The past few days in Beijing- 3 days to Gotcha day!

Vince and I have had a wonderful time in the big city, but must admit we have had a hard time adjusting to the time zone differences.  I didn't have as much trouble the last visit.  Vince explored the city solo on Wednesday.  He met a friend named Jack from Hong Kong who was on holiday and they toured together and went to a traditional tea house for tea.  He bought 3 bins of tea!  And he thinks I am buying too much!  Here are some pictures of his exploration.

While Vince is touring I have been productive working with my Beijing collegues and visiting the silk market after work.  What an amazing place.  The photos below are of me and my colleague eating a traditional chinese breakfast, my new friends at the silk market and Vince and I enjoying a brew after a long day of work and shopping.

The last picture is just too funny not to include.  This was in the tunnel to cross the street below the highway.  Funny thing is, I went in this same tunnel daily during my last trip in March to walk to our office and never noticed it, but Vince sure did because he nearly knocked his head on the sign!

We tour the Great Wall of China tomorrow, as well as Summer Palace, Forbidden City and Tiananmen square.  It's a packed day of tours that starts at 7:30 AM.  Then we leave early Sunday for Hangzhou.  I will try to update the blog, but adding pictures is proving to be a challenge.  Miss you all!

FYI on Photos

We are discovering that updates are only allowed via our Blackberry. Blogging is being blocked so picture updates maybe few and far between.  For now, here are a few.  The cake was provided by our hotel for Vince's birthday.  What a nice surprise!  They realized it once making a copy of our passports.  The other two are of the views from our hotel.   Brandi is off to work for the day and I am off to explore the city.

 

Arrived

We have made it to Beijing. Fourteen hour flights are a piece of cake. UAL flight 897 took us North over Montreal, Greenland and over the North Pole. (Santa was not seen as the cloud deck was blocking visability.) We continued through Siberia , Mongolia and into Beijing. Glad to be back on the ground with plenty of reduced weight luggage in tow. Its work for Brandi this week and exploring for Vince with official tours scheduled on Saturday.

Next stop Beijing

We are in Dulles awaiting boarding. Next stop Beijing. All the madness of this morning has passed and we are on time for departure.

We love United and TSA

Our journey started this morning at 3am. Up and out the door with a hug and kiss for Davis. We arrive at RDU to be greeted by the ever personable kiosk. After three attempts to check in .... Success! Only to find out that UAL was so happy that our luggage was 5 and 7 pounds over limit. A quick rearrange saved us $400.00. Now it is 5:25 and the mad rush is on to clear security. 35 minutes later we are screened with a dash to the gate for our 6:10 departure. We arrived just in time to wave at the pilot from the terminal. After missing the flight we learn the next flight leaves at 10:13 so we are advised to go check in again outside of security and start the mayhem over again. We're loving the Monday morning staffing for United. Rebooked at no charge,surprisingly, and headed into security,again! By 6:50 the TSA is showing signs of being a well oiled machine and we cruise right through. So instead of killing time in Dulles we are twiddling thumbs in RDU but we take comfort in knowing we are not a terrorist threat after being screened twice.... Breakfast, Starbucks and a shoeshine, that can use as a mirror, later we are only an hour away from boarding.

Davis' First Day of Kindergarten

Well today was the day.  Davis started Kindergarten.  He did great, showed some apprehension, but did way better than mom.  I did okay until I hit the lobby and quickly put on my sunglasses and by the time I exited, the flood gates opened.  I am excited for this new stage in his life, but it marks such an end to another.  He will do great, I am sure!  The photos are of his preschool graduation and from this morning before we dropped him off at school.

To China- Finally!

We received confirmation Friday morning of our confirmed appointment at the US embassy, thus giving us the green light to book flights for China.  We leave July 19th, and I plan to work a few days while I am there before our Gotcha day on July 26th!!!  I can't wait to meet her and we didn't have to miss Davis' first day of Kindergarten.  Check in with us often, I will post as often as I can on our travels.  We will return on August 6th.  Keep us in your prayers.

We received updated photos of Hanna- but still NO travel approval

She is just beautiful!  I am so frustrated that we haven't been given authorization to travel, and on top of it, much of our paperwork expires in August.  In short, it means more time away from work, more money and more PAPERWORK!!  I am sure God has a plan, but I have to tell you, its been hard to be patient.  For now, the pictures make me smile even though the pain of more paper pushing doesn't.  Oh well, I can look at her and know she is worth it.

This is Davis' last week at Primrose

This is officially Davis' last week at Primrose.  He has been there since he was 12 weeks old.  It's like an end of an era, but don't worry, Hanna is on the waiting list.  Little Harvard will get more money from us before too long.  All jokes aside, as much as I complain about the cost, I couldn't be happier with how well prepared he is for Kindergarten.  He has really matured this year and will do great at Brier Creek Elementary.  July 13th is his first day of school, so as much as I was disappointed not to be in China sooner, I am grateful to not miss this extraordinary milestone for him.

Day at Carowinds

We decided to take a last minute "vacation" with Davis before Hanna arrives and before he starts kindergarten.  The original plan was to visit the Great Wolf Lodge but they wanted far more than we wanted to spend for one night away.   We opted for a night with his cousin Micah, and a day at an amusement park.  What a great choice and day away.  He had a blast and he is a bit of a dare devil on the rides.  He was just tall enough for some of the more experienced rides, with shoes on!  No way he would have passed without shoes.  He was very appreciative of the special day away and we are lucky to have such a cool little kid!  We ended the day meeting Vince's brothers for dinner.  Here is Micah and Davis having a ball at dinner along with a few shots from Carowinds.