Molly's view on the trip to the orphanage

Today was an emotional day for all of us as we traveled back to Annie's orphanage. This morning she was clearly acting different almost as if she knew where we were going. I was worried about her behavior but shook off and we went on like any other morning, got dressed and headed down to breakfast. Soon we met Tingting, our guide, and we were headed off. Mom, dad, and I were prepared for the worst, this being Annie screaming and crying as soon as we got there.
We pulled in and she was fine but was somber, which as we have learned is not in her character. She was in mom's arms and we walked to her former bedroom. On our way some of her nannies were outside and there was a lot of commotion as they said hi and saw there little Xin Tian for the last time. Many tried to hold, kiss, and hug her but she seemed stiff and wasn't super thrilled to see them. She hung onto mom as they all came over to see her and kept her vow of silence going.We then ventured into her actual room. As we all entered the room Annie went straight to her old bed and pictures were taken. Then we exited the room everyone talking and trying to hold Annie. It was time for us to say our goodbyes to the nannies. One of the nannies started to cry and that of course triggered mom to cry as well. A few more pictures and Annie handed them their gifts and we left.
Preschool was our next stop on the visit. As we neared the room Annie must have remembered it because she started running towards it. Once we entered all of the other children surrounded her but she stayed quiet. She began handing out candy to all of the kids, starting with her best friends. What was amazing was that she knew who already got one and who still needed one. The longer we stayed there the more she seemed out of it.only a little while later and she tripped hit her head against the sink and cut her eye and that made her utter her first definent sounds, crying. She calmed down from that and again we left.
We returned to the lobby and the vice president of the whole thing came out and gave us a little gift. Inside this bag was a book of photos,writings,and some of her school work. Once mom saw this she immediately started tearing up and thanking the women who gave it to her. In the lobby I got her smiling and laughing again.
Soon we were back in the hotel and for the first time Annie let dad hold her. As soon as we got back into the hotel Annie seemed to perk up into her happy self again. So in short this morning was a lot to take in and I can hardly believe it is only 2:30. She is just going down for a nap and although I can only speak for myself, I think we all would like to be in her shoes at this moment.