We are here!!

I realize that I have not been the best at keeping this blog current, but we have been very busy planning a 16 day trip to China!!

We left on Wednesday morning, June 20th.  We flew Korean Air for the longest legs of the trip from Dallas to Korea and then from Korea to Beijing.  I heard many good things online about Korean Air and I will just say that it doesn't matter how good the service is, any economy seat is going to be uncomfortable sitting in it for more than 14 hours.  The service was excellent, the food was pretty good, and each seat had its own tv with onboard movies and games.  Wyatt was kept occupied pretty much the entire time, sleeping for only 7 hours.  I watched 4 movies because I just could not sleep no matter how hard I tried.  I knew it was going to be a miserable few days catching up.  On top of all that I woke up with a killer sore throat that was on fire by the time we arrived in Beijing.

It was night when we finally arrived, but you could see how bad the smog was.  Our guide later told us that it usually is pretty sunny but the winds were bad the past couple of days and blew the smog in.  It is disappointing because it makes everything look so depressing here.

I have been running on very little sleep and when we arrived I slept a blissful 6 hours.  Even the very hard bed felt heavenly.  I woke up ready to go on Thursday (little did I know that I was going to peter out in the early afternoon).  We had breakfast in the hotel which had everything we could want...a nice mix of Chinese and Western foods.  Though the western foods weren't exactly like we eat at home, they were close enough.

We left at 8:30 to go to the Great Wall about an hour and a half away.  I was expecting it, but was still surprised, when our guide took us to a Jade factory.  And of course, like the impulsive, rich, overspending American's that we are, we bought stuff.  Not cheap stuff either.  Oh well, not exactly how I had hoped to start our trip.  I did buy the younger kids, Elise and Wyatt, jade necklaces with pendants representing the animal of their birth years...Ox for Elise and Dog for Wyatt.  Yeah, they will not be allowed to wear them...ever.  If anyone who reads this ends up there, they were really nice, not pushy at all, and they do have cheaper items in the very front...wish I had started out there :)

So after spending our life savings on jade (just kidding...we have no life savings) we were off to the Great Wall.  Before I go any further I just wanted to comment on the traffic in Beijing.  It is crazy!!  And the bicycle riders are everwhere.  Nobody stops for anyone and I am just so glad I didn't have to drive.

Here are some pictures from our day:
Wyatt in the Novotel Peace Hotel lobby.

Entrance to the Great Wall:

This is the sign when you leave...funny the way things translate:

The cable car....Wyatt favorite part:

Wyatt on the wall...lots of steps so he is little uncomfortable, but he did great:

Ok, so maybe he wasn't very happy here:

Went to lunch...nobody spoke English.  Asked for coke refills and she said $5, so we gave her 10 dollars of Chinese money for two cokes.  Turns out it was only like $1.58.

Yes, this is the fish they serve in the restaurant.  Wyatt was fishing for his lunch:

On the streets, the people lay the wheat out to dry.  Literally in the street where the cars drive.  Crazy.

First time seeing a squattly potty.  And no I didn't use it.