Great Wall

On Friday night, Michael and I went out to dinner with Meg. We were suppose to see her new apartment, but since it had been raining all day she didn't want us to take a chance of not getting a cab home. Apparently when it rains or snows in Beijing, cab drivers go home. So, instead we just went out to dinner. Michael was cranky again. Sigh. In his defense though, I put him down for a nap after our day at the Forbidden City, and had to wake him up about an hour and a half later. It was 5 pm, and I wanted him to sleep at night. So anyway, Meg took me to a nice fresh food restaurant - yum!! I tried to get Michael to eat a quesadilla, and he seemed to like it, until he decided to throw a mini-fit. Meg and I finished our dinner and then we left - with a cranky (and probably hungry) toddler. He did like the salsa though, and ate it all...with a fork, just like Danielle does!! They will get along well!!

I will give God praise though, Michael went to bed without throwing a fit!! That was huge!! I sure needed a break!! We woke up early on Sat, and ate a great breakfast and then met our group at 8 am to go to the Great Wall. On the way there we stopped at a jade store. Yes, it was just like the pearl store from yesterday! We were given a quick lesson in how to distinquish true jade from the fake stuff, were told about some special sales that are "just for us", and then allowed to shop. One sales lady followed me around for a while, hoping to make a sale, but she got the hint when I started to play "kick the can" with a paper cup that Michael had found. No, that probably wasn't proper "jade store" ettiquette, but it's what we did. And no, I didn't buy anything!

Next was the Great Wall. I was really excited to see this, and it did not disappoint!! We stopped at the first gate and decided to keep going. There were SO MANY people at this stop and it was REALLY steep. The next "entrance" was great - not too crowded at all. Since the stroller wasn't going to work here, I brought out the Ergo baby carrier that my friend, Donna loaned to me. It worked great!! Michael really seemed to enjoy riding in it and I had both hands free to steady myself up and down the stairs (I am afraid of heights). It really was amazing!! We walked up and down the wall for a bit and took some photos. Two different groups of school children swarmed me and Michael and wanted to take our pictures...I guess they weren't used to seeing an American woman carry a 2 year old in a baby carrier!! Anyway, I smiled for their photos. One of the women in my group joked that I must be a celebrity. To that I responded that if I was a celebrity, someone else would be carrying my child!!! UGH!! I enjoyed my time there, but was ready to get the carrier (and my son) off - I was SO hot!!!!

On the way back to the hotel, we drove by the Olypic Water Cube and Bird's Nest. They were really cool!! Apparently you can "sit" in the Bird's Nest for $7 USD and you can swim in the Water Cube for about $10. Thanks, but no thanks. It might be cool to swim, but I wonder if I could actually swim a whole lap? Maybe next time I come to Beijing!!!