Hope: One Less: Day 28

Last night was cozy. We opted for the three of us to sleep together in our bed for her last night at our home. I am amazed at how affectionate she was in mimicking all of the things I have been doing the past month. She rubbed my back, stroked my hair, and caressed my face. I'm not sure any of us slept all that well, but it was great all the same.

We were up and around fairly early this morning. For breakfast, she ate fried rice. She was cute this morning leaving the house. She was very proud of her rolling backpack, and she waved and blew kisses to each room (specifically her bedroom, toy room, and the house in general). We got on the road to head north. She did great in the car (no carsickness) and even slept part of the way. We decided to spend our last afternoon together at Navy Pier. By the time we got to Chicago, she was ready for lunch. Of course, she picked McDonalds again. She had a kid's meal with chicken nuggets, french fries, yogurt, and chocolate milk. The last time Brooke tried to get her to eat yogurt from a kid's meal, she wanted nothing to do with it. Today she wanted it ... go figure. She tried the chocolate milk, but would not drink anymore. Chris and I picked Giordano's for lunch. She partook of one of my pieces of pizza and seemed to really like it. She ate it before the chicken nuggets.

After lunch, we went to the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier. She seemed to have fun at most of the exhibits. We spent a lot of time bowling, playing with balls and fishing for fish at the treehouse exhibit, and playing in the water. She was extremely clingy today (even more so than yesterday). She wanted to be carried everywhere. I guess that is her way of coping with her trip back.

We checked into our hotel and she got to watch the airplanes take off from O'Hare. She keeps making the airplane motion and saying her name. She also keeps saying the Mama, Bah, Bah, Bessie, Nana, and Kinsley are going to be sad. She is such a smart girl.

We headed out to dinner to meet her chaperone and her host family. We shared a plate of spaghetti which she seemed to enjoy. It was great to talk to the chaperone (who is also the pediatrician at her orphanage). She also seemed excited to see the pediatrician and wanted to be held by her. The pediatrician has been overseeing nine of the 26 children during her stay here. We learned that there are 800 children and it is the second largest orphanage in their City. There are 200 employees, 8 of which are pediatricians. We also learned that she has a very structured routine (as we expected) and has a two-hour nap everyday. After dinner, we FaceTimed Brooke and Kinsley one last time. We have an early morning tomorrow and we will update when we can.

Please pray for a smooth transition for her back into her orphanage lifestyle and safe travels.