Almost there!

We've almost made it. Our consulate appointment is tomorrow morning very early. The boys passports have been processed on time (with a double fee to expedite them in time so that we can make our train to Hong Kong. It will be well worth it!!!).

We have not seen the sun except for the one red one through the gloom that evening. I think that hurts us almost more than anything. Kellin looks like someone punched him in both eyes. The cigarette smoke is horrible and is allowed almost everywhere- and people smoke even where there are signs not to.

We went to see the animals today because we desperately needed to walk in some reasonably fresh air. It was fun. It rained but it was welcome because we were outside. Kade loves to play in the rain so he will fit right in at home! We didn't melt but we were quite soggy! It made everyone tired and that was a good thing. Nighttime has been amazingly easy and we have been getting pretty reasonable sleep.

Kai's "witching hour" seems to be about 4pm. It has not been terrible. Karwen keeps saying "this seems very familiar". It's all part of the process. Kade has finally decided that he can let loose. He has been very tightly wound for so long and boy can he let loose! He is quite the comedian and parrots our English back in the most hilarious way.

A lot of things here are the same. I won't go on because much of it would be sad. Our guides have been fantastic! We have had lots of time to talk with them one on one and that has been good and bad. This is a terribly broken system and the kids are the ones who suffer the most. We are definitely not on vacation in any way.

We miss home and everyone there. We are so limited here as to what we can do with the kids to help things along. We are willing to face the trip home just to be there! If only someone would hand us a "beam us up, Scotty" button!

N and K