We are back in Hanoi from our mini vacation to Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba. It was absolutley beautiful, unlike anything we have ever seen. We took a bus to Ha Long Bay, which took about three hours, then boarded a junk and this is where we stayed Friday night. Saturday we ventured on towards Cat Ba, where on the way, we stopped for swimming and kayaking. Obviously, since Lyla was with us I stayed behind on the boat, which was relaxing. After that, we stopped and took motorbikes through a small village, which was amazing. I have put some pictures below of some of the houses that we came upon, they were very primative to say the least. Some of the group, including Shane trekked through the mountains, where they saw some very large spiders (glad I stayed with Lyla!)

On the adoption front, we are supposed to go for our first embassy appointment tomorrow afternoon, then on Thursday, we will pick up her passport, and take her for her medical exam.
We will then wait to be told when our second embassy appointment will be, and this is when she gets her visa and we can travel home! Of course we are keeping our fingers crossed that this all happens quickly. We both want to get home to Aiden and Phenix!

We are planning on going to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, where the body of Ho Chi Minh is held on Wednesday.
Actually, we tried to go today, and got all the way there, and it is closed on Mondays. We felt like when the Griswold's went all the way to Wally World and the park was closed :) Very disappointing.


These are some of the houses that were in the little village that we biked through. Yes, people live in them.

Another small house out in the middle of nowhere.

A beautiful view of Ha Long Bay.

This is the front of the junk that we stayed on..

A junk sailing Ha Long Bay.

The beach at Cat Ba. Very crowded!

And a picture of our big girl!