Day 2 in Beijing

Today was a very full day. We had a great time. I still cannot believe how big Beijing is. It felt like we drove from place to place today and it just seemed to get bigger and bigger. So many people and so many stores. Today we went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We walked for what seemed like hours until we got to the other side. It was absolutly beautiful. Joey loved all the lion statues and Annabel loved being carried around like an empress as we carried her stroller up and down the stairs. We then went and had lunch. Again we went to a very authentic restaurant. We had Peking Duck. It was delicious. We also ate some other things I cannot pronounce. Chinese food in the US is going to taste very boring after eating it here. After lunch we went on a Rick Shaw tour and were able to visit the home of local residents living in a very special cubical of homes very common in the heart of Beijing. Again there is much history behind why the homes are built as they are. The kids loved it. We then went to the silk factory. It was incredible to see how they spin the silk along with the entire cocoon process. We then hit McDonalds for a very American meal. The kids were surprized at how different it is compared to the ones at home. They are similar yet have a little difference in taste. Of course the menu offers many choices not found in the US. We got back to our room by 6pm and offered to take the kids swimming. But they were so tired they chose to go to bed. So off they went to their own room. Mark and I are not too far behind them. We are still trying to get on China's time zone. Last night we were asleep by 7:30 pm and up at 4am. Slowly we will shift our times until we are caught up. All in all we had another fabulous day with the kids. Annabel was a hoot. Of course she has to say hello to everyone. We call her our hall monitor because she is always trying to order people around. Today on the rickshaw tour she keep shaking her finger and telling the pedestrians "no no no" because they were walking on the same path our rickshaw was going. It was really funny. Only 3 more days until we meet Jacob. Even though we are very excited about siteseeing we are all getting very anxious for Tuesday to be here. I also had to add one more thing to make you smile. Many places in China do not have western toilets. They only have squaty potties. I wish you could have seen Ambers face when she realized she had no other choice. So she wins a gold medal for mastering the squatty potty today. haha Thank you for all the prayers. So far so good on the health issues.