Finally...China: Day 1

Our China trip was a mere 2 weeks ago...
this is when the 5 of us (Daddy, Mommy, Abby, Beks & Gibby) set off on our adventure.

We decided to leave the night before our 9:30 a.m. flight, to make things easier the next day.
Hahaha...

Suffice to say (as to not divulge too many embarrassing family tidbits),
we had some excitement & ended up getting 2 rooms.

I had to sleep with Abby. Abby is a maniac.
But a cute maniac.

Our flight to China was great...the girls didn't sleep, but they never do.
I just prayed for quiet or at least happy noises.

We made it!
We were in China by lunch time...Beks is always hungry,
so here she is running ahead to find food!

We were off & running.
As soon as we arrived (after our temperatures were checked & we filled out our health form screening for H1N1), we headed out to find our guide.

We decided to forgo the normal ITT trip for a personal guide & van. Sounds fancy, but in all actuality, it was less expensive.
And with the girls, it was really the best way to do it...we had car seats! :)

We were told they would wait outside with a sign.
Sure enough, there was a sign that read, Abigayle Johnson!

It was so funny that they put Abby's name on it!
I couldn't find my camera in time, so no picture of it!

Our first stop was lunch...we were all ready for it! We went to places that locals would eat. Sometimes, the establishments looked a little iffy, but the food was outstanding. Yum.
I can definitely say that the food
was one of the best parts of the trip!

Then, we were on to the Summer Palace.
I really enjoyed it there...
we loved walking by the water & feeling the cool breeze.

Summer Palace

One of Abby's new friends!

I have to say that we were very popular.
Our tour guide warned us that we would be treated as minor celebrities.
Well, the girls were pretty close to real celebrities at certain places!

I have to say they handled themselves wonderfully & tolerated all the attention very well.
I do believe Beks is more of a ham than she was before we left! Amazing.

Dragon Boat at the Summer Palace!

Abby was so excited to be on the boat

Here's our tour guide, Fernando. He was awesome!
I can't believe how much he had to say...he had so much knowledge, it was unbelievable.
He fell asleep for a few minutes on one of our longer days & I laughed at how quiet it was! :)

Fresh water pearls...Abby picked out at pink one & we got Beks a lilac colored one

So funny! Abby called me into the bathroom once we got to our hotel room!
She thought there was something icky in there!

Turns out, it was just some flower petals in the potty.
Rest assured, Mommy hasn't ever done this at home! We're not that uptown. :)

Beautiful bathroom (i.e. Bek's bedroom!) with a big bathtub for the girls & a rain shower for us!

Our wonderful room in the hotel that opened just last year for the Olympics
(yet strangely not cold enough!)

We have already taken over...

We ended the day with more delicious food & a night at the Circus.
It was an incredibly long day for the girls (and us!),
but it was a great first day in China!