver Beach, another important part of Beihai.  There is a big port there where people take boats to Vietnam.  The beach was busy, and we walked out to the water.  There were MILLIONS of hermit crabs (literally!) on the sand.  Ben had a ball trying to catch them!  Florie loved the sand....but boy it was hot and humid out. I was sweating like crazy! 
On the way home, Florie played peek a boo with Jack for the first hour. She fed him cheerios, and laughed and laughed.  She then got tired and cried for a bit before falling asleep in my arms. She slept the rest of the way home.  The boys did well on the trip too..it was a long day but i am SO glad we went.  Now we can answer questions about her city, and we have pictures and videos of her nanny....probably will not show her soon, but we do have it for when she is ready.
we ate in tonight...leftover pizza, and noodles from the lounge. Florie ate a ton again :)  She had a nice warm bath and fell asleep a few minutes ago on Baba....we successfully kept Alex and Ben up until 8:20, so they should not be up as early in the am.  jack, on the other hand, fell asleep on the bus about 5:30 and he is still sleeping. we have tried to wake him, unsuccessfully.
Tomorrow, we are going to the provincial museum, and then Friday to the People's Park.  Our guide Mary is going with me to a few restaurants in the morning to "clarify" what Alex can eat.  we will do that the FIRST day in Guangzhou.  Heidi, which restaurant in the hotel did you eat in for lunch or dinner?
good....lots of American choices too.
I hope everyone is well at home..I miss the pups and hope they are doing well.
We are doing well overall. Last night  was really hard, but, expected at some point.  She is one cute girl who LOVES to play!  She  is starting love her brothers a lot, and really really loves her Baba!
off to bed soon...it is wednesday night here!
Love,
Eve