Summer palace buildings

The group, minus me, I took the picture

the aquatic centre for the Olympics, across the street from the birds nest. The Olympic village is behind that.

Holds 91,300 seats, to be done March 2008

Lauren is pissed and Lia is shy. The stadium was closed. As close as we could get. Awesome building!

I don't think he can read English!

A marble bridge at the summer palace

Sue, not wanting me to take her picture

Hi,

Today we ventured off to see the Olympic sites. There are 31 venues and 21 of them are new. We were able to see the birds nest and aquatic centre from a distance. They are both to be ready in March. The birds nest is a work of art. I would love to see inside but no luck. The Olympic village is complete and each apartment is already sold but they can't move in until after the Olympics. The prices for other apartments in the area doubled and in some cases tripled the day they announced where the site would be. The aquatic centre is a beautiful building as well.

The summer palace while beautiful and vast was a bit of a let down. Mainly due to the huge crowds as this is a big holiday in China. I would say it is like the busiest day at Ontario Place but multiply it by 10. They wasn't a square metre where we could just sit and relax. It was a total gong show! Trying to get people together and not losing people. Pushing strollers was a pain in the ass! I would love to see it in January or even December. The emperor built it in the 1700's as his summer residence.

The other families head out tomorrow and we leave Saturday. We are free to roam tomorrow and will head out for some final shopping and then pack up and leave Saturday. This could be the last post until we are home and then what would be the point really as you could just come over and see what we are doing if you really wanted to but I have a feeling it won't be too interesting! We very much appreciate all the comments and encouragement. This was a much different trip then last time. Hauling 2 kids, 2 grandmas and all the stuff around was quite a challenge at times but we couldn't have done it without everyones help.

Lauren has started to show that she is quite stubborn and knows what she wants when she wants it and isn't afraid to let us know about it either. Pray for us on the plane ride, it is going to be interesting to say the least! I already feel sorry for those seated around us a bit but I guess they could have flown 1st class so they can get over it.

Thanks again and we land at 6ish pm in TO on the 6th! See you all soon after that.

Ken, Susan, Lia and Lauren signing of from Beijing.

Medical Day

Heart- OK

Head measurement = BIG BRAIN!

Big Toy helped us out

Childrens waiting room

BIG SMILE!

All is Ok with her!

Hi everyone! (It's Sue again...)

This morning we were off to the SOS Medical Centre for Lauren's physical. The goods news is the doctor was great (compared to Lia's physical). He was actually thorough and personable. Everything went well. Her confirmed her palate is not bad at all and gave her a clean bill of health. He was a kind man and she did not seem to have too much fear of doctors. I actually expected her to react differently as I assumed the last time she saw a doctor would have been for surgery and who knows what memory that holds for her. I am happy to report things went really well for all three kids. (Has Ken mentioned we are in Beijing with two other families? The Wrays with three kids and a grandma in tow and the Hertz's with two kids and a grandma in tow. We all brought grandma's along to help!)

Last night we went to see the acrobatic show and it was truly a highlight. Lia was mesmerized for the entire hour. Even Lauren's interest was maintained for the majority. What those people can do with their bodies was awesome. No one should be that flexible. We all loved it.

It's nap time for Lauren right now and Ken and Lia are watching a bit of tv. Afternoons are quiet time where we can all regain a bit of energy and refuel. Things continue to go really well. We have our low moments and I think we are all about ready to come home now but overall, there are more highlights than lows. Lauren is adjusting really well. Communicating with her is not as big a challenge as I anticipated. She was exposed to a substantial amount of English and even knows a few of our traditional children's songs. She sings the ABC's along with me, Old MacDonald is popular and even Happy Birthday has been sung a time or two. She mimics us in both word an action. Every morning she says "good morning" after we greet her with the same, thank you, garbage (Sue T - that one is here for you!) and many more. I don't doubt there will be many challenges ahead but I am very pleased with her progress. She appears to us like a very healthy, normal two year old little girl.

Dinner time is not fun. The restaurant experience frankly sucks with Lauren. Poor Ken can barely get his food in as he is too busy trying to keep her corralled. She is one active little girl and when she wants something everyone knows. Lia is living off of hard boiled eggs, yogurt and dried fruit. We have resigned ourselves to a whole lot of room service as it is just easier at this point. It's too bad as the food was a huge part of our experience the first time here. Luckily, the grandmas are not holding back and are out there exploring on their own every opportunity they get. Again - they were the smartest thing we brought with us. They have really helped us in so many ways.

Tomorrow is the Summer Palace and a drive by of the Olympic "bird's nest". We are really looking forward to that. Trust all is well at home and I've never meant it more when I say - I really look forward to seeing you all very soon.

Back in the room after nap time!

Our drivers Larry and Charlie! Not sure of the guy in the back.

A typical hutong home, very basic but sturdy

A baby carriage! Home made but very ingenious

Cricket man, we visited hie home in the hutong

Guess who!

Lia Sue and Mary

Me Mom and Lauren on the rickshaw

Hi,

Having trouble posting now for some reason so i will keep it short. Today was the hutong tour and acrobats. This was my first time seeing the acrobats and if you ever find yourself here it is a must see. The things these people can do is truly amazing. The hutong tour has changed a bit as these interlocking alleys are no a protected site by the government. there were 3000 of these and now only 500 remain. They have become quite the investment now as well and many people who have lived in them for 5 or 6 generations are renovating them but with the original construction in mind. A hutong is a Mongolian word for water well. when they invaded 800 yrs ago they set up these section of town for people to live in. Each area needed a water well so one was dug and each of these areas is a section of the hutong now. Quite the history in these neighbourhoods.

We are off to the doctor and embassy tomorrow and then the pearl market. i am sure more interesting stories will come.

view from below

view from above

great view

better view! How awesome is she!

Hi, Today was a free day. We woke up late and had breakfast and then walked down to the silk market. This is where all the knock off stuff is and just about anything else you would want. I was able to secure my chairman mao watches, some silk or what they told me was silk, dresses, the grandmas got some shirts and we bought a bunch of shoes. More to come when we go with the bus as we need a suitcase for Lauren. Not too much excitement other then the grandmas trying to bargain with the sellers. I was able to do fairly well as what they asked for the stuff and what I paid were far apart. I used the line, my bus is leaving so thats my last offer quite a few times! Worked like a charm.

The sales people would grab your arm and one grabbed the stroller with Lauren in it and pulled and that set me off a bit so they backed right down. Other then that a slow relaxing day.

We are off on the hutong tour tomorrow. We go through old section of Beijing on rickshaws then to a guys house for tea and fighting crickets apparently, more on that later. It was nice not to have to do anything today but we are looking forward to being at home on Saturday October 6th. We land at 6pm in Toronto. Thanks and sorry for the boring post today.