Day 1 of Sight Seeing!

Wow! We totally love being here! It was overcast all day and much cooler than Arizona... but more humid. We got about 6-7 hours of sleep last night and went downstairs to a delicious breakfast. We ate a combo of western foods and asian foods and it all went down smooth as silk! Then our group (11 families) got on a nice charter bus and went to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace! Lots and lots of walking! Kailey and I felt like celebrities all day with many stares and people wanting to take their picture with us. Kailey really got into it! They love blonde hair and blue eyes over here!

We spent most our day at the enormous Forbidden City. It's over 1 million square meters! The outer courts have three throne halls which are very ornately decorated - the detail to architecture is amazing! This is where the Emperor presided over important ceremonies. The inner court is where he lived. It would take a few days to see it all! We took a "dragon" boat ride across the lake to the Summer Palace. Unfortunately my camera battery died, so we just got video of it. The gardens are beautiful! Next was lunch at a tradional Chinese resturant. Nothing too crazy at the buffet - however, Austin ventured into the little room next to the buffet and helped himself to an very interesting bowl of noodles and "stuff" on top. He later paid the price for eating this. Poor guy - not how he wanted to spend the bus ride home!

We drove right past the Olympic's Bird's Nest and Water Cube - Pretty cool to see it in person! I got video of it. Dinner was fabulous! Not sure what all it was, but it was delicious and we feel fine! I think it was mostly pork, beef and duck? One dish looked like fish skins over some noodles in a watery sauce. Tim was the only one who ate that at our table (this was about the time Austin's lunch started to kick in... needless to say, he didn't eat anything for dinner).

The other families we're traveling with are so nice. It's been fun getting to know them and their kids. Our guide is great and she speaks English very well. Our room has four beds in it, so we all have our own to sleep in! I don't think Tim and I would fit too well in the same bed - they're a little wider than a twin bed. It was an amazing day and once again, everyone else is already asleep! Time for me to join them!