Tea Party

After we got back from the jewelry mall our guide had us quickly fill out some paperwork for the visa and I headed back to our room. As soon as I walked in Zhao Lei brought me over to show me her new suitcase. She and Baba had gone out and bought it at a store right next to our hotel. Actually it is right behind the McDon*lds that is right next to our hotel. It is a big suitcase and pretty nice. Ray said he paid 250 yuan for it ($40). Zhau Lei wanted she and I to pack up her clothes right then. We folded and packed up all of her clothes, even though we aren't leaving for a few days.
I lost track of time last night and hadn't realized that it was 11:00 pm before I turned off the lights and had Zhao Lei go to bed. Bad mommy. She was exhausted when we woke her up today. She didn't want to get up or go downstairs to eat breakfast. We couldn't explain that we were all going to see a temple, so we insisted that we were hungry and we all had to go eat. She didn't mope once we were down there, but she didn't smile at all. She sat in front of the bus with Michael and seemed to have fun. She got bored at the temple and was very tired of any shopping we did. She played with the lttle kids a lot at the temple and at lunch. She really likes little children. After lunch she was clearly very tired, so it was perfect that she and Ray stayed home from the jewelry mall.
I kind of forced Zhao Lei and Ray out of the room and to the island. I had seen a couple of things that I wanted and I just wanted to get them and cross it off my list mentally. Neither of them wanted to go. They weren't hungry and they just wanted to stay in the room. I knew Zhao Lei should get out of the room for a little while, so decided to bring her to the playground behind Lucy's. I picked up a Happy Meal for $3 for myself and we took a taxi over. It turned out that there were no lights on at the playground so we all went to the store by the back entrance of the White Swan Hotel. I shopped for the things I wanted and then we all left. We had bought Zhao Lei a tea set, so when we got back she and I cleaned it out in the sink. She is very neat and even cleans her plate and silverware before we eat when we go out. Not a compulsive thing, but clearly there has been a reason to take care of things and keep them clean. I suggested we have a tea party with her big pink bear and little stuffed octopus thing. She thought it was funny, so we made tea and she served myself, Ray, the bear, the octopus and herself tea. She then served us another cup with a cookie and then another with a cookie and a cute piece of candy we had bought earlier. Ray and I made a point to be silly and have fun and we know she enjoyed it. We finally had to stop so she could take a bath, watch a movie and go to sleep. It was a good night for all of us.