Eleanor Grace Xile Tripp Spy is officially part of our family!

This morning Xile woke up very sad, and cried a little bit, but cheered up considerably when we went to breakfast. She is a great eater!

After breakfast, we completed all the paperwork, gave our donation to the orphanage, distributed gifts to orphanage staff, then answered a few questions, got Xile's footprint in red ink on a document, met with the Provincial Notary, answered a few more questions, distributed a few more gifts, and paid fees, and . . . Xile was ours.

We spent the rest of the morning at People's Park, a short walk from our hotel. It costs about .50 for all of us to enter, and once inside, there's lots to see and do. We fed giant carp, rented a little motor-boat, which Libby steered expertly around the lagoon, and I had an adventurous time asking people where the rest-rooms were.

We had a very good lunch at the hotel, and Xile again ate like a champ. Then we took the girls to the pool. Libby had fun "swimming" with a floatie, and Xile was happy to wade in the shallow water. Then, back in the room, Xile took a nap, while Libby and I enjoyed Mom-and-me time, playing games on PBS Kids website.

Tonight I could no longer face the buffet at the hotel, so I asked one of the hotel staff to suggest a restaurant. She told me to try Rain Stone, on Xin Min Road. It took about a half hour for us to walk there, and it was a wonderful, interesting walk. We passed many little shops, braved the crazed motor skooters and bikes to cross several streets, and enjoyed the lovely tropical evening. The restaurant was very pretty, with green rattan chairs, and green and orange lanterns. The food was good, and the service was excellent, especially since no one spoke any English, and my Mandarin didn't seem to work. I did manage to get them to understand beer, though they had a good laugh over my mispronunciation! Whatever we ordered worked out fine, especially for Xile, the eating machine!

Libby fell asleep, so we took a cab back to the hotel. Guess how much it cost? Seven yuan, which is about .90!!!! Nanning would be a good place to retire, as everything is ridiculously inexpensive, and tipping is sort of insulting. Most people decline tips.

Tomorrow Matthew the Guide has promised us a trip to Walmart, which Pierre actually seems to be looking forward to. I may skip out and go to the zoo or something--except there's always the possibility that Mattthew will throw something good in at the last minute.

Good night!