Second Day in China; Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

Uncle Mike falling asleep by the pool after the long day

Towards the end of our stay at the Forbidden City

Beautiful Scenary at the Imperial Garden

Our long, freezing walk back to the hotel

The beginning of our journey through the Forbidden City

After a short walk to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, we began our sight seeing adventure in China. The weather was a bit cold but spirits were high. We had a great time seeing the more than 600 year old city that housed emperors and concubines. Walking up and down the icey stairs was a bit scarey with Nanya and company, but we made the walk safely from the entrance to the exit. After we completed our journey through the forbidden city we encountered our first experience of Beijing taxi cab drivers. We were rejected from three or four rides before we decided to walk back to the hotel. The walk back to the hotel was a bit longer than anticipated. Upon our arrival to the hotel, we decided to go to lunch at a magnificant Chinese restaurant in the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Curtis ordered our "questionable dishes"(speaking in Mandarin, we have been so completely impressed with his proficiency of the language! He is amazing!) and like the troupers we are, we ate. After eating we went to the market and shopped. Hours of bargaining left us without money and forced to head back to the hotel. Everyone was satisfied with their purchases and quite tired of the chaos. We decided to go to the club lounge for drinks and appetizers to settle everyone down. We headed back down to Pee Schree (Uncle Mike's Mandarin term for Hotel Floor P3) to finish off the evening pool side. We ate a little bit of dinner and the kids swam. Tomorrow we are going to see the Great Wall of China and maybe to one other sight. Everyone is having a great time!

First Day in China

Standing in front of the Grand Hyatt pool

Complimentary robes and panda bears

Katy and Macy snuggling and comfy with sleep pockets & stuffed animals

We finally arrived. Only to discover a gigantic city with millions of people that was completely covered in snow. Either way, seeing my baby boy made all right again. We loaded up in our Benz with a half ton of luggage and headed to the hotel. We were suprised upon arrival to see a magnificant hotel that reminded us of a cross between Ceasars Palace and the Bellagio. The city we all thought was Beijing was indeed not quite what we expected. We all dreamed and imagined that there was going to be pagaodas everywhere with Chinese roof tops. Instead, there is skyrise buildings and modern architecture. We decided to begin our evening by cleaning up a bit and heading to our complimentary happy hour lounge. After a few satisfying drinks and appetizers, we headed to Da Giorgio, a delicious Italian restaurant. We ate our dinner and headed to the pool. The pool is magnificant indoor pool. The ceiling looks similar to that of the malls in Caesar's Palace. The stary skys above the jungle esque features provide a feeling of complete tranquility.

We are off tomorrow to see the Tiananmen Square/Forbidden City, shop at the silk market, and possibly the zoo. Ending our evening with a delicious Da Dong trip to eat the world reknowned Beijing Duck.

Sent from my iPhone

Our Trip Has Begun

We made it to Chicago! Breakfast at Chili's and a few beverages...now
the fun flight to Beijing. Instead of matching pj's like we had at
Christmas, we all have matching sleep pockets. In case u aren't
familiar with those...they r like silky cocoons that u get in for
comfort or in my case to avoid the germs!

The Okie's Itinerary

Sunday, March 14th:

 

    Arrive Beijing 4:30.  Curtis meets us and off to hotel in our Mercedes Van.  Dinner at Ritz Carlton.

 

Monday, March 15th:

 

    Silk Market for suits

    Forbidden City

 

    Dinner:  Beijing Duck

 

Tuesday, March 16th:

 

    Great Wall Tour

    Beijing Zoo to see Pandas

 

    Dinner:  Relaxing dinner at hotel?  Evening by the pool?

 

Wednesday, March 17th:

 

    Train to Tianjin:  Curtis to show us the sights of the city.

 

Thursday, March 18th:

 

    7:30 a.m. flight to Hong Kong

    11:15 a.m. arrive Hong Kong

 

    Day and evening at Disneyland, maybe pool or beach time also?

 

Friday, March 19th:

 

    Ferry or train to Hong Kong

    Go to the Peak

    

    p.m. Victoria Harbor Symphony of Lights either by ferry or Chinese Sailing Junk

 

    back to Disneyland Resort

 

Saturday, March 20th:

 

    a.m. Visit Big Buddha and Polin Monastery

    p.m. Disneyland

 

Sunday, March 21st:

 

    Leave Hong Kong 12:30 p.m. 

    

The Beginning of our Story in Pictures

Christmas Eve 2009...Blizzard in Oklahoma!

Can Santa really make it here through this weather?

Katy and Macy reading "Where Will Nana go Next?"

Curtis really did make it home!!!

Finally, we are all in our matching PJ's!

Introduction

This all started the week before Thanksgiving 2009. Curtis was scheduled to come home Christmas Eve. Frank and I were thinking about trying to break up the long 5 months he would have after he went back in January until he comes home...finally for good after May 2010. Frank didn't have time in the spring to go for an extended trip to China. So, I asked him if he would send me and my mom as our Christmas presents! I was talking to Mike about taking mom, and his first response was "I want to go." Next thing I knew, Mike, Sheri, Katy and Macy were all going. The best part was surprising Nana at Christmas with the trip.

Sheri and I decided we would make Christmas Eve really special. After hours of shopping at Old Navy and Old Navy online, we came up matching pajamas for all 11 of us to wear on Christmas Eve. A limo was picking us up and taking us to the airport to pick up Curtis. I wrote a poem that we were going to read to open our pj's, put our pj's on, and load up in the limo. The girls, Katy and Macy, rewrote a book "Where is Nana Going Next" and the last page was all of us in China. We were going to have them read the book in the limo after we got Curtis.

Well...the weathermen started predicting bad weather on Christmas Eve. No problem, Mike, Sheri, Katy, Macy, Nana, Charlie and Sarah all came a day early. Ashley was ready to come on Christmas Eve Day. Little did anyone expect, but 14.1 inches of snow later, Oklahoma was literally shut down! Including, any flights in and out of Will Rogers airport. Poor Curtis, he didn't even know he wasn't going to make it here on Christmas Eve until he landed in Denver. Uncle Mike and Sarah barely got across town to pick up Ashley to bring her to our house! Needless to say, the limo was cancelled and we were all disappointed. We got Curt a hotel room in Denver. A little bit of snow wasn't going to ruin our excitement...the poem was read, but the pj's were going to wait to be donned on Christmas Day when Curtis did get here, and the girls read the book. They got to the part that Nana would go next to China, she read the itinerary and plane ticket printed for her and turned to Sarah and said, "Is this make believe!" Tears were pouring.

Santa Claus makes it to our house without difficulty! Katy and Macy kept Sarah and Ashley up all night they were so excited. We opened presents and had a wonderful Christmas morning, until we found out Curtis' flight was cancelled again! and again!!! and again!!!! Leave to Uncle Mike, somehow, I still think it was a miracle, he found a flight to OKC, we booked it, Curtis got on it and was coming home! WOW we couldn't have been more excited. Frank was pacing waiting to drive to the airport. I knew if anyone could make it safely there and back on those roads, he could! Ashley was fighting back tears of joy, she really was going to see Curtis. Frank, Sarah and Ashley, by the way in their matching pj's, headed to the airport. The drive took about three hours round trip, as the roads weren't cleared yet. Finally, we see headlights coming down the snow covered road...there they were! Our Christmas was complete.

Now, after numerous phone calls to plan the trip. Visa applications completed and returned. We are ready...or we think we are! We leave March 13th and arrive in Beiing on the 14th. I can't wait to see Curtis in China!

We will try our best to keep you updated on our adventures. Please be patient this will be a challenge for me!