No Food or Drink Allowed

I think I can understand David a little better today. As much as I can relate to being a sinner who loves God with my whole heart, there are so many passages in Scripture that I struggle to deeply understand on a personal, life-defining level.

One of those is a song King David wrote, Psalm 119. Christian author and teacher Beth Moore has a beautiful Sunday school lecture about it. But even with her love of Scripture and her energy when she speaks, I never really felt like doing cartwheels over things like "I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees." v. 48. Or how about verse 97, which says "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long."

Hmmm, I do many things all day long. Change diapers, pick up toys off the floor, feed several people, wash clothes, wash mouths, wash floors...you get the picture. I don't think that I have ever meditated on God's law all day long. At least, not on purpose. Or not because I loved it so much.

On the surface, God's law seems to frustrate a large part of the earth's population. I often hear complaints like "He is such a God of do nots" or "Following God is not very fun." It's a challenge to understand that His law is really best. Even when we think we know better than Him. Becoming a mama has helped soften this side of my stubborn nature a bit. Telling my children "no" or "not yet" because I understand the bigger picture that they do not see has helped me to understand more personally that God is always looking out for me. He sees things that I do not. He understands parts of the way that our world works that I never will. His ways are always the best.

Monday was Cameron's pre-operative appointment. I was quite annoyed when I arrived and the walls and doors and chairs and everywhere I looked were plastered with signs that said "No Food or Drink Allowed." I was like "what are these people thinking?!" Surely they do not understand that I will be entertaining a very active 2 1/2 year old for the next 3 hours while we meet with many different teams of nurses and doctors to prepare for Cameron's upcoming surgery! And Cameron isn't just any toddler; he is one with severe feeding issues. He was well taken care of and had plenty to eat while at Starfish Foster Home. However, his early months of life were not that way and you all saw a couple photos of Cameron as a malnourished infant. He never experienced having enough to eat, and it stays with him to this day. This kid is obsessed with food. Right now, it's the most comforting thing he can find and the fact that this blonde lady who keeps calling herself "mama" keeps giving it to him is working out just fine for him in his new little life that he is trying to decipher.

I am embarrassed to say that I didn't accept this hospital law with much grace. I actually made a comment about it to the desk administrator. And the nurse. And the person sitting next to me in the waiting room of pre-op/admitting. I was relieved when we would be taken into consultation rooms so I could start shoving food into Cameron during our long morning. It's the trick that always works for him when he's about to have a meltdown. Or when I am about to have a meltdown!

Today was not going to be like Monday. Today is _actually_ surgery day. Cameron would need to fast for 8 hours prior to surgery. When I learned that Cameron might not have the first surgery slot, I actually started to cry. I begged the pre-op nurse to make it happen and prayed and had others pray and contacted a friend who is a nurse at Children's Hospital Boston so she could send emails and work her magic to try to make sure this happened.

I knew this would be a problem for my sweet boy. He was not going to understand. It's not that I thought I would be depriving him of food and that he would be hungry and crying. It's because food is synonymous with love for him right now. When I tell Cameron "no" to food, he gets a look of despair and melts down. It is no ordinary toddler meltdown. It is a broken-hearted wail and face so sad that no one in their right mind could go about their business like everything is fine. He cries when I don't give him food first at the table. He cries when someone gets a second helping and asks for more even if his plate is still full. Cameron gets so stressed out by the presence of large quantities of food that he is not consuming that I actually got two tables for us in China when we ate. One table was for the serving dishes of food and the other table is where we sat.

I did my best to distract him this morning. When I took him out of the carseat in the parking garage, he spotted a lone Cheerio on the floor of the car. He immediately pointed to it and asked me for it. I pretended that I did not notice. He looked at me funny and pointed back to the car when I cheerfully walked away from the source of food whistling as if nothing was happening. The pre-op room didn't open until 6 am so we had a few minutes for me to change him and get him dressed this morning. As I pulled the diaper out of the bag, he spotted a ziploc bag and assumed there must be food in it for him. He started to whine and point and sign and yell and do anything he could to tell me that he wanted me to give him some food. At first I pretended like I didn't hear him, but when he threw his "Polar Bear, Polar Bear" book at me and yelled and signed "eat" and gave me a look like, "you are acting like a complete idiot. I know you know what I am saying!!" I started to tear up. I was trying to be brave before surgery but my heart was breaking because I knew for Cameron, food means more to him right now than some activity to keep from being hungry.

