...."what a long, strange, trip its been"......

It is Saturday morning, 5 30 a.m.....Whole Walnista household is wide awake, including Loki.....We are trying to get back on our schedule, which meant that yours truly did NOT stay up and see the Sox come from behind win over the Yanks last night......Bella is having a little difficult time 'adusting' to American time (and her crib)....but, she is doing great.....we are happy to be home.....Loki came home yesterday, and we eagerly anticipated the first 'meeting'.....He came in, walked past her, and plopped down on the floor......hasn't given her much of a thought, except when she eats, and drops food from the high chair....In his mind, he's got a new best friend, who will gladly 'share' table scraps with him.....Bella, on other hand, isn't too sure what to make of him.....she cant take her eyes off of him..needs to know where he is....but, when he comes close, snuggles in a bit....shes not crying, which is good, and we try and have her reach down now and then to pet him.....We are back in our 'normal' routine now....Zach had Flag Football last night; missed the first 2 practices, but had it last night with his buddies AJ and Alex...seemed to have fun.....looked well organized....Today, Tee Ball parade at 9:30....then my family will come down for a bit to meet Isabella.....and Zach has tee ball game at 3 PM.......Tomorrow, Tina's family will be down.......She seems to be doing fine meeting new people....We introduced her to both our neighbors, and last night at Football, seemed to be entrhalled with our friend, Bill......I was kind of a 'zombie' yesterday, going through the motions....both Zach and Bella took great naps, and I should have joined them.....we know Monday will be crazy here....Zach back to school....me back to work.......Will take a little getting used to, but we will all be fine.......Before our trip from Beijing, we were in Guangzho, where Tina definitely primed the Chinese economy.....that Wed before we left, had developed a 'new' strategy.....as ALL of the shops near the White Swan hotel know when Americans are in; and when they are departing....We were leaving that day at 10 30...soooooooooo time for some bargain shopping.....Basically, I would take out some YUAN's and tell them that is all i had left....Example...they were asking 100 YUAN for an item we were looking at (about 12 dollars).....I took out a 50...said it was all i had...they said, sorry, not enough....proceed to walk out...they try to negotiate some more....take 50 out again, say im broke...leaving today...this is it.....sure enough, they take it......granted, we think we get a great deal, getting it for half....but we ALL know that the little Chinese 'heirloom' they just sold me was mass produced, and probably cost them 5 yuan......!!!! anyway, we did get some things for our house.....they did an incredible job of taking a picture of Zach and Bella and 'etching' it in a small piece of slate......we also had their chinese names and american names written on wall hanging.....all and all, was fun to pick up some stuff, but couldnt get too much do to weight limit of suitcases when you travel....If you go over certain weight limit for in China flights, will cost ya $50 dollars....luckily, Tina is a phenomenal packer, and switching items around in suitcases, it was a non issue......I will post some info about the famous 'Red Couch' pictures in Guangzho that all babies get taken.....our flight to Beijing........and getting from Beijing to Newark in a little bit, along with more photos of the family.......