Guangzhou at last!

After our unexpected trip to Arkansas, everything else ran pretty smoothly.  We discovered that XNA is a very nice airport; and if you are ever in that area, we highly recommend the Wingate hotel!  We arrived in Chicago a little before eight, and Mama Martha and Will Will (my parents who are traveling with us) got there from Memphis shortly after that.  The flight to Shanghai boarded on time, but we sat on the runway for almost an hour (which meant we were on the plane for close to 16 hours, but who's counting?), so we were late arriving and missed our connecting flight to Hong Kong.  American had already re-booked us for a later flight by the time we got off the plane, and we arrived in Hong Kong around 9:15 -- exhausted but happy to be there!  We were also able to change Peyton's return ticket when we checked in for our first flight.  Yes, my first big "oops" as a mother of six was forgetting to bring our child home with us!  In my rush to get our tickets changed on Thursday night, I forgot that her ticket was booked separately from the rest of ours; so hers wasn't changed.  She was coming home with us -- just going to a different airport by herself!  Probably not good for the bonding process.  The very nice staff at the check-in counter at XNA got that resolved for us, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief!   Today we explored the mall beside the hotel in Hong Kong then took the train to Guangzhou.  We are staying at the same hotel where we stayed on our last trip, so we are in familiar territory now.  Unfortunately, there is construction going on all over the island, so many shops are closed and things are just very different.  We walked around a bit this afternoon then walked over to the Qing Ping market and the pedestrian mall to show MM and WW what China is really like -- scorpions, tentacles on a stick, and all!    Haven't heard from our guide yet, so we don't know any details; but we are scheduled to meet Peyton tomorrow!  Hoping to get settled in and get a good night's sleep so we'll be ready.