Our Day in Beijing

Saturday was our day to be tourists around Beijing. Just in case we weren’t tired enough from a long day of travel, our guide completely wore us out. I’m convinced they do this to us so we will be able to sleep without anxiety the night before meeting our kids. Our guide, Susan, took us and four other families to the Forbidden City, which is a former palace, followed by a quick walk through Tien an men (sp?) Square.

Our next stop was a quick walk around the Olympic Village. We got to see the Cube and the Birdsnest, among some other cool buildings.

We then got back on the bus and headed to do a little shopping and have lunch. We had good food (family style) and Chinese fries, which are much better than the French version.

The last leg of our adventure was a section of the Great Wall just outside of Beijing. The hike to the top was extremely steep with some of the steps being over 1 foot tall. It was one of the most intense hiking adventures I have ever done. I’m proud to say that Allison and I both made it to the top along with only two other guys in our group. Allison is the only female in our group to make it all the way to the top.

One of the funniest things to happen was that the Chinese people were obsessed with Macey. People would stop and smile and wave at her while she was in the stroller, which didn’t seem like a big deal to us. It was only when they asked to take their picture with her or take a picture of all three of us. One couple even posed for a picture with all three of us. She was an absolute celebrity with her curly blonde hair and blue eyes.

Macey also met a friend in our group who was adopted from China 5 years ago and lives in Louisiana. They played together all day and sat together on our bus ride. They are best buddies. She is a very sweet girl and I absolutely love it when she says “y’all”.

Well, it is 5 AM on Sunday morning now and we are getting ready to leave for Fuzhou where we will pick up Xander this afternoon. We are all excited and ready, especially the Big Sister.

At the top of the Great Wall

Macey the celebrity posing for another picture

Macey and her new friend, Evan

All of us in front of The Cube in Olympic Village