And a update from Harvey too

Just fried the backup camera. Plugged it into the USB wall charger that has charged everything else and it got very hot, very fast. Need to see how expensive replacement batteries are, but I suspect that it has snapped its last. I'm glad it didn't catch fire. Yes, it was that hot. This isn't good because Laura's camera has been acting oddly; I suspect the heat and humidity, plus going from A/C to the street is messing with it.

You may see some postings out of order as my ipod has some postings queued up that it will send when it connects to a hot spot. So if the posting order doesn't make sense, its not you. Its technology.

What can I tell you about our little girl that my wife hasn't? She is a grabber. If she can reach it, she will try to grab it. This morning at breakfast, 8am, I gave her 2 sugar packets, one for each hand, to keep her hands busy while we ate breakfast. She carried them around all morning: on the bus, in the pavilion that we visited, back on the bus, through 2 changings, and more. Laura finally got them back when she slept.

NOTE: The pavilion was built in 624 AD and had been burned down over 25 times. Each time they have rebuilt it. Its 9 stories tall inside,, but look only 3 from the outside. It overlooks the "Gun" river. (not sure of spelling). And you ring the bell 4 times for good luck.

Zoe got her first piece of jewelry today - a little wristband of wooden beads. She likes it, as well as daddy's shiny watch. She is already like her mother about jewelry and dishes. My wallet hurts.

She is eating more and smiling and laughing now. Our guide held her for a minute and she reached out to her mommy, so she already knows and trusts us, at least a bit. Good progress for the first couple days.

One couple has already gotten sick, but from eating at KFC they believe. Another is sick, but its new mother nerves as she is hear without her husband and is overwhelmed. The pediatrician made a house call for her; the cost was about $30 US. Good to know.

TIP: Just because the tap says "filtered drinking water" doesn't mean its safe!

When someone in China tells you that something is air conditioned, that doesn't mean that its cool. It means that the room might be a couple degrees cooler than outside. Generally, a breeze outside is better than A/C inside. And yesterday it hit 120 degrees in our province and its expected to be over 100 the entire time we are here. I wish I had brought 3 pairs of shorts instead of just 2. The heat is killing us. Even Zoe like the A/C better. And no one is suggesting that we bundle her up or add more clothes.

TIP: Bring a towel to wipe sweat off. You will sheat through your clothes in a matter of minutes. You will be seriously wet fast.

So far we are using everything we brought. We sent some laundry out yesterday and got it back today. A dozen different pieces or so cost us 118 yuan, or about $18. We did some laundry ourselves, but everything other than the dry-fit type stuff took 2 1/2 days to dry in the A/C. The dry fit stuff can dry in hours if you roll it up in a towel first to help dry it out.

We had a Chinese dinner as a group tonight.Tried a lot of different things. The pepper beef was great but once you get a pepper, WHOA! Lips went numb.

Bed is calling now; I'm tired and sore from climbing stairs today and a couple of days ago.