Reunited.

Happy to be home and it is like Hadley has always been with us. Such a good baby and sleeping 8+ hour stretches at night already. Eating rice cereal and pears. Doesn't seem to like bananas. Starting to giggle. We are all happy, healthy and adjusted to our "home" time zone. This post concludes this blog, thanks for reading.

We're outta here!

I'm sitting.

Okay, now I'm sitting with a hat on.

Uh, mom?

Oh, rats! Man, that's hard!

If you are reading this post then we have started our 26 hour journey home. See you soon!

Our last day in Hanoi

Out and about today we snapped some shots along the way.
A typical Lacquerware shop, bright and colorful.

T-shirts for sale all throughout the Old Quarter.

This is one of our favorite intersections to watch the traffic merge. There are more close calls than we bother counting. Always a challenge for pedestrian traffic.

We have been told that there are approximately 4 million motorbikes on the road in Hanoi. They are parked everywhere!

Many still use pedal bikes. Surprisingly I see a lot of school children (who don't look a bit frightened) in uniform making their way to and from school each day. Picture Kaylee McQuillin riding amongst speeding taxi's, motobikes and cars on her way to school.

It never ceases to amaze me what people carry on their bikes. A bicycle is a very valuable means of transportation around Hanoi.

We had a good day, it has been cooler than a week ago so we have been out and about more. We both have really enjoyed our time here in Vietnam. We only wish we could have seen more of the country and of course had Stella here with us. It is going to be so great to see Stella on Saturday and be able to introduce her to Hadley.

The hospital around the corner.

On our list of things to do this trip was to find the hospital where Hadley was born. You aren't going to believe what we discovered. The hospital is located not 500 feet from our hotel and we have walked by it several times during our stay. I recall noticing the many pregnant women coming and going from the building.

We entered through this gate without any problems. Once I took my camera out we were promptly "shooed" from the area. I managed to get one shot inside the courtyard and it is the photo of the mural you see above. I am baffled at the many situations when we have been taking photos and been scolded by someone. Each time it has happened it has not involved taking photos of the people. I was a little annoyed by this man's persistence and I wish I could have explained to him that I believed we had a right to be there. It would do nobody any good if I was in a Vietnamese jail so we honored his request and left the premises.

We're coming home Saturday!!!

We got the news today that the US embassy would issue Hadley's Visa at 4:00pm Friday. So we were able to move our departure up a few days to Saturday.

We went out for our morning walk and did some shopping along the way. We met this woman and because she was the most charming woman I decided I would buy some of her goods. I started with the traditional conical hat and asked that she put it on Hadley and pose for a photo. We asked her if she would help us buy a jade buddha and she happily did so. After comparing prices at about 5 different shops we made the big $2.00 purchase. Check that one off the list.




The Hanoi Opera House is not far from our hotel. It was built by the french in 1901. In my opinion it is the most spectacular building in Hanoi

Sidewalk cafes are all over the place, but only during meal times. Most of the time the food looks, well, interesting and smells wonderful but neither Chris nor I were adventuresome enough to pull up a stool. Maybe next time.

The Vietnamese are always cleaning up the sidewalks outside their shops. They sweep the debris right into the gutter then someone later comes by and hauls it off in a huge rolling garbage can.

Poolside Hadley

Medical exam.

A very handsome Dr. Frank from Germany conducted the required medical exam. He did a very thorough job and signed off on all the paperwork necessary for the Visa. Hadley was not happy about all the poking and prodding but fortunately it only lasted a few minutes. The best part is that she was easily consoled by me and of course that means a lot since we have only known each other for 2 weeks.
Now we wait for the US official(s) to notify us that her application has been approved. Needless to say, our cell phone is attached to us at all times until we get that call. Once we have a visa in hand we can come home. In the meantime we have been finishing up our shopping, we spent 1 million vietnamese dollars the other day, my first million dollar shopping spree. There are a few more sights to see so we aren't quite ready to leave. We have been looking for a piece of art to bring home with us but we are a little intimidated by the authentication and price negotiating process. Our time is short here so it might not happen.