Today was an absolute adventure! After such a short time here, we
are already having a wonderful time!
Our drivers picked up the family at their home and then met
us with another car at the hotel. Maelyn wanted to go in the car with her
family to drive to the caves. Maelyn’s younger sister came with us in our car. Last
year, this would have made us nervous – this year, not a problem at all! J
It was a bit of a drive to the caves and at one point we
were quite high up in the mountains, to the point where I could feel the
difference in elevation. The roads were quite twisty and once we arrived, the middle
sister wasn’t feeling well and was car sick, poor thing.
Once she had some time to rest, we entered the caves, which
were quite similar to the ones we visited in Guilin last year, except there
were many, many more stairs in these caves. It was a long walk and very, very
humid, but it gave us a lot of time to be together. The kids, especially,
enjoyed being able to interact together. It is amazing, really, to see the bond
they are able to create with one another without even being able to speak the
same language!
At one point during our cave exploration Maelyn came over to
me and told me how happy she is that we came on this trip. It made the stairs
seems less daunting for this out-of-shape woman. J
After the caves, I was more than ready for a long ride back
in the car as it gave us a chance to rest. While we were driving back, we came
across an accident on the road and had to wait quite awhile for the truck to be
towed out of the way. Maelyn once again travelled with her family and Paul and
I were able to spend some quality time with Ailee.
We arrived at an amazing restaurant. The food was delicious,
and the staff were very, very friendly. We are hoping to be able to go back to
this restaurant at some point this week.
While at lunch, we were discussing the plans for the
afternoon. We were talking about going back to the hotel for a rest. Maelyn spoke
up and told us that she wanted to back to the family’s house to hang out for
the afternoon. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye for the day. It only took me a
second to say yes. I just felt….comfortable. I knew that they would take good
care of her and it would provide her an opportunity to bond with her family. I
sent her with my phone so that we could keep in contact and to help her be able
to communicate with her family, using the translator. We kissed her and off she
went – we were proud of her.
While Maelyn was gone, the three of us were able to spend
more quality time together. We played solitaire, wrestled and snuggled.
During her visit, the family messaged us often to let us
know how things were going, which was very thoughtful of them. She coloured
with her youngest sister and they played for hours. She had a rest with all her
sisters in her oldest sisters’ bed, all snuggled up together. Her dad made Maelyn
her favourite noodles and even fed them to her. At the end of the night, he
wanted to drive her back to the hotel on his scooter, but she was too nervous.
Instead, we got our driver to come pick us up and then we went and got Maelyn.
She was absolutely exhausted but very content.
The gift of spending time together is one we absolutely
treasure.
