China #1

I'm ready for spring.

I, unfortunately, go through a couple days now and then where I'm completely overwhelmed.  I don't know where to start.  So I don't.  That's not a good thing.  All I want to do is cry.

I had one this week.

One thing that seems to help is finishing something that I've procrastinated with.  This week it was pictures.  I had loose pictures to go into kids' picture books from TWO YEARS ago.  So I planted myself in front of the computer, watched/listened to several episodes of.... something, and FINISHED THOSE PICTURES!  I also uploaded stuff from the last two years and got it ordered...except for China.  I'm not totally sure WHAT to do with our China trip pictures.

Which reminds me, I don't think I ever did blog many of those pictures!  Want the 2012 travel edition?

Getting something done helped kick me into gear again.  The downstairs is pretty clean.  The upstairs, except for the black hole that doubles as our bedroom/storage room, is pretty clean.  There's not much in the fridge and a ton of laundry but we're less likely to be selected for an episode of hoarders.

*******

You may remember that our trip to China started with our flight from Pittsburgh to Newark being canceled.  We missed our flight to Beijing.  

 We waited 13 hours for a flight to LA, playing cards, playing electronic games (heaven-sent from my sister), and riding the shuttle back and forth between terminals.  

It might have been 11:30 p.m. on the Pacific Coast but our day had begun at 3:30 a.m. in the Eastern Time Zone.  It was exhausting.

The "KIDS" loved being able to try out the pilot's seat.

The novelty of flying, surprisingly, never did wear off for the older three.

They loved snacks, POP, and watching movies.

I think they also enjoyed NOT sitting with dad and mom, especially mom.

 Because we missed our original flight, we were able to fly AirChina instead of United.  

Woohoo!  

Megan will probably shoot me for this....but,see, it is possible to curl up in an airplane and go to sleep.

Of course, it helps if you're not full grown.

Instead of arriving in Beijing at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, we arrived at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday.  Oh well, it saved us the expense of a hotel in Beijing.

Naturally everyone was raring to go and see The Great Wall.

Kenton and I were at the Great Wall in 2010 but not this Mutianyu section.

We didn't know what to expect, but groaned a little at this impressive beginning of steps.  

It turned out to be the first SET of many, many steps.

On a good day, this is what we would have seen.

This haze is not just because we were all sleep deprived and had just climbed halfway to heaven.

It was one damp, humid morning.

We were very thankful to here at 7:30 on a misty morning than at 2:00 p.m. on a sunny day in July.

The older kids decided to count steps on the way back down.  It was pretty funny to watch the faces of those climbing UP when they realized WHAT those numbers meant.

 It was awhile ago but I believe the number was over a thousand by the time we reached the bottom.

Sound like fun?