Sunday, May 10, 2009
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Today after a good night sleep and a great breakfast we met our group and headed to Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and The Great Wall. It was a fantastic day and we really enjoyed all that we did today. First we went to Tiananmen Square. It was so crowded. There were thousands of people lined up to view Mao’s tomb. Everyone was in huge travel groups and many people came up to the family with us and asked to have their picture taken with their children. Our guide said many people visiting Beijing may never have seen a westerner before. The entrance to the Forbidden City is right next to Tiananmen Square so went there next. It was beautiful and quite interesting. The Forbidden City was the very start of Beijing. There are a lot of intricate buildings. In one of the buildings there is a desk and chair where the emperor did his work. Hanging above the desk is a very large and heavy pearl (made of copper). Legend says that if anyone else but an Emperor sits in the chair at the desk the pearl will fall on the person and kill them. Lastly, we drove into the beautiful mountains to The Great Wall. There is no way to explain to you how crazy the traffic is here, driving through mountains I had to be very careful what direction I was looking in. The Great Wall is so magnificent. After entering the gate we could chose the steep side or the less steep side. Well the less steep side was so crowded I didn’t think we could get good pictures so I opted for the steep side. I have never tried to climb something so steep. We decided to only go to the first tower and turn around. We had a fun time bargaining with the shop owners at the bottom and then headed back to the hotel. We are now waiting once again to go eat. Tonight we are having authentic Peking duck. I am not a duck fan so we will see. I am willing to try it.

Tonight we go to bed with the anticipation of meeting Lily tomorrow. We are filled with excitement, joy and anxiousness . Every day we think about how she will react to us and plan how we will react with her. Our prayer is that it will all come naturally; we have been waiting for each other a long time. Our guide said we will meet her in the afternoon around 2-3. Tomorrow-Pictures of us with Lily!!!!


"We can do no great things, only small things with great love." ~Mother Theresa