US Visa in hand! August 4, 2008

Up Close and Personal

Our work here is done.  Eva has her visa now (not her American Express, Brandy).  The appointment itself was no big deal.  The Embassy was highly secure, and we had to pass through security like at the airport.  Once in, we just had to pay and show our passports.  It was ready a few hours later.  We went home for a nap afterwards.  Eva slept 3 hours!  We just chilled out today in our hotel.  We went out for dinner in an area called the Opera District.  It’s very pretty, especially at night because it’s all lit up.  We went to a kids area we saw the other night where they have a small carnival.  It was fun to watch the kids.  Many of them would come up to see the baby or to practice saying “hello,”  and they would giggle and get shy.  We’re in for the night, and we’re checking out tomorrow.  We have made reservations to go to Sa Pa for the next few days, which is near the border with China in a mountainous region.  To get to Sa Pa from Hanoi, you take an overnight sleeper train (yes, we’re nuts), spend the first day, overnight in a hotel, spend another day, then back to Hanoi by overnight sleeper again.  Hopefully we will be able to post from there too.  I can assure you there will be lots of pictures taken.  It looks beautiful.

Thanks for all of your comments.  It’s really fun for us to read them.  We are homesick, so it make us feel better when we read them!

Here are some more pictures from our day:

Eva checks out the traffic from our window

At the American Embassy

Eva and her buddy Minh (Kirk providing entertainment in background)

Eva watches the downpour outside

Ha Long Bay August 4, 2008

We visited Ha Long Bay yesterday. It’s one of the most famous scenes from Vietnam.  We drove to Ha Long Bay from Hanoi in a mini bus with another adoptive famiy staying here.  It’s about 3 hours each way.  The babies did well considering the heat and lack of space.  Eva had what Kirk refers to as RBS “Restless Baby Syndrome.”  Oh Eva – just wait until the plane ride!!  We then toured the bay on a junk boat, and we had a fresh seafood lunch with shrimp, crab and carp.  We even stopped and went inside one of the formations.  Here’s a few pictures from our day.

Cruisin'

 

Napping on the way there

Seeing the countryside

 

Getting on our Junk boat

The Bay

Us at the bay

Exploring the caves - Eva was the main attraction for this group of girls

 

Here’s Kirk’s groaner for the day…”Ha Long ’til we get there?”

Anyway – we fell into bed when we got back, and we’re just chilling out this morning before our embassy appointment today.  That’s our last official step.  We’ve had no luck changing our tickets, so we’re considering heading to the hills for a change of pace. 

We talked to Colin yesterday.  He’s now in Minnesota with the O’Neill’s.  He had a great time in Iowa with Grandma and Grandpa.  He’s already been to the zoo, and I think they are off to the beach today.  We’ve been showing Eva lots of pictures and videos of Colin.  He’s going to love her.  The funniest thing she does is growls like a little tiger. 

More later – thanks for checking on us!