Pearl shopping, Middle eastern cheese to the rescue and belly dancing for the clan

When in china buy pearls. So we did. A special pair for each girl. Elite occasions and when they are older. A piece of china to remember.  

It's pretty bizarre actually, a whole market with millions of trillions of pearls. You pick your size and your color and quality. Then they knot them, and string them with a clasp. Each girl gets a different color. Suiting of their style of course. 

 Whoop, whoop, whoop. Whoop a gangnam style. 

Neha can't fight the squat. Everywhere she goes, it's of comfort to her .

Don't remember taking this picture. But if I did I totally would have bought this haggered ass Buddha guy with what seems to be a chain of bullets on his neck.  It so hard being a photographer and a baby toter all in one. With nehas adoption I was free armed and ready for the perect picture. Here I have to manage poop pants, toddler carry and photograpy.  

Antique market. Could have spent hours here. Or all day if it were up to me.

All the fragile dolls we wished we could bring our girls. Just not in the cards. I'm sure each girl could pick a fave! 

You have to watch out for these Asians... They like to sneak stuff in when you would never expect it

Now this right here my friends would save Albuquerque a lot of trash. A can of ricolas with no wrappers. Brilliant! 

 So close to buying this from a street vendor.  If it wasn't for our personal shopper the day before informing me that she would never eat anything from them. "Even if they gave it to me for free" she said. Apparently they use 5th quality oil.... Doesn't sound good for the intestines I guess . 

Tea shop, had a blast solo shopping for an hr.  really loved the tea shop owner. I was romanced with her broken English as far as what teas help what parts of the body and so on. 

 Flower balls, open when you steep them. Hello glamorous!  And my fave pic of the day!

And then cue the flying cockroach... Seems small, perhaps unsespecting in pictures but no way did I not flinch and stumble for my camera. Seriously the size of a average size mouse. And flying.... 

Dragon fruit

 Funny china goods. Ah ha, thats where the kitty app and bob app came from... China... But of course

Shopping mall connected to our hotel. Don't mind the guards packing ak 47's

 A dum dum bouquet . Courtesy of neha.  Hotel room play and boardum set it

Enough said. And yes I have him in a crotch hold.

So I have been suppressed on the cheese front. Not really accessible, not really good. But yes they have the perfect blue cheese and olives at the store in the hotel... Who else to think of than my mom... At least she could meet her needs here

Wanted this. Mike tells me, oh ya not bad of a price, only 1/10 of what Oliver cost.

Fab peacock lamp and 1001, the middle eastern dinner place we went to for dinner. Thank you adoptive parent recommendation. Maybe he felt sorry for me complaning about having bones for dinner previously. 

Vegetarian dinner. Seriously maybe our best meal of the whole trip. (Cheese salad had me at hello) And then the dancing started. 

Oliver has been sick, upper respiratory and now extreme diareaha... Not sure if it was the accidental tap water I gave him on his sippy cup in zhengzhou or his pool water or bathtub drinking but he was a terrible child at dinner. Throwing everything, not eating and screaming and shouting in a mischievous gremlin sort of way. I knew something was wrong, different. Not good. Nothing would comfort him.............. Until . Half naked gyrating girls showed up. 

Yes this is the "O" face. O, o, o.

Boys gone happy

And then it happened. Neha was invited on stage. This moment is especially special because she was in awe, and it was such a mirror image to me. Mimicking Lucy's famous favorite picture in India with the beautiful girl in Delhi with the multiple pots on her head. Asking and enchanting Lucy to dance and be photographed with her. It was a moment in nehas life that she will always remember and that set her into a tail spin. A dance of extasy and enchantment. A moment where a girl suddenly wants to be a lady.  Or maybe a belly dancer. 

 The shit eating grin that never left her face after her belly dance adventure. She was blind with admiration, and in love with herself like no other. I'm so happy I can experience these moments with my girls. I know, before I know it. Moments like this will disappear and now I have them recorded. 

 The shoes that scream Lucy

 In our hotel

 A bone carving. Can you imagine a slip, a breaking off of the storks bill.... Ahhhhhhhh

Seems to be the story of our lives right now. Where are we and what time is it?