I walked out of the bathroom a bit frazzled and looked at Geoff and said "if I see one person even take a sip of water to take their medication, I am going to totally lose it. I am serious. I will go off. I cannot bear to see him suffer and he will lose it if he sees food or drink anywhere." I was just about finished with my little tirade as we approached the office and do you know what the first thing I saw was? A big orange sign that said "NO FOOD OR DRINK ALLOWED." I let out a small sigh of relief and felt like I was in a safe place temporarily. Cameron would not see any water bottles or Cheerios or apples or anything.

As I checked in with the desk administrator, I got a little lump in my throat as I realized that this same person that I complained to on Monday about why wasn't _I_ allowed to have snacks for my child was actually a person who was looking out for him. The rule that I hated on Monday was now offering me peace and comfort on Thursday.

David had a relationship with God that was so special that he was literally called "a man after God's own heart." David said that he loved God's law and would meditate on it day and night. It wasn't the rules, per say, as much as it was that Scripture was a way for him to experience God's presence. Today in the pre-op room, I actually saw a law that really did make me want to do a cartwheel right then and there. Because this same law was not well-received a mere 3 days prior to my celebratory dance, it made me think about God's law. Maybe, just maybe, God knows more than me. And because of this, He wants to protect me. He loves me and wants the best for me. He understands the bigger picture. What seemed painful a few days ago ended up being so much better for Cameron in the long run. My prayer is that I remember this the next time I get flustered with God and list off my complaints to Him. "No Food or Drink Allowed" for anyone just might be the best way after all.

Now I am ready for summer to begin!

Many have been asking for an update on Cameron or simply how things are going. My answer this week is "Now I am ready for summer to begin!" I have always loved September, the real "new year" where resolutions are easy to come by and crossing off to-do lists with brand new colored markers is always the most fun. But since becoming a mama, summer has moved to the top of my list of favorite seasons. Somewhere between hand-picked bouquets of dandylions by chubby toddler hands and sand in every crevice of bodies from head to toe, I have fallen in love with this season. Last year, Gretchen, Madelyn and I were beach bums. I was starting to get pretty darn good at packing us up and heading to the beach most days.

The beginning of this summer was FRANTIC. Adoption paperwork, arguing with my bank over crisp, new bills to take to China, 16 days away from my daughters in order to pick up my son- their brother. Stress. Cameron came home 2 months ago. Seems like yesterday and seems like a lifetime ago simultaneously.

Coming home is hard. Really hard. And the issues that you deal with while being jetlagged and sleep deprived are much more complicated than dealing with a newborn coming home from the hospital. Instead of nursing my newborn in a rocking chair, I am trying to get my toddler to not rock his head violently when he is trying to fall asleep. Instead of trying to figure out if my one month old will accept breastmilk from a bottle, I am trying to get my toddler who was home for a month to stop using a bottle to prepare him for his cleft palate surgery. Instead of trying to get big sister toddler to give more gentle hugs and kisses to the baby, I am trying to get all toddlers to stop hitting each other and use words. Except he doesn't have any. And won't. For a LONG time.

Last year, the memory-making moments flowed from one day to the next. This summer has been memorable for sure, but the photo opportunities of fun in the summer sun had to be thoughtfully planned out and acted upon. Cameron has been home for 8 weeks and has been to see 11 different specialists at Children's Hospital Boston. The administrators at the front desk who graciously stamp my parking tickets every visit recognize me and recognize Cameron.

In between trying to get a handle on everything that is going on with Cameron medically and prepping things for his upcoming palate repair and ear surgery, we managed to squeeze in some playground time, a few visits to the beach, and lots of time on the mechanical carousel at Market Basket which is my new favorite activity and only costs a quarter!





This week Facebook posts have been filled with adorable cherubs in backpacks waiting for school buses and first days of school. I love seeing the toothless grins proudly displaying their new outfits. But, I am really not ready for Fall yet and it's here nonetheless. Before I lament too long about my not enough beach time summer, I have to keep focused on one thing and one thing only- God's plan for our lives. His word says in Eccelesiastes 3 that "there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens."

