Beijing

Wow! We went to the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City and Tian An Men Square, a silk factory, and delicious lunch and dinner at local restaurants. It was amazing. We left in the morning at 8:30 and returned to our rooms about 6:00! Talk about tired...

The Temple of Heaven is beautiful! I've seen Jim's pics from when he was there 2 years ago; they don't do it justice. Everything is being refurbished for the Olympics, so many areas have fresh paint. We'll post pics later today--I don't have the cameras downloaded yet. I was too tired last night!!

The FOrbidden City and Tian An Men Square are fascinating. I'll let the girls share their their thoughts this afternoon. I know they were quite impressed. I can't even begin to describe them--they are overwhelming and take time to process...

One of our big concerns on this trip was food for Ryan. While he's not too picky, he's also not very adventurous, and I worried he'd be hungry all the time. Well, the worry was totally wasted! He has done beautifully. It was almost comical watching him trying to eat with chopsticks--he was SO determined!! And he did it, too. ;) It was great watching his success, and he loved the praise. We've had incredible food: sweet and sour pork, kung pao chicken, vegetables of all varieties cooked many ways, a delicious beef dish, candied sweet potatoes that were awesome, and so many other things I can't even remember.... We will NOT be hungry on this trip....

Today we're off to the Great Wall, then tonight we're going to see the Peking Acrobats. I can't wait! We have a great tour group--it's the six of us, plus 5 families adopting SN children with a different agency. It's been fun getting to know them, and we'll all meet up again in Guangzhou. As a bonus, one of the families will be in ZhengZhou with us! Even at the same hotel! They have one of their children with them; Sara is a freshman in high school. She fits nicely with our threesome.

More later, and pics I promise!!