July 15, 2012 Fly to Zhengzhou, July 16th: Gotcha Day!!

We got up early enough Sunday morning in Beijing so that we could have the buffet breakfast before all of us needed to meet George in the hotel lobby and get on the bus to go back to the airport to fly to Zhengzhou in the Henan Province!

Grant, Cara and Colt--ready to go!

While waiting at the airport we met this little cutie! It was easy to tell that he was a boy because he had split pants on and no diaper or underwear! (very typical in China!) Isn't he adorable?

Saying goodbye to George! What a great guide he was! Off to the next city and to meet Zach and Tian finally!

The next pictures will show just how slap happy the kids and I got! This is on the flight from Beijing to Zhengzhou! Note how relaxed and sleepy the Chinese women behind us are!

Yes we are nuts! But no one seemed to notice, now did they?

Are we there yet?

YES! We are!

Now poor Yisha and Vivianne....they had to figure out where to put all of our luggage!!!

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel....here is our room!

Next posting will be of our 1st night in Zhengzhou, our trip to the ZZ Walmart, and the morning before we met Zach and Tian! I'm slowly catching up!

Beijing Tours: Day 2! Great Wall, Olympic Stadium & More!

Let's Go! George is ready to take us on a day full of adventures!

 The kids are all ready to go!

These Chinese guys wanted to take pictures of the Americans in the bus!

Is this their version of recycling?

The Jade Market!

I love the signs!

The Jade Factory was huge!

The Great Wall!

I can't tell you how excited I was to see it in the distance! When we were in Okinawa we visited Hong Kong but never made it to "China proper" and to see the Great Wall!! I always hated that I never made it there because so many people had talked about how awesome the place was! As soon as I saw the Great Wall I felt like screaming "There it is! There it is!"!!!

Yes, it really was that HOT! (see how red the kids' faces are!)

These stairs were STEEP!

Time to make our way back down! We almost made it to the top point, but I we just didn't know if it would be the top or just another false peak/top like before! We had to meet up with our group and didn't want to be late so we started back down! At least we did get up there pretty high! I was shocked at just how hot and humid it was! We are used to Colorado weather!

Woo hoo what a workout especially in this heat and humidity!

 Another funny sign!

Fancy umbrellas on the Great Wall!

Okay, so these characters were just a little strange. Not sure what connection they had to the Great Wall?

Tebowing on the Great Wall!

Grant and Cara were SO determined! They went super fast up the steps, leaving poor Mom and Dad behind!

Family Photo---minus 2 little boys waiting for us in Henan Province!

Some funky shaped building in Beijing!

Birds' Nest Stadium!

Another Fan!

And more fans...wanting to take their picture with the American kids!

More pictures...and the paparazzi!

And------- another picture with a "fan"!

Family photo---(pre-Tian and Zach)!

Next stop....the Chinese Acrobatics Show! We were late for the show, but still were allowed in and saw some pretty cool acts!

A whole group of Chinese students!!

Our hotel in Beijing was really nice!

Ready to get on the bus and head to the airport! Next stop Zhengzhou! We were so excited to get to Zhengzhou on this day because we knew Gotcha Day was coming soon! We would get in to ZZ early on Sunday, and GOTCHA DAY was Monday morning!!! Yea!