T minus 3 and counting

It is hard to believe that in three days, we will be on a plane headed to China again!  And, what fills our days and nights lately is PACKING!  One really nice thing about China is that it is vastly different from American culture.  And one really big downside to China is that it is so vastly different from American culture!  We have never really had difficulty traveling in China and honestly have not ever needed anything we could not find in China but there are just a few bits of American culture that we have to take with us that make the packing a bit more tedious!  Things like Starbucks Coffee.   And, with two kids coming over and three kids coming back, you have to try and anticipate things that may happen and also think of their comfort as well, especially on a 25+ hour travel day.  Luckily the weather in all the regions we will be visiting (Beijing, Nanning, Guilin, Guangzhou and Hong Kong) are all warm this time of the year so packing is a bit easier this time than when we were there in December 2010!  But, if you ever wanted to know what a living room can become during a packing session for  a 2 1/2 week departure to China - I have provided just a few pictures of the "stratEgery" that is going on in our house right now.

Hold on Declan - we are coming to get you soon!!!