Arrival in China

Well, we arrived in Beijing safely, although three of us had the handy papersacks in hand as it was a bit of a rough landing! It was great to welcome Lily and Sarah back to China…..and the sun was shining! Our time has been rather uneventful as we are all tired and the day was coming to a close. Oh, we had complete daylight the entire way here so that has confused all of us. Everyone travelled well. I was surprised how well the girls did. They slept two hours on the front end and three prior to landing. We were greeted by Alison, our guide and L, our friend. L lives here in China with her husband. L's mother sang in our wedding almost 23 years ago. It was good to see her….with the extra belly as she is expecting in June. We also gave L the three suitcases full of goodies from the cyber shower her mom and sister had for her. In the craziness I didn't even get a picture of her! We will see her again this week. We are planning to go to church with them this Sunday. Tom is singing and play the guitar as a duet thing….that will be fun. They could pass as brothers so that will be even more fun. We walked to dinner with Allison. The boys were intrigued by the traffic and cars driving on sidewalks. The girls? They did what they normally do….hum and walk or sing and skip. They haven't even said a word about the fact that they are in the majority in a sea of Asian faces. Dinner was really good although we were too exhausted to live dangerously. We passed on the pigs ears, but Dane enjoyed a chicken foot! Tom prayed for our meal prior to eating….our guide didn't seem to think that was an issue. I am fighting to stay awake so this will be short. It looks like great weather for us in Beijing! In fact, on the day we go to the Great Wall, it will be close to 70! TJ, hope you enjoyed your wings at BW3's today! Yes, I have spies everywhere! I'm glad you got to meet Tish….she has been one of my favorite people at the office. Oh, that reminds me. At dinner, Allison asked me, "Kathy, what types of things do you cook for dinner?" Tom replies, "Yes, Kathy, what types of things do you cook for dinner?" Ty says, "Yeah, mom, what types of things do you cook for dinner?" The reality is that I haven't cooked much since I started working….pathetic….need to do better….got the message loud and clear. Lily and Sarah say, "We love you, TJ." More exciting stuff tomorrow…..Temple of Heaven, Tian An Men Square, Forbidden City. We close the day with a rickshaw ride through the Hutongs….the oldest streets of Biejing. I think we might even have dinner with a family that lives on one of the Hutong streets. (Photos: Pics from the seats in the plane to Chicago, Dane eating a chicken foot, the girls on the beds in their room….they think they are royalty and Tom and I on the beige couch.)