Dozens and dozens of fish pictures, and a few dumplings

Today was the aquarium. It was a hit with the girls and it wasn't nearly as strange as J. and I remember it being. This either means it actually wasn't as strange or we know better what to expect and appreciate the quirkiness. Y.'s expression on first seeing the huge fish in the tanks in front of her was priceless. This was definitely a first for her. I didn't get the initial reaction, but these photos were not long afterwards and she was still transfixed.

The first bit of oddity you get to is the koi feeding pond, where for a small fee, you can buy a baby bottle filled with fish food to feed them. The fish are very good at using the baby bottles. Yes, this part is still weird.

The picture I took of P. and R. didn't come out so well because we weren't allowed to use a flash and this part of the aquarium was very dark.

Y. then got the camera (which I'm pretty sure she knows how to work better at this point than I do) and took pictures the rest of the morning. I'll share a few with you, but if you were hoping to actually see 100's of fish pictures, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed.

You get the idea.

There are two shows at the aquarium. The first is the sea lion show featuring a giant sea lion named Coco. He was pretty funny and I tried to upload the video of him dancing to Gangnam Style, but it was too long and Blogger told me it exceeded the limit. Too bad. You'll have to settle for a picture, taken by Y., of course.

To make up for the lack of sea lions, how about a short video of children looking at fish?

The final show is the mermaid show. We've now seen it twice and are still a little fuzzy on what the story line actually is. But there is a mermaid... in the large fish tank. What more do you really need to know?

                                      

The afternoon was spent hanging about in our room. While it's tiring being out and about all day, in some ways it is a little easier. Too much down time can also be hard. R. has been doing quite well, but Y. is feeling pretty fragile these days and doesn't have a lot of emotional margin. She has been with us a week now, and the reality of what it means to leave everything and join a new family is really starting to hit. Plus, we have discovered that this bizarre nomadic hotel life gives older newly adopted children a rather odd perspective of their new parents. For instance, R. told our guide the other day that her new parents don't know how to cook. We only go out to eat and there is no kitchen in our house. I remember H. being totally and completely shocked when we got back home and she discovered I could drive. Right now, I'm afraid Y. thinks she has landed with the incompetent parents. We can't speak the language and get by with gestures and very simple words and phrases. We are dependent on others for just about everything. And all we do is walk around, shop, and loll about the hotel room. She isn't feeling quite as though she won the parent lottery.

At dinner time we headed out for a walk and then to find some food. We found a historical marker of some sort, so we took a picture. (Isn't that the point of historical markers?)

And then we found a little restaurant that served freshly made dumplings. They were pretty good and my dumpling-loving girls ate quite a few. (J. and I both commented on how much H. would have enjoyed them as well.) I thought I would play foodie for a moment and take a picture.

And the dumpling eaters.

The day ended well. We flew paper airplanes and J. got out his juggling balls. There were lots of giggles and smiles. A very nice change from the afternoon.