After many years of waiting for our adoption, the final months were filled with prayers that went something like "make this happen in your perfect timing, Lord." God knew the day that Cameron would meet his forever family and He knew that the best time for that to happen for the Murrays would be the summer.

So now it's time for me to do what I have been working so hard to teach my children- make good choices. I can choose to be grumpy that I schlepped into Boston all summer to go to doctor appointments or I can be thankful that I have a son now and that I live in the country (and city) that has the best doctors in the world. I can choose to be sad that we never went to the wading pool once during the month of July because we had to wait for giardia stool tests to be negative 3 times, or I can be thankful that it is cleared up and we went a couple times in August. I can choose to have my prayers be "please God, let there be a parking space on the first or second floor of the garage so I don't have to wait for the annoyingly long elevator" or they can be "please God, heal the child whose Dad is weeping in the elevator and carrying a duffle bag with his clothes for another week while his son is in treatment at CHB."

Our blow-up kiddie pool is looking pretty dingy and sadly deflated leaning against the carport wall. I keep hoping that after this cold and rainy weather ends, it will be replaced with 80 degree days that will give me a reason to fill it back up again. If not, I think I will take a hayride and pick some apples or pumpkins with an adorable little boy who will finally have the holes in his palate fixed and won't have to cough and sneeze and have food dripping out of his nose when he eats because "there is a season for every activity under the heavens."

God Knows Our Story

There is a very special passage in Scripture in the book of Psalms, chapter 139. In this song, David is talking to God about how no one could know David better than God. In verse 16, he writes "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

There have been many times that I have meditated upon this chapter and specifically this verse. God has a very specific purpose for all of our lives. He made a blueprint, even before we began to develop in our mother's womb. He also has ordained every single day that we will be on the earth. There is no greater pain suffered on earth than the loss of a child. It is helpful to understand that God already knew every day that they would be on this earth, even if we don't understand why.

He knows the day that we begin forming. He knows the day that we will be born. He knows the day that we will die. And God knows everything in between.

This past Spring, Geoff and I lost a baby. Many families around the world have endured this pain since the beginning of time. When a baby dies before 20 weeks gestation, the death is called a miscarriage. When a baby dies after 20 weeks gestation, the medical world calls the death a stillborn. Let me be clear in stating that this was not a "failed pregnancy." This was a baby that we planned for and deeply desired. We named him Jason Paul and still mourn his absence from our family and that he and Cameron will not be sharing a bedroom on earth.

I thought a lot about this verse during the inital stages of grief. It makes me sad that I never got to hold him in my arms or raise him with his siblings, but I do know exactly where he is- safe in the arms of Jesus. I know that God does not make mistakes and that He knew exactly how long Jason would be in my womb. So many times in which I have thought about the words in King David's song to God have really been about death and that God knows exactly when because all of our days are written in His book.

In Cameron's life story, however, these verses make me think about life and when we are born. The first obvious notion is because Cameron did not grow in my womb. He grew in another woman's. And even then as God helped form him, He knew in his omnipotence that she would not be the one to raise Cameron. There are many events that surround Cameron's beginning that are unclear. But God knows his story.

According to the orphanage records and medical reports, Cameron was abandoned on March 13, 2009 at a very large and prominent hospital in Xi'an, China. The interesting piece of information about this location is that it is a military hospital and actually considered the best hospital in this very large city with the same population size as New York City. The doctors did an estimate of his age and determined his birthdate to be February 29, 2009.

For those of you who do not have the leap years memorized, you can get out a calendar and see that that day does not exist in time. There is no February 29, 2009. This had a deep impact on me while I was in China. Not only was a little boy abandoned by his family and no one but God knows why, but the next caregivers that he would have assigned a birthday to him that does not exist in our world. I grieved for Cameron. I cried for that little baby who no one really knew.

The mistake was realized eventually as his birthdate was then changed to February 28, 2009 in later paperwork. Abandonment is illegal in China so when a baby is found, the first call is to the police. They do a thorough search for birth parents. Once the investigation is over, they call the orphanage and deliver the baby to them (unless they need hospitalization first). The orphanage is responsible for putting an ad in the paper with the details that they have to see if the family or any extended family members know any information on the baby or claim the baby. This is called a finding ad.

