Saturday,
June 12, 2010
Yesterday began really well, and ended in what we hope is the
worst of our trip. Because if anything gets worse than last
night… oh my! But back to the start of the day. We started the
day by Kyra finding money under her pillow… Chinese money!!! We
were all very excited! Did I mention that she discovered it at 2
am… when she woke up… for the day… along with her sister! I
didn’t wake up at 2, because I hadn’t fallen asleep at all.
Remember that “rest” that I mentioned yesterday that the girls
and I took… big, huge mistake! We had slept for 4 hours, during
which time I really tried to wake myself up enough, and wake the
girls up, but we were so out of it, it was hopeless. What’s
funny is that when Aron got back, he told me about Shawna’s post
to stay awake. Did I mention big mistake!
Our first sightseeing trip was the Great Wall! It was awesome
and amazing… and ridiculously steep! We climbed the “easy” side,
but let me assure you, the name is deceptive. But Kyra (at 7)
and Ryann (at 4) did really well! Then we had lunch, and went to
the Forbidden City. Such fascinating history! Then we went to
Tiananmen Square. Most of us actually stayed in the van and
circled it because we were so hot and tired. It’s a little
harder with 2 kids to be on the go that much when it was so hot
and humid. Then we had a Peking Duck dinner (I could do without
the skin) and off to the airport. This is when it all goes
dramatically down hill, and fast!
Our flight was scheduled from 9 pm - 11 pm, but when we got
there we found out it was delayed an hour. Then while we were
waiting, it kept getting delayed more. The girls were so sleep
deprived at this point from waking up at 2 am that they really
needed to sleep. They were trying to sleep in the airport, which
is not that easy. And it hit Ryann worse than Kyra. She was
totally delirious from lack of sleep, and was crying so much.
Not our Ryann at all… and she can fuss with the best of them. I
was exhausted… my girl was so sad… it would be so late before we
got to a bed… I was at my breaking point. Needless to say, there
were many tears on my part. Long story short, we boarded around
11, didn’t take off until 12:45 (Ryann crying inconsolably for
about half the flight off and on between sleeping), landed at 3,
and got to our hotel room at 4 am! I got up at 7 for Gotcha Day!
Was I tired… oh yes!
*Another random thought from the 11th: The girls and myself are
all official “squatters”! We successfully used a “squatty potty”
for the first time… and I have to say, not that bad at all! |
This was the hard side
We almost made it to that top
Almost to where we stopped
Again... it speaks for itself |
