Beijