Who Knew Taking a Picture was so Difficult?!

When we last left our intrepid world travelers they were heading down Highway 41! Well not quite Highway 41 but a Chinese Interstate to apply for Camerons's passport.  Its now been 24 hours since then and we needed those hours to recover!   When we got to the passport office in Pingdingshan, pop. 3,000,000,  we had to wake Cam up and we didn't realize he needed photos taken.  Just as we get rushed into the little photo office attached to the passport bureau our guides wiggle us through the crowd of people who must of thought who are these jokers and why do they have two of our kids?! Well, you didn't want them for starters is what I wanted to say!  The stares seem more pronounced this time and Lainey certainly notices them and that bothers me more. But I digress.  Cam has known us for just over 24 hours at this point and any sudden movements really don't sit all that well, so getting out of the comfy van and into a makeshift photo booth of gold cloth and 40 people all talking very loud and pointing just set him off with a crying fit,  We tried food to calm him with food and toys and it worked some.  But trying to get a not quite 2 year old to sit still long enough for a picture by someone who is behind a mirror and tapping so loudly it was scaring me, all the while an arm is sliding in from outside the curtain to hold a piece of white cardboard in front of my face to give a blank background behind Cam's head!  Nope didn't work come on out.  Later we found out one of the workers told our guide to tell us to tell Cam to stop crying. Yeah that was going to help too.  So Christina tried holding him, nope.  I found some bread left over in a wrapper from breakfast, worked maybe just enough? In 25 minutes they had to get one good photo, right?   The guide says they are working on it, trying to photo shop some pics together to make it work, lets go next door to start the paperwork part, we'll see if we need to come back.  So we go in to get the visa portion moving and what do you need there? Another photo.  Are you kidding me????!!! So here we go again, just in a bigger room with all windows behind us and webcams to take these pictures.  We held up coats, we held up folders, used extra people anything to try a better background.  Not sure what genius developed this system but it wasn't a photog!  Finally they took Christina behind the desk and pulled out the cable to the webcam to look backwards and I guess got it to work because after 20 minutes they moved us on.  It should be interesting to see these passport pics, I imagine its eyes closed and mouth wide open from the scream! 

 

The vpn is giving me fits tonight so let me wrap it up.  After all the photo attempts they said they had enough to make it work.  The passport should come Friday and we'll get to see. 

 

Earlier on Tuesday we received the official adoption paperwork and in China's eyes we are the legal guardians now.  We took the obligatory photo in front of the red wall just like we did with Lainey.  And just like with Lainey our guide waited until the end when she told everyone the insignia on the red wall congratulates you on receiving you wedding certificate!  Forgot that tidbit!  Many people have that photo!

 

Today other families did the passport trips so we stayed around the hotel, 6 hours in a van and 90 minutes of passports earned the break.   We walked to a near by park and just timed it right I guess that the elementary school we passed was letting out! Hundreds of kids coming out of  the massive 5 story school with huge chrome gates.  The way many kids stared I'm not sure they had seen Americans before.  The park was all paths and flowers, no playground so Lainey was bummed.  Tomorrow we visit a museum which she has been asking for all week so hopefully that will love up to her standards.

 

I forgot to post some cool photos of the Great Wall so I'll give it a shot, we had to show off the Hilliard pride with our Alton Darby Elementary shirts!