Part of the paperwork process during the adoption in China is giving each family their child's finding ad. This day was another interesting moment in China. I actually have a copy of Cameron's original finding ad. In it, the birthdate that was originally assigned to him was February 29, 2009. In the copy of a copy of a copy that I received from the orphanage on adoption day, the date said February 28, 2009. Same paper. Same day of printing of that paper. Different days. I understand a bit about the Chinese notion of saving face, so I am choosing to not pursue this journey any further. The point is, no one really knows when Cameron was born. No one that is, except his birth mother and God.

When I first received the photos of the day that Cameron came to live at Starfish, the level of his malnourishment was shocking. I felt then that he was not 2 weeks old when he went to the orphanage. I thought he was probably older but was so small and frail and sick, they guessed at 2 weeks. I don't think the doctors that evaluated him knew what to think of a baby like Cameron. He was days, perhaps hours from death on the day he went to live at Starfish. Cameron was so malnourished that his limbs were no longer able to move. Out of respect for my son, the photos that I included in this blog are not the full body shots or the ones where you can really see how close to death he was.







The day I met Cameron in China 3 weeks ago, I felt the same thing- that he was older. There is no particular reason when you first meet him to assume that he is older. It was a knowing in my gut. He is actually quite short. Madelyn is a peanut, and they are supposed to be the exact same age and she is a little taller than Cameron. Yesterday was the first of many doctor appointments at Boston Children's Hospital. When the cleft lip and palate nurse began Cameron's examination, she said "you know that Cameron is older than his birthdate, right?" "Yes," I said "I had a feeling that he was." They recommended a bone scan for a better estimate of his age for medical purposes only.

Adoption is very much like a treasure hunt. You get some clues here and there. Some of them are real clues, some of them almost seem like they were set out to confuse the other pirates looking for the treasure. You piece it together to try to form a story of your child. You want to tell them their story. The reality is that I don't know all of Cameron's story and neither does the foster home who lovingly nursed him to health and neither does the orphanage who had him for the first 2 months after he was abandoned.

Not only do I know that God knows Cameron's story, but I also know that Cameron is a treasure. A treasure that was worthy to be sought after and found. His special needs do not make him less worthy of a treasure. They are part of his blueprint, part of his story and therefore, part of what makes him a treasure.

Jesus told a parable in which he compared the kingdom of heaven to a treasure. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." Matthew 13:44.

We currently very much feel like that man who sold everything he had to buy the field where the treasure was. Adoption is expensive. Very expensive. But the focus of this verse for me are two phrases "in joy" and "hidden treasure." How appropriate that Lelai means "joy is coming." His Chinese caregivers called him "LeLe" as a nicname which would mean double happiness or overwhelming joy. And just like we needed to give up so much to be able to experience the joy and find this special hidden treasure of Cameron, Jesus tells us that that is what the kingdom of heaven is like. It is a treasure so special that you will want to give up everything in your life to obtain that treasure- to be in Heaven with God.

King David was right in his thoughts about God and no wonder so many of his songs are about how God knows us- deeply, intimately and like no one else ever can. God knows our story. And He thinks we are a treasure. As Cameron grows and we tell him his story, that is what we want him to know and understand.

Look! Team Murray is all together!

About 30 hours after leaving our hotel in Guangzhou, Gretchen was jumping up and down in the airport parking lot and says "Look! Team Murray is finally all together!" Indeed.

The trip home was brutal, but Cameron handled it like a champ. It was only by the grace of God that I was not puking on the flight heading into Newark. The two things that make me lose it are 1. severe motion sickness and 2. hearing other people throwing up. The last hour of the flight was so bad that the airline attendants were passing out barf bags with the customs forms. Upon arrival, Immigration officials state "we all looked at each other and couldn't believe the pilots had decided to land in this weather." Great. Not exactly the "welcome home" that I was anticipating.

I had Officer Grumpy Grumpington process us through customs and immigration. All of the paperwork is done in China with their government as well as the U.S. Consulate so they send me into the US with a sealed package to give to the immigration officer upon entry. Cameron became our son in China on June 27th and then became a US citizen the moment we stepped foot in the country Friday night. I decided to stop respecting the fact that we were in Yankees territory since everyone was so gloomy and ruining my mood and started exclaiming to all of them "Well, the US has its newest Red Sox fan!" I made sure they saw me change Cameron into his "My Mommy and Daddy think I am a great catch!" Red Sox shirt and his new baseball cap.

