We went to Jurassic Park!

From the hotel room bed of Chris....

A few days ago Allie and I arrived in Bangkok, where we plan to deliver our baby. We'll have plenty of time to catch up on some blogs, but we don't have a desk or couch, so we'll be writing from a variety of different locations!

A few weeks ago Edward and Victor came from Hengyang to visit us in Changsha. It was great to see them again! It was about 40 degrees sand raining so we did what anyone else would do-- we went to the zoo! Allie and I have been to a zoo in Thailand, but this was our first trip to one in China. And boy was it an experience! It ended up being a great day to go to the zoo. The cold temperature made the animals more active, and the rain kept away most of the people. We basically had the place to ourselves. Here are some highlights of the day:

Edward, me, and Victor in front of a panda made from flowers


When the Chinese say that there is a "driving part" of the zoo, they do not mean that you ride a tram around the zoo so that you don't have to walk-- they mean that you drive a reinforced bus through the animal exhibits! And I do use the term "reinforced" loosely. There were some bars around the windows, but none around the tires. Once we were in the bus, we drove up the what I can best describe as a "Jurassic Park" gate. An large metal gate opened, we drove through it, it closed, then another one in front of us opened and into the animal habitat we went! Want to experience it for yourself?? Just check out this video!

After surviving our zoo safari we decided to walk around the rest of the zoo. The monkeys were very active so I decided to have a little fun with one. Armed with only a black hooded rain-jacket, I began my battle with the monkey. I'm pretty sure I would have been toast if it wasn't for the protective glass.

Our trip ended with a visit to the panda exhibit. Victor had never seen a panda before and we thought it'd be awesome to video tape his first encounter with one. His reaction was priceless!

All in all, it was a very cold, but very great trip. It's been amazing to see that my relationships with Victor and Edward continue to grow, even though we now live in different cities. Victor frequently calls me to talk, sometimes about eternal things, and he meets once a week for a study with one of my old teammates in Hengyang. I can't wait until we get back to China and our daughter gets to meet her Chinese uncles!