And Then There Were Three!: And this one time, in China.....

Yea, I know I stole that line. But it got you to look didn't it! Okay folks, we just finished day one in Beijing and we are pretty much wiped out! But I will start with the flight over and end with what we hope is one swell night of sleep for two tired kids and two grateful parents.

Its a tough life.....

We departed Raleigh on Wednesday morning courtesy of a well timed drop off from the greatest in-laws in the World. We could have done without the nightmarish traffic on Kildare Farm Road at 7:30 in the morning, but then again it pales in comparison to what we just experienced tonight! From RDU we took the short leg of the trip up to Chicago and began the 7 hour layover from.....well, you know where. Thank goodness the kids playroom at the American Airlines Club was all but empty and the snacks and drinks were free or there could have been a disaster! After passing the time we departed the United States almost on-time and started the 14 hour flight to Beijing, China!

The plane ride was pretty uneventful except for the bad turbulence over Canada (we think it was all the hot air coming from the hockey fans fretting over what to do this winter while the NHL is on strike!) and we touched down in Beijing at 10:45 pm local time. Our guide, Sarah, met us at the terminal exit and after a short ride to the hotel we all hunkered down just around midnight.

This morning we awoke to Savannah sitting up in the bed around 6:00 am and politely asked her to give us all another hour to sleep. After a morning breakfast in the hotel (yes, there was sushi and dim-sum on the breakfast buffet!) we met Sarah and our driver out front for the start of our tour.

The Kennedy Family at the Great Wall

First on the agenda was a visit to the Juyongguan Pass, about 40 miles from Beijing. You can read all about the Juyongguan Pass here, so I will save you all the fine details, but as you can see it was very beautiful and the kids had a blast! We climbed up a little over halfway when we turned back due to the kids. The ascent was steep and many of the tourist were struggling, but thanks to our awesome trainer we were bounding up the hill like total athletes! Amazingly right behind us was what had to be an 80 year old Chinese Grandmother and her daughter! We had such a good laugh!

After touring this section of the wall we headed down to the colonise factory for lunch and some shopping. If you read our blog a couple of years ago when we came over to bring Aiden home, we had visited one of the factories before so we were not as overwhelmed! Savannah and Aiden made purchases and we were soon on our way to the Summer Palace!

Savannah and Aiden at the Summer Palace

The Summer Palace was very striking and wonderfully decorated. With even more climbing we were able to reach the Temple of Buddist Virtue where we could see the Tower of Buddhist Incense. Again, the detail and craftsmanship of all the works was breathtaking and can not truly be described. After several hours and a Dragon Boat ride back to the main gate we were on our way back to the hotel with a couple of sleepy kids!

After some jaw dropping traffic, cat naps and stop and go driving we made it back to the hotel. It was at this time that we decided to forgo the hotel dinner and Dad volunteered to go out and grab some McDonald's for the kids so we could get them to bed as soon as possible. Thanks to the helpful (but somewhat directionally challenged) hotel bellhop I made my way all the way around the immense square that our hotel is on (probably a 2 mile walk) to find the McDonald's just to the right of our hotel (yes, he told me to go right!). Oh well, I enjoyed the walk and the nightlife here in Beijing so I made the most of it.

Now here we are, all tucked in and fast asleep (well, the kids and Ann Marie are) and resting up for another round of touring tomorrow! The countdown to Declan sits at 3 days and we cannot wait!

So till then........

Mike (did I just see what I think I saw), Ann Marie (do they take credit), Savannah (wheres my iTouch) and Aiden (where do we go now) Kennedy