Smooth Sailing

So here we are....in Beijing!  That's seems so awesome to say!  I can't believe we actually been here for 3-4 days. (I never know how to calculate that with the 12 hour time difference)  It really has been a whirlwind, and we are exhausted as we climb into bed at 7:00pm each night, but we are enjoying ourselves.

We truly have had a smooth trip so far, and we have felt your prayers.  It all started with the trip to the airport.  No traffic, no line at check-in, helpful attendant, breakfast with Mimi and Pawpaw and quick trip to Chicago.  From Chicago, we had seats all together and Jeff had an empty seat next to him (one of probably only two empty seats on the plane).  The boys were amazing, switching from watching movies or playing games to reading or coloring books.  Granted, it was a LONG flight, but it went very smoothly.

Once we arrived in Beijing, we were able to make it through immigration and customs, get our luggage and meet our guide.  There was also another AWAA family at the airport from San Francisco, CA that had just arrived before we did.  (we won't hold it against them that they are Giants fans!!)  They have two boys also, ages 6 and 10 and will be adopting a little 18 month old girl from Guangdong.  Since they will be going to another province for their adoption, we won't see them again until we meet up in Guanzhou next week.  We'll miss them for sure, they have been really fun to hang out with the last couple of days.  Ryan (the dad) is a physical therapist who works on a primary care team and we've had some interesting conversations comparing notes.  It's also been fun watching the boys interact with their sons.  Caleb has shown (and narrated) the monster truck videos that I have on my phone to their 6 year old son, Martin.  Sam and John (their 10 year old) also have a lot in common and both play baseball.  They also brought Ryan's parents who have been helpful with watching the boys.

Our first day in Beijing, we visited The Great Wall, a jade factory, a silk factory and Beijing's Olympic park.  Sam and Caleb loved The Great Wall!  They were both an inspiration to the people around us, as they out climbed a majority of them.! :)  They were both troopers and came away with t-shirts that declared "I climbed The Great Wall!" which Caleb wore with pride today.  Both boys fell asleep during supper on the first day.  It has been a little harder this time with getting into the swing of this time zone.

On day two (today), we visited the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square/Forbidden City, a Tea House and had the infamous Peking Duck Dinner.  At the Summer Palace we were almost hit by falling power lines.....that's a story for another time.  Let's just say I think I know an electrician that can do a better job!  Today was a lot of walking and we are pretty exhausted.  Caleb fell asleep during dinner again.  We have seen so many amazing things in the short period of time that we've been here that it is hard to take it all in.

Everywhere we go, people ask to get their pictures taken with us, or stare and point.  You can see that in the picture above from The Great Wall.  Someone is talking about the boys and what a good job they did climbing the wall.  I'll have to admit, it feels a bit uncomfortable, but we try to be polite and comply as much as possible.  One lady actually picked Caleb up from his stroller!!  I was about to go mama bear, but she quickly put him back down.

The excitement is pretty thick this evening because we will meet Jonathan tomorrow!! We leave early in the morning to fly to Guiyang, Guizhou and should meet our new son sometime tomorrow afternoon.  We continue to appreciate your prayers as we venture into this part of the trip since we're not sure quite what to expect or how he might react when we meet him for the first time.

Since we are leaving so early, I guess we had better get packing!  The next time I will be able to write something, we'll have 3 sons!!!! :)