Flights were cancelled and delayed all evening Friday, but we eventually made it home. It's hard to really know how these things will go. There is so much preparation and so much prayer, and I tried to not place any expectations on the whole thing. Is Cameron going to be scared? Excited? How will the girls react when they see me? I worked to push the questions aside and see what would happen. Cameron was exhausted and so was I. I was overjoyed to see my baby girls again. As much of a nightmare as the travel was, it was behind us and I will remember the moment when my daughters met their brother for the rest of my life.

They were excited to see me, but their welcome for their brother was so touching and so deeply genuine, that the rest of the tired travelers all had to stop what they were doing to watch it all. It was very late, like seriously hours past their bedtime. They were so happy that they could not contain their joy. It literally spilled out of them in loud squeals and giggles. They kept running around in circles around him and Gretchen could not stop hugging him and saying "You are here! You are here, Cameron! It's very nice to meet you. You are my little brother!"

He wasn't quite sure what to make of them but was carefully taking it all in. They were showering him with their stuffed animals and kissing him and hugging him over and over again. Their complete joy and total acceptance of Cameron was mind-boggling to me. It really made me think about how God wants us to respond to the people He has placed in our lives. There were no questions in their hearts. They saw him as their gift of a brother and could think of no other way to respond but by jumping up and down in excitement, running around in circles and squealing with glee at his mere presence.

Madelyn then spotted a sheep cellphone hanging around Cameron's neck. This sheep is called "Pleasant Goat" "Happy Goat" or "Happy Sheep" in China. It's some popular Chinese cartoon character that Cameron would point to whenever he saw it in China. I eventually bought him this obnoxious piece of plastic junk molded to look like a cellphone that plays this ear-piercing annoying song over and over again. It's the theme song from the show.

Madelyn seeing this new toy that she wants, then says matter of factly "Look, Cameron, we share. Here is my horsie, passing him her stuffed animal. Now you give me the sheep!" He might not understand a lot of English yet, but he sure understood what Madelyn was preparing for him, so he took off running. Madelyn then started chasing him to get the toy and then Gretchen started chasing them because it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

I was in line at the claims department trying to get Continental to pay for my new stroller that they broke in half. I don't know how that is even possible. That thing made its way all through China and back to the US and somehow the fine folks at Continental break it in half from Newark to Boston. I am half talking to an uninterested employee in the claims department and half watching my 3 children chase each other around the baggage claim area over a piece of junky plastic that I so wanted to "accidentally" leave in the hotel room in China.

Then I notice that the scenario began to change on its own. Cameron started laughing hysterically at all the running. Madelyn seemed to forget why she was chasing him in the first place. And Gretchen was only in it for the thrill of running around in circles anyway. The three of them just ran and laughed and ran and laughed and you couldn't help but be energized by all of their giggles. The weariness seemed to lift from every traveler in the entire airport, even after midnight. We all just sat and watched these three run and run and run.

Joy. Pure joy.

The lack of sleep was followed by another airport run in the morning to drop off my mom who was flying to Pittsburgh for a week before heading back to Texas after helping Geoff for the past week. The three Murray Monkeys could not stay awake on the car ride. So, with joy in our hearts and laughter on our lips, our new life together officially begins.

It's Official!

Cameron Lelai Murray is now a citizen of the United States of America, having landed in Newark, New Jersey and gone through Customs & Immigration!

Unfortunately, due to bad weather, they're having a hard time finding a flight to Boston.

Please pray they don't have to stay overnight in New Jersey (not that I have anything against New Jersey, other than that they're Yankees/Giants/Devils fans - I just want Christy & Cameron home!)

The USA is about to get a new citizen!

Wednesday, July 6th

Today was the day that we have all been waiting for. The entire trip is based around the appointment at the US Consulate for Cameron’s visa interview to be allowed to immigrate to the United States of America. I really wish we were allowed to bring our cameras into the Consulate because when all the parents of the 12 families whose appointment was at 8:30 this morning stood up and raised our right hands to take the oath, Cameron looked around and raised his hand too. It was pretty darn adorable.

