The Great Wall, Acrobat show and J's birthday

Today was a busy, busy day!  We got up early and went back to the buffet, to the kids delight.  It isn't my favorite buffet in the world but the littles love it.

After breakfast we met with David, our guide, and headed out to the Great Wall.  I knew the wall was in Beijing and so I assumed it wouldn't be too far away.  Bad parent award, I didn't bring anything for the littles to play with and they got bored on the nearly 2 hour drive.  Toward the end, J got car sick and gave us back all of the buffet breakfast he enjoyed so much.  At least in that regard, we were fully prepared.  Laura taught us that lesson many, many years ago!  When we got to the Great Wall, I also realized that I didn't have hats for either kiddo and it was really, really hot.  So 40 rmb later (about 7.50 usd) we had adorable kid hats.  Obviously we weren't the only parents to miss that step as every little booth had kid hats.  We got on the bus, which thrilled Katie!  (I get to ride a bus to the Great Wall!?)  Normally the ride is a matter of a couple of minutes but we got stuck behind a herd of recently sheared sheep.  The shepherd  had no interest in getting off the road or hurrying.  I found it hilarious that in a country that pedestrians don't have right of way, the bus and about 2 dozen others behind it, allowed 50 sheep the right of way.  Ha, next time I want to cross traffic, I know the secret...bring my sheep.  There's an allegory in there somewhere.  Every brick wall that we saw on that (really slow) ride Katie would ask Laura or me, "is that a Great Wall" to which the ever helpful Laura would reply "no but it is a pretty good one" or "no, that is the sub-par wall" or other equally enlightening responses.  Katie hasn't yet refined the Sanford child sense of humor and would nod and continue watching for the one Laura would agree was great.

Anyway, we finally got to the area of the wall that we were to ascend and got on a ski lift (they called it a cable car but don't let them fool you, ski-lift is what it is!).  Jay rode with me and was not a happy camper.  I think if he'd have seen it before he got in, we would have been walking.  About halfway up (and 150 feet in the air) he started to lift the bar, yikes.  I was able to distract him and we made it to the top.  The guys were yelling something to me in Mandarin to which I smiled and waved.  Jay kept trying to yell back it them, "What?!  I can't hear you!"  As if hearing would have helped.  Whatever it was must not have been life altering, they didn't stop us and we didn't die.  One of them did roll his eyes at me so it was probably something simple.  :) Jay had seen the toboggan ride that would take us down while he was hoping not to die on the lift and wanted to go do that immediately.   He wasn't impressed with the history he was standing on.  We walked up steep stairs of varying sizes until we were at the top.  It was a perfectly clear, "fog" free day!  It looked like you could see forever.  It was very weird to think that 2200 years ago, someone went to work and said "Day one.  Lay the first brick."

It was still early in the day and the other busses that had been stuck behind the sheep didn't have a guide that cracked the whip and kept them moving like we did and so the wall was fairly empty.  Katie of course, had very little interest in the wall and I didn't let her down much as she is tiny and the openings for the arrows were at ankle height and plenty big enough for my tiny baby to crawl through.  In the US, they would have been netted or fenced off but I've never read about any Chinese children falling off the wall, so they must not have a problem with it.  I wasn't going to risk it.

After the requisite pictures, we headed to the toboggans.  Katie made me promise to be the one to take her which pleased this mama's heart, and so she and I got on our little toboggan careening down the mountain together.  Lest you think Disneyesque, I'll say there were no seat belts or safety harness but we lived and had a blast.  

Jay and Laura were just behind us and in true Laura style, she screamed halfway down the mountain.  :) she also had a hard time obeying the keep 35 meters behind the people in front of you and I have the whiplash to prove it!  No really, the collision wasn't THAT hard.

Laura didn't know that I heard her tell Katie, "On the next adoption trip, you can ride with me."

At the end of the toboggan ride we got another bus ride  (we are trying to keep all the transportation promises we've made Katie over the last few months and are succeeding)  and Laura finally got her ice cream that she has wanted the whole trip.  (Oddly enough, it was Burger King). We also got to see an off-brand Mickey Mouse dancing on the sidewalk at the establishment beside ours.  Tim asked David what Pseudo-Mickey was doing there to which David replied, "To attract people to the bar."  Um, because nothing says come into my bar like Mickey Mouse?  Jay stared at e weird dancing Mickey for a while and stage whispered, "I don't think that's the real Mickey Mouse!"

We had a quiet ride back to the city center and went to lunch at a family's house in Hutong.  Laura was worried that her kidneys were going to be harvested and I have to say, I was holding on to Katie tightly in the ride through the back alleys.  I couldn't help but think how much Tami and Felix would have truly loved this part of the trip.  The food was very good and Tim was a wonderful guest.  If you didn't know him, you may not have realized how hard he had to work to get that cabbage down.  I have the sweetest husband.

Next we drove like mad to make our 3:30 showing of the acrobats.  It was crazy.  Jay wanted to know, loudly, if any of the guys were going to be naked.  A family that also looked to be on an adopting trip turned around and gave me the evil eye.  So if you are on one of my adoption fb groups and reading this...we really don't take our 5 yo to strip shows routinely.  (I think he was thinking about the Tarzan show at Disney, really.). :) Katie, in Sanford tradition, fell asleep during the noisiest part of the show ( 8 motor cycles  driving crazy in a circular cage).  She slept through the exit, changing who carried her and the drive back to the hotel.  It is 4:30 am and she still hasn't awoken.  We were all exhausted!  She missed out on the birthday cake that the hotel sent up and the one we had ordered which came shortly thereafter. Jay was very sweet though and said to save her a rose.  :)

I collapsed at 7:30, an hour after Laura, leaving the guys up working in Legos.  :)

Whew!  Was that way more than anyone wanted to know?  Tomorrow should be much quieter.  We will eat, pack up and board the plane for a four hour ride to Chengdu!  Getting closer!

Blessings, y'all.