Tianamen Square, Forbidden City, The Great Wall

What a day! We started at 8:30 a.m., and saw Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, the Imperial Palace, and the The Great Wall. The Forbidden City and the Imperial Palace took the majority of the day, and I have to say, it was way too long for most of us. Part of the problem was the crowds, there must have been a million people there. Worse than Disney World during spring break! We would have been happy to take a quick look, but our guide took us through courtyard, after courtyard, after courtyard. It was neverending. By the looks on everyone's faces, we could have seen a lot less, and still been happy.

Our kids drew a lot of attention. All of them are blonde, and except for Doug, they all have blue eyes. The Chinese people would stop, touch their hair, stroke their faces, and ask to have their pictures taken with them. Katie was definitely the most popular. For a shy child, she was OK with it, until one man actually picked her up! It kind of freaked us all out, and she was a little scared.

The highlight of the day was definitely the Great Wall. It was really amazing. We drove a little ways from the city, and suddenly were in the mountains, and then, there it was. There were lots of stairs to climb, and the kids started bounding up. The adults did, too -- at first, and then dropped off, one by one. We lost Joe and Marie, first, then Mom. Linda, Jerry and I made it pretty far, but we finally decided enough was enough. The kids raced ahead like it was nothing, and we eventually lost sight of them. Don kept going, in an attempt to follow them, but he never made it to the top. Ryan also dropped out, but Doug, Katie, Sean, and Jason went as high as it could go. Luckily, they got to a point where they had to stop, or they'd probably still be up there. They were really proud of themselves for making it all the way to the top.

Well, here's another little mishap to report: Tonight we had to pack up our bags and leave them outside our rooms for the bellboys to pick them up, so they could be transported to the airport tomorrow. As Jerry was sitting here (in his underwear) he realized he had not left himself any shorts to wear tomorrow. Now he is frantically trying to figure out how to get his shorts back! Looks like I'm going to have to track them down, as he has no pants to wear!!