U.S. Immigration and Boat ride!

This morning,we had our U.S. Consulate appointment so Sloan could get a U.S. visa with her Chinese passport to allow her to travel to the United States. Because of the additional paperwork, when she steps on U.S. soil, she becomes a U.S. citizen.  

After that, we went to a huge park across from our hotel.  We decided to go on the paddle boats. Two of us could paddle at a time so we all switched off.  Even Sloan wanted to paddle and she mimicked our leg motions!  She also wanted to help Josh steer and kept grabbing for the control.  I love how she wanted to participate and get in on the action!  The boys then went on a water ride very similar to the log ride at Great America. Sloan saw the boys on it and she wanted to go on that too by pointing at it and trying to get out of our hold.  

We walked on a pretty path with a lot of trees and even saw some tall bamboo. We also noticed a black wolf or some kind of dog by the edge of the woods. That kind of freaked Kale and I out!  We've noticed a few other stray dogs throughout the trip.  

It was so humid out so Kale got some kind of grape soda which he said was the best soda he ever had, Wren got an orange one and Sloan and I got popsicles.  It might have been Sloan's first one!  She was a mess, but not giving it up til it was finished!  Normally she is a very neat eater!  Sloan fell asleep on the hike, which was good because we can never get her to relax enough to take a nap!  

On the hike, we saw a huge soccer stadium!  We also saw some 50 year old men biking with five 100 pound bags of concrete in the back for some project they were working on. We have seen this manuel labor quite often in China!  Josh is always amazed, points it out to me, and takes a picture!  Something else we've noticed in China is how many people smoke!  People are smoking outside and even inside some places!  Wren always covers his face and sticks his head in his shirt when we come near it!  

People at the park were very friendly. They love to use their English and say hello to us.  Kale always gets a kick out of it because of how it sounds, Hel-loo! I told him I'm sure they get a kick out of us saying nee-how for hi and she-she for thank you.  

Another friendly gesture was when a little girl offered a grape to Sloan and of course she took it because she is Miss Snacker Extraordinaire! We taught her the more sign in sign language and she picked it up right away and now uses it quite regularly! We also taught her to say hi and when she did we all clapped and smiled and she did the same! 

We ordered Papa Johns pizza for supper and then met up with all the families at the hotel outdoor playground to hang out one last time!