We arrive in China!

In darkness we drove to the airport, kids barely awake, ready to embark on our latest journey...Lydia's heritage trip, the "Fuling Homecoming Reunion" as it has been called. The boys were very excited to be flying again, as they haven't since they were little. Sad, but we didn't get any pics of them leaving the US! Once that stuff was packed into our bags, it was a very daunting task to get things out, even the camera!

Arriving in Newark, we immediatley saw several families with little Fuling girlies and found out we were traveling with 7 other families to Beijing. A little greasy lunch in the airport and we piled onto the plane.

After trading seats with people so that we were seated by the kiddos, Lydia excitedly put on her buckle. I said "where are we going"... "home" she said! But after several reminders, I could convince her that we were going to China, and she would eventually reply "China!" when I asked.

The flight was numbingly long, as we had anticipated. But, it was comforting to know that there were several others mommas with their little ones. Many Chinese people were curious about the girls and often asked us questions about why they were with us and why there were several of us. My favorite was from several older women milling about who encountered Jason trailing Lydia down the aisle. "Mama Chinese?" they asked, hoping to find an answer to their questions (we know they are talking about us often, and some people try to inquire). So, Jason begins a lengthy explanation on why we have Lydia, only to find that the women had already exhausted their very limited English with their two word phrase---they understood nothing he was saying!

You feel that you are constantly either eating or sleeping on flights like this...a way to pass the time I guess. Thankfully, there were screens on each seatback that had movies and simple video games, so the boys were occupied. Unfortunately, Lydia refused to sleep and closed her eyes only one hour of the flight! Exhausting to say the least, and sad for the lady sitting next to us who had to hear her scream and say "no mommy" when I held her tightly to sleep.

During the last hour, she FINALLY slept and when we got off the plane, our seatmates in front and back told us what a mischevious and strongwill she must have and must be spoiled. They said it with smiles, adding that she was so pretty too, so I didn't take much offense.

Retrieving our bags and customs were problem-free and our guides were quick to meet us. We soon had a whole area of excited running girls, amid piles of bags, droopy parents, and gawking Chinese. The girls played ring-around-the-rosy and were sweet to include Lydia (most of the girls are ages 4-8, with Lydia being the youngest Fulinger on the trip).

We arrived at the hotel around 5:00 pm, and were greeted by MANY other girlies, by this time they were quite wild (from sitting in the plane for so long) and we adults were SO tired!!! of course Jason was concerned about eating something, I just wanted to get my bags upstairs and try to sleep. It is the most uncomfortable tiredness to be up for over 26 hours, knowing that you won't be able to sleep when you go to bed anyway! But we survived.

Seeing the girls made me so teary---they are all so beautiful and sweet. They all seem perfectly adjusted, smart, and in love with their parents. It is difficult to even think that they once were orphans because they are so bonded and full of love that it seems that they have been a part of these families from birth. Only the color of skin and shape of eyes can give away their story. And that is why we are here...so that they can learn about who they are and what they have become. What strong little girls to endure such hardship that they have! In all we have 43 girls here, with over 100 people in our group---we'll see how it is traveling with such a large group of individuals!

We have already met several kiddos whom the boys have attached to. One is a 9 year old brother to a Fulinger; and another, is a SWEET outgoing little Fulinger, Emma Kate, who has surprised the boys by being a Star Wars and Spiderman freak! She can talk lightsabers and creature/character names with the best of the boys (and only 5 years old too)...I'm sure we will be hanging around with them often!