Heading for Yangzhou

My butt is dragging and my dogs are barking and my kids are no longer whining because they are passed out in bed. Boy did we do Beijing today! We woke up about 6:30 after 6 hours of sleep and I didn't let them slow down one bit. After meeting up with our friends we had a great breakfast at the hotel. Then we decided to walk around the corner to the supermarket. It was a wonderful introduction to life in China. Kind of like a Chinese walmart that played advertisement with loud Can Can music! Add to that the shouting of the people selling different meats and produce, the loud chinese elevator music, and the general buzz of the people and it was an abrupt hello to life in China for the girls. We ended up buying more stuff than we probably needed to buy and I bought something called pocari sweat when I thought I was buying bottled water!

After a quick cup of noodles for lunch the girls went swimming at the hotel pool. A good way to have fun and burn off energy which we probably should have conserved. By the time we were done with the tour of the Temple Josi's bottom was dragging. The tour itself was one of those things that's hard to describe unless you've been there. All the information about life with the Emperor and the significance of 9 steps and 12 beams and curved verse straight angles was a bit overwhelming. The colors and the sounds and the slickness of the stones beneath your feet when you walk make all of your senses sit up and pay attention. When we were finished though our guide asked us if we would like to go to a teahouse . We decided to go and we we were given information about the different types of tea at a tea ceremony. it was nice to sit and relax in the quietness of the teahouse.

Then we drove back to our hotel. Cadi fell asleep in the van and serenaded us all with her snoring. We walked to KFC to get something to eat and with the handy point to menu I manage to order spicy hot chicken, hot milk and potatoes that tasted a lot like wall paper paste! Thankfully starting tomorrow all of our meals are included as part of the tour so we won't have to try that again!

By then the girls were all falling asleep, but we had an orientation meeting to attend at 7:30. We met our guides and we given a special gift bag for each family. Ours included a red pashmina scarf for each of us to wear to the Great wall tomorrow. A kite to fly in Yangzhou, name tags, and a special Bridge of Love Adoption Services pin and a detailed itinerary. So now it is 9:20 I am finished with this blog entry for the day and I am heading to bed. Tomorrow is another BIG day!