Other than that cute moment, the rest of the morning was a bit anticlimactic. I wasn’t expecting the US Consulate to simply be one of many offices in a huge building that looked like it mostly held travel agencies. It was hot. The lines for people trying to get their visas were unbelievably long. Those people would be waiting for hours for their turn. I was so thankful there was a separate section for adoptive families. I was hoping for a huge American flag, perhaps the Star Spangled Banner playing in the background. Nothing. The website has an adorable Chinese girl wearing a silk outfit holding a panda bear stuffed animal in front of an American flag. That was not my day.

Cameron has had enough of these appointments and long lines and forever bus rides. He was very whiney the entire time. My interview was a bit of a challenge and I felt like I was talking to a bank teller. I had Cameron shoved on top of the counter and was pumping him with M&Ms so he would stop crying and I could hear the questions. Fortunately, my interview was as quick as he could make it and he showed me great mercy.

One thing that is told to us over and over again before leaving for China is to CHECK EVERY SINGLE DOCUMENT in your child’s province. Every single thing has to be exactly right and every “t” has to be crossed and every “i” has to be dotted. No errors whatsoever or you might need to go back to the province to correct the mistake! My guide was a bit challenging to deal with in Xi’an. She was experienced and not interested in anything that I questioned her on. On adoption day, you are given information to look over that goes into what is called “the red book.” This is very official and contains all of our family’s official adoption paperwork. Cameron’s name was spelled wrong and I immediately told her about it which they corrected. Additionally, I mentioned that his middle name was not listed. The guide, Sherry, said that’s not a big deal. Some people’s red books only have the name in Chinese written because it’s like a souvenir. I basically said I preferred to have his entire name in English on the paperwork, and she basically told me no. At the end of your time in your province, you are asked to review all the paperwork from the notary. I again brought up that his middle name was not on the paperwork which she reiterated was not a problem.

What happens when I have my visa interview, I am questioned because Cameron’s name on my visa application (which includes his middle name) which was done months ago does not match what is in his red book from his province. GRRRRRRRRRR!!! I was steaming mad. He told me not to worry about it and he crossed out Cameron’s middle name on his visa application with my permission. At that point I was like do whatever you need to do to get me out of China and back to the US with my son. The wallflower that I am, I left the visa appointment and called my former guide in Xi’an while I was on the bus waiting for the other families to finish their interviews. I “told” her about my interview and that she needs to stop blowing things off all the time and that the information written in the red book must match the visa application exactly, so she needs to get her act together for other families. They might not have as easy of an interviewer that I did who was willing to change my application for me. This kind-of stuff drives me absolutely insane.

It was a long bus ride back to the White Swan and Cameron was having a full-blown meltdown as we sat in traffic. I basically told the bus he was just like his father in Boston traffic which got a few chuckles out of the rest of the families who were holding their sweet and sleeping infant daughters. One grandmother commented “wow, he seems like he is ‘all boy’ “ as he was hanging upside down from the curtains on the window used to block out the sun on the bus. Gee, ya think! I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone, especially people who had a team of husband, wife and grandmother and I have been doing this completely solo. I basically said a prayer thanking God that I have been doing this trip solo and not part of a travel group because I could tell that people’s comments and behaviors would really get to me after awhile. I only have so much patience and right now it is focused on dealing with being in a foreign country adopting a 2 year old. A very handsome 2 year old, I might add. Here’s the famous “red couch picture” at the White Swan that I am sure you have been waiting for! :-)

Safari Park Adventure!

Tuesday, July 5th

Today was a “free day” which meant that nothing was on our agenda for the adoption process or tourism. Hooray! As most of you know, I love zoos. However, I haven’t had much luck going to foreign zoos. They are typically quite depressing and the animals all look sad and close to death. I decided to ask the opinion of the members of one of my yahoo groups what they thought of the zoo in Guangzhou. The response was quite mixed but many suggested something called the Safari Park. I decided to try it out. Boy, am I glad we did!

