Breaking us in easy...

Funny thing...after we narrowed down our list of possible places to stay in DC, we discovered from Kristi and Ian that our hotel of choice was just minutes from our adoption agency, AWAA. We, of course, took advantage of that opportunity and stopped by for a quick visit.

THE conference room at America World...

We would have loved to meet our Family Coordinator, Amy, but she has moved on to another position. As it happens, we were unable to connect with any of the China coordinators...little did we know they were busy with the arrival of REFERRALS that day! Duni, the Africa Program Director, stepped up and served as tour guide through AWAA's cozy, pleasant, yet demure, little office space. Not a word of referrals was mentioned, but there was a noticeable preoccupation in the China coordinators room. I played the consumate tourist and made everybody pose for pictures...no apologies...it's all in the name of blogging, right?

Duni and the girls...

It was kind of nice to complete the mental picture...this is the place that received the all-consuming dossier that was our ticket to Caroline...this is where THE package was opened and blessings poured out in the form of 34 REFERRALS! This is where THE CALL was made, just a few minutes after 2 pm that blustery November afternoon, and our lives changed forever. I think it was worthy of a few photos, eh?

Next on the agenda was lunch at Wegman's, an eclectic gourmet grocery story with a fabulous buffet, with another of our Guangdong families! Kristin, along with her mom, Maria, and big sister, SuSu, met us for a quick visit after a morning at Vacation Bible School. We knew we'd see them at the reunion later in the week, but we couldn't turn down the chance for a little extra time with friends. We stuffed ourselves on everything from Italian to Chinese and had a relaxing lunch time chat while the little ones played. I had to laugh when we attempted a group picture of the little girls...Mickey just couldn't resist the temptation...what is it with my kids and rabbit ears???? Someday I'll have to revisit the infamous Christmas photo shoot of 2006...it wasn't pretty and there were way too many rabbits present.

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After lunch and a little gelato, we headed to the National Air and Space Museum Annex at Dulles Airport. And, yet again, my stellar organizational parenting skills were demonstrated when we pulled into the parking lot and I realized we had left the stroller back at the hotel. WHERE IS MY BRAIN??? Oh, and Caroline passed out about 30 seconds before that. Soooooo...Kylie graciously shared her stroller and saved my back. Caroline power-napped and a while later, Kristi and I were chasing two cute little Chinese girls who were squealing their way through the museum! Ian and Jon were in hog heaven, and we spent more time looking for them than chasing any of the kids! Mickey had a pretty grand time, as well.

We did have a run-in with one of the security guards at the end of the day. Mr. Congeniality was actually the one who inspected our bags at the beginning of the day and specifically told me NOT to get my sunblock out of my bag while I was in the building. Yeah, 'cause I was planning to slime it on all the planes. And, later on, there he was in all his glory, blocking our way in our attempt to meet up with our husbands about ten minutes before closing. And wouldn't you know it...he was the one who nearly had an aneurysm when poor Abby accidentally knocked over a queue line pole in the entry way. He was so rude that I facetiously replied, "Maybe we should just wait outside!" He agreed a little too enthusiastically. Stand back, buddy, or I'll pull out my sunscreen.

Believe it or not, the best group shot...

Bad lighting, TIRED kids...

For a little hilarity, check out the bloopers on the slide show...

And my most favorite part of the day? A little front seat scuffle between two sisters. Of the China variety. The girls had gotten along famously all day and had even cuddled up in Kylie's stroller for a good 30 minutes, smiling and laughing all the while. And while we were chatting up a plan for the next day's sightseeing, the girls decided it was time to start acting more like the sisters they are. You gotta love Kylie's indifference in the face of Caroline's indignance. I cannot tell you how hard I laughed when I saw the video. Just in case you haven't seen it, here it is one more time...pictures of the rest of the day are below that.

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And just a few shots of the museum's attractions...