Oh my goodness...we're pooped!

But we survived....kinda!

We're so very tired, but what a fun day!

After a late night arrival & check-in, we crashed & got about 6 hours sleep. After breakfast (which is a yummy mix of American & Chinese....more American I think...croissants, cereal, scrambled eggs, smoothies, COFFEE!!!, etc...) we met Joe in the lobby & headed off to tour Tianamen Square & the Forbidden City.

I had my doubts as to how we were going to do this. We had tours scheduled for ALL day. Kalia was going to need a nap. I wasn't sure how well she would sleep in the carrier. I seriously contemplated sending Dan while Kalia & I stayed back to rest. It wasn't until we woke up this morning that I decided to give it a try. I figured if she got too bad I'd just take a cab back to the hotel.

So, around 8:00 we headed off to see some of the history of China. Wasn't really much to Tianamen Square. I know it's the site of many historical gatherings/protests (remember the Protests of 89 ), but other than that... I really enjoyed the Forbidden City, though. There were many, many, many different levels into the City. This was to protect the Emperor. They had these really big urns that collected rain water. Our guide said these were to help put out fires. Can you imagine trying to put out a fire with the water from an urn?

Anyway, it was pretty interesting. Kalia fell asleep about 30 minutes into the tour. Dan was carrying her in the front carrier, and his back was killing him. She woke up about the last hour of the tour.

We then headed off to the Hutong for a lunch provided by one of the families there. That lady could cook! And she does all of her cooking outside (the kitchen is outside).

Her "house" consisted of 1 room that included a sink, table & bed. The toilet & kitchen were outside. The home was spotless!

Oh...back to the food! She made kung pao chicken & some sort of pork dish (absolutely delicious!), fried tofu (none of us cared for this), some sort of salad type dish (Mmmm), dumplings (yum!) & oranges & cookies for desert. Way more food than the 4 (and a half!) of us could eat. But man was it good!

Dan also got to have his first taste of Chinese beer. Between him & Joe (the guide), they managed to polish off 2 big bottles (but don't worry, the bottles may be big, but the alcohol content is very minimal).

I was so proud of Kalia during lunch. She sat on her stool, which had no back, without wiggling & falling off, the entire time. She was very good. At the end of the meal I gave her a couple drinks of my Coke, which she loved! She didn't get many sips, I'm sure not enough in her opinion, but she enjoyed what she got. She thanked the lady for the yummy meal with a dirty diaper. Yep...had to change her diaper in the middle of her floor. Luckily I'd brought a light blanket that I layed down, and the lady didn't seem to mind :)

After lunch we took a short bicycle tour of the hutong. It's amazing the conditions these people live in...and yet they're so very happy. Just goes to show you don't need material possessions to provide happiness. Our driver was having a great day, and tried racing all the others.

After our busy morning, we headed back to the hotel for a short rest. I tried everything to get Kalia to lay down for a bit (I really would have liked to take a nap myself), but she was having none of it! So we just lay quietly on the bed & relaxed.

The Acrobat show was the last item on the agenda today. It was a good show, but not worth $30 per person, in my opinion. Those acrobats are amazing, though!

I was so proud of Kalia. She is just a go-with-the-flow kinda gal! I'm trying hard not to overwhelm her (of course I'm not having much luck....I think it will have to wait until we're home), but she always does good. She started to get crabby during the show a bit (but I think most of that is just b/c she doesn't like to sit still), and then on the van ride back to the hotel. I think she needed some "down" time before bed.

We're all getting ready to zonk out now. It's been a long day, but a fun one! Tomorrow...the Great Wall, Jade Market, Pearl Market & Summer Palace.