We Made It, Safe and Sound

Ni Hao, Ya'll! 

We made it to China safely and with a much more peaceful transition (time-wise) than the last time that we were here! There was a change in the scheduling, so we did not meet Kai today, but we will meet him tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. !!! WOW!!!!! This is good and not so good, because meeting him today would have meant that we were very tired, but we are also so anxious to finally see him face to face!

So, we checked into our hotel at around 4:00 p.m. yesterday, and ordered a very simple dinner of Beijing dumplings. Everyone slept pretty well, but Kolya woke up this morning not feeling well. But after a great breakfast buffet with AMAZINGLY delicious hand pulled noodle soup, she said that she felt well enough to do a little out in the world, though, so we decided to visit the Temple of Heaven. It was a (supposedly) clear day, but it looked pretty smoggy to us! However, the Temple was quite beautiful. 

                                                                                                            

After the Temple of Heaven where we made a spectacle of ourselves playing shuttlecock (or "jian zi" as it is known here), we were walking back to the subway, when I had one of my dreams come true!! We were able to try a kind of treat that I read about when I was around 7. It is called a "tang hulu", and it is made of tart hawthorn berries which are strung onto a skewer and dipped in a hard candy coating. They were delicious, albeit very messy! 

We brought lunch to the hotel from a local Chinese fast food restaurant which our guide brought us to. It is pretty amazing how inexpensive the locals can eat! After that, we all slept for a couple of hours. We got up and went to the supermarket - what an adventure! We bought some snacks, candy, and shoes (a second pair for Kenley).  We also got a kick, as usual, out some very strange products and signs!  

                                                                                                                               

After leaving the supermarket, we ate dinner, came back to the hotel, got organized for tomorrow, took hot baths/showers.  I will send more pictures ASAP, but this is all that my computer will let me post. We are headed to bed, Kolya is feeling much better this evening, and we are all so, so, so, so, SO exited for tomorrow morning and seeing our precious boy at long, long last!!!!