We have the VISA!!!

Paul went to the embassy for us today at 4pm and Rylie's VISA is issued so we are out of here!!!! We can't wait to be home. Everything was issued correctly, so we don't have to go back tomorrow..now to get everything back in the suitcases....

John, Ry and I went to the old part of the city today and to a "mall".We were not at all impressed with Hanoi. We liked HCMC so much, so this was quite a disappointment...luckily, the Sheraton is beautiful and the staff is exceptional...especially with the babies. We think Rylie is teething...she bites everything..HARD!!!! Her two little teeth leave a mark!

I'll upload the few pics I have..not sure if I'll blog anymore before we get home. We are sooooooooo dreading the flights!!! She so active and there is no room for that!

See you all soon.

pictures UPLOADED!!!!

Embassy Interview Today!

Sorry all..as of now I have tried for an hour to upload pictures...they won't upload. So I'll try again right before I go to bed. Today went well..we got up and went for a walk around the hotel grounds (beautiful gardens!!!) and the village around it. The Sheraton is actually outside of the city part of Hanoi. Not far, just not nearly as busy...also LOUSY shopping nearby, so tomorrow we'll look around old city more. HCMC is definetely the place to shop!!! The visa/exit interview was a breeze and no one in our group had any trouble. Afterwards, we came back and had celebratory cocktails in the hotel lobby bar. It was a fun little party!! I took some pics of Ry and the other kids playing, I'll try to upload again later.

Hanoi and Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!! Lexi, did the Easter bunny come? He came here and brought Rylie the new horse toy you can see in the pictures. Today we flew to Hanoi in business class and it was wonderful!!! There was room for us to put a blanket on the floor in front of us for Ry to play!!! I told her not to get used to it cause we won't have that space on the long ride home. All is wee here, we are all checked into the Hanoi Sheraton. I'll try to post each day we are here. We have our embassy appt tomorrow at 330 and then if all goes well, we will have the Visa Tuesday at 5..then HOME!!!!!! if its all good. That is the last step!! Enjoy the pics...see all the babies!!

Another Hot Day

Today we went on a cyclo tour of the city which was quite fun and a great way to see the city, people, and traffic. I posted some pictures for you to see the traffic, but it really can't be imagined unless you are here. The cyclo tour went all over the city, to a temple and to the lacquerware factory. It was very interesting to see how its made.

Tonight everyone was beat, so Rylie, John, and I went to an italian place for dinner...John loves the lasagna..and then went to pick up a few things I had ordered at different stores.

I have a migraine, so thats all I can post tonight. Enjoy the pictures..sorry it is not the 138,000 Lexi requested.

Shopping, Shopping, & more shopping!!

Today was a free day, so we got up and went to the New World Hotel for breakfast around 1030 and then shopped for a while. Up until today, we really hadn't bought much..today we did. We figured whatever we were buying, now is the time..tomorrow we are doing a cyclo tour in the afternoon and Saturday we have to figure out how to get everything back in the suitcases to go to Hanoi. We also wanted to find different bottles for Rylie..she seems to be getting lots and lots of air in the ones we brought, so we went and bought Avent ones today. She liked them and seemed to get less air, so I need to get more of them when I get home. Thats unlike her sister who would only drink from the cheap bottles!!! She was a bit fussy this afternoon and early evening (her nose seems kind of stuffy and she has a little cough) so we ordered dinner in and then she crashed for a while, John watched a movie and I went and got a 2 hour hot rocks massage..$21!!!! Can't beat that! Enjoy the few pictures, I'll take more tomorrow. The one of John is him shooting at the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Busy Day!

Today had a lot going on..First we had to go to Vietnam Airlines to book our flights to Hanoi, at 830 AM. We are flying out of HCMC to Hanoi on Easter at 2pm. Everyone was able to get the business class seats we wanted. It was only $34 more than coach!! Too bad the big flights are about $8000 more for business class..oh well. After that we had to go for Rylie's exit physical at Cho Ray hospital. The exam was fine, its an experience seeing the hospital though. After that we saw the hospital where both Rylie and Lexi were born. Finally we went for Ry's VISA picture...there are so many steps!!! Thank God for Sandy and Paul!! We went out to Al Frescos with Sandy and Paul and their adorable kids tonight. Not too many pics cause of all the "business" today!

We did include a shot of her eating her biter biscuit (banana flavored)..she loves them. We also ate fruit for the 1st time today..pears!!! They don't have any plain fruits except pears, so pears it was. We may try the banana/pear combo soon. The selection is not that good, so if she doesn't go for it, we'll stick to the cereal and pears til we get home. She ate 1/3 of the jar on the 1st try.