In China
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Saturday, January 23, 2010 Today turned out to be a lot milder than yesterday. The wind wasn't whipping around us, the sun was out and the skies were blue. All in all a pretty good day to tackle the Great Wall. The wall was great, which you could probably tell from the name, but what it should called is the Insanely Steep and Treacherous Wall. Given that it follows the ridge of a mountain, the steep part should of been obvious to me. The steps are uneven and worn from the millions of people that have climbed it. Each step is unique. One step could be only 3 inches tall, the next 20 inches tall. Random worn spots and patches of snow and ice made for slow going. I could only climb it carefully and fearfully concentrating on every single step. Cody and I made it pretty far huffing and puffing. Rest times were known as "photo ops". We made it to an ominous sign and decided that we were meant to turn around. Going down was even scarier. Suddenly you were faced with a dizzying vista that made the vertigo kick in me. I am happy to say that I did not scoot down the wall on my bottom but honestly the thought did cross my mind. Mike, sweating from carrying the backpack, made it all the way to the Hero Stone. If you touch the stone you are a "true hero". While we waited for him in the bus Cody kept saying, "I hope Daddy's not having a heart attack." We also went to the Jade Factory. Mike didn't bring his credit card (????) so we didn't get to buy as much as we wanted. I didn't give him too hard of a time about it since he is the only Hero in the Rollins family. Tonight we ventured out on our own and went to the biggest mall we've ever seen. We were on the hunt for a swim suit for Cody since he has been dying to swim the whole time here. I tried to tell him that we might not find a swim suit in the middle of winter, but we lucked into one on the 6th floor of the mall. We also went to a Lego store. Didn't buy anything there but they had some huge lego displays that were fun to look at. Tomorrow is a travel day. We will be flying to Sarah's province. It is time to get out of vacation mode and into the real reason we are here. With love from China, Leanne, Mike and Cody Cody wants to say hi to Josh and all the kids in Mrs. Simpkins class, Mimi, Papa Pat, Marv, Alice and Ryan.

Getting ready to ascend the Great Wall. Even true heroes need to catch their breath. Cody is a celebrity!

This is where Cody and I turned around

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