Cameron and I took a taxi from the White Swan Hotel to the Safari Park. I thought that all of my travel experiences were good preparation for trekking to China alone to adopt a toddler. However, today I have decided that the best preparation for this trip was actually Disney World. I am one of those anal Mouseketeers who plans months in advance, including which rides to go on in what order. This methodology has proved quite useful in a country with a population of this magnitude. We got up super early and had breakfast. I carefully selected what items from the buffet I would be taking with us to the park for our lunch. I got a taxi at the exact appropriate time to get us to the park for when the ticket counter opened. I waited in line while carefully entertaining my 2 year old for the ticket distribution.

We were in the park at “rope drop” and while all those silly Chinese who were staring at me and taking pictures were making a beeline for the safari on wheels adventure, I took a sharp left and went straight to the animal nursery. A-MA-ZING! I have never seen baby animals quite like this before. I was completely enthralled. Cameron, as you can see from the first picture, was completely terrified. I started to get a little nervous that it was going to be a LONG day at the Safari Park when he started wailing at the sight of a baby tiger the size of a kitten. After the animal nursery (the sign also said animal kindergarten which I found quite amusing), we headed to Tiger Hill. We saw South China tigers, Siberian tigers, Bengal tigers, Snow tigers. If the tiger has not yet been extinct, we saw it. It was a fabulous exhibit. I didn’t brave the 10 yuan for a bag of nasty meat to throw at the tigers to feed them.

The entire reason for my visit was to see the pandas. I heard that there is one lonely panda that hides under the tree in the way back of his cage at the Guangzhou Zoo but there were many pandas and cubs at the Safari Park. I asked many workers where the pandas were with my map and was able to piece together a string of English phrases after 4 or 5 workers. I learned that the pandas didn’t open until 11. I quickly made it back to the beginning of the Park where all the people who pushed me to get to the Safari on Wheels were now heading to the Tigers.  Cameron and I easily got on the Safari on Wheels with no line and I chose the last seat on the train because I knew he would end up standing up for half of the ride, and I didn’t want to be bothering people. Wow. There’s no other way to describe this safari adventure, but wow! There were animals of every shape and size and they were so close to us. Every type of deer you can imagine, sheep, yaks, camels, swans, bears and then tigers, lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras, hippos. Any kind of animal you would ever want to see. I don’t think I will enjoy Disney’s Animal Kingdom Kilimanjaro Safari again after experiencing this adventure. It was worth every penny.

After a 30-40 minute ride at least, we were back inside the walking part of the park and we headed to the pandas. It was now 11:07 and I was quite proud to have seen so many animals before the panda exhibit opened. Cameron at this point was totally enthralled. He preferred the distance that the Safari on Wheels provided and started to get really into looking at all the animals and pointing to them and screaming “Mama! Mama!” every time he would see something new. It was SO FUN.

The panda exhibit was spectacular. I have seen the pandas at the National Zoo in DC but this was definitely the closest I have ever seen them. Cameron dozed off and I was able to gaze at these amazing creatures for 20 minutes uninterrupted. I learned that pandas like cooler weather so their exhibit was air conditioned and inside and there were huge blocks of ice everywhere. I felt like I was in panda heaven. I love to watch the same animal for a long period of time and see what they do. It was so funny to watch one of the pandas strip bamboo and have his huge snack. He was crunching it in pieces like a celery stick and I was so close to him that a piece of bamboo flew right by me. Cameron woke up while I was still mesmerized by the pandas and got to see them too.

Then I discovered his favorite animal, which coincidentally is also mine- elephants. There were so many and we were so close to them. You could even buy bananas to feed them. You had to stand back and throw it to them, so I just watched others do it. Every time I tried to move on to another exhibit, Cameron would have a complete toddler meltdown and point to the elephants indicating that he wanted to stay there. He only half enjoyed the giraffes because he was still annoyed that I took him away from the elephants, but did calm down when he ate lunch and watched the koalas.

I am not a fan of the circus and watching animals do tricks, and I usually get sick to my stomach watching them be forced to do activities to make us ooh and aah so I stayed clear of all the shows. I also skipped the Animal Fairyland which is where all the kiddie rides were. At that point, we had been there for several hours and it was time to take Cameron back to the hotel for a nap. This was such a fun day, and it made me think of Gretchen and Madelyn and dream about all the family adventures we will have when Team Murray is together once again, with an added member!