The Fabulous Five

Saturday, December 3, 2016

China Day 3: Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

I had to publish 2 posts today, so scroll down to the next post and don't miss the Great Wall! :)

Today we went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City with about 500,000 other people! Literally. I don't think I've mentioned yet, but we are celebrities here. No matter where we go people are taking pictures of us. They either try and sneak pictures or ask or scoop up one of the kids and take pictures with them. It was weird at first but now we are used to it! haha! After doing LOTS of walking we went to lunch(have I mentioned I don't like the food) and then to a silk factory. After that we came back to our room and then took a short walk to the Ferrari dealership! My big boys and my husband were in heaven! AND THEN WE WENT TO STARBUCKS! April and Reece were in heaven! :) Last night we ended up not being able to go to the food market. Brooks couldn't wake up from his nap, no joking there..we tried to wake him up and it was like he was possessed. So, he fell back asleep and we went to bed shortly after. Jet lag is the devil. So, tonight we went! Griffin ate scorpions and Peyton ate grasshoppers! EWWWWW. We saw some crazy things that people eat. Everything from starfish to squid, quail and all types of bugs. We are back in the room now packing up because tomorrow we leave the beautiful city of Beijing and fly down to Nanning in southern China! MONDAY IS GOTCHA DAY!

I can't even wrap my mind around my life right now!

Josh made a friend!

This is how we feel about being SO FREAKING COLD!

Candied apples!

China Day 2: The Great Wall

First of all, this day was SUPER special because my SUPER special someone celebrated his 35th birthday! I'm sure he never imagined that he would spend a birthday in China! It will sure be one he will never forget! Happy Birthday Love!

Today we explored the Great Wall of China! It was amazing, just as you would think. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves! Griffin and Peyton went with Paw Paw to the very top! I wanted to but there's no way Brooks could have done that. Let me tell you, those steps are NO JOKE. Some of them were so steep I had to climb. Next, we went to the jade market where we purchased a jade necklace for Mia to have when she's older. It's Chinese tradition to give your new baby a jade necklace when they are born so we will do the same for her! Then we went for a rickshaw ride through Hutong Lane! FUN but sad at the same time to see how some have to live. Now it's nap time for Brooks. Tonight we plan to go to the supermarket and then Pedestrian Street to explore different food!! You know, scorpions, spiders, etc.! Word on the street is the scorpions are still alive and they skewer them alive and cook them in front of you! When in China...

A few things of note about Beijing:

1. The city is beautiful! It's very spread out and has 16 different districts. It reminds me of New York city and New Orleans at the same time!

2. Over 22 million people call this city home! There are people EVERYWHERE!

3. The smog is not as bad as I expected. We have seen the sun every day that we have been here!

4. Yes, there really are squatty potties!

Friday, December 2, 2016

Hello From China!!!

Friends we made it to China!!! It's completely surreal to be in the same country as Mia! Oh I can't wait to kiss her! I teared up every single time one of our flights took off just because we were that much closer to her! Then real tears came last night when we landed in Beijing! We traveled over 24 hours to get here, I haven't calculated exactly how long. The kids slept well and did good on the flights. The big long flight from Seattle to Beijing was 12 hours. It wasn't as bad as it seems, we had plenty of on demand movies and tv to watch so that passed the time. That's about it for now! We're off to explore the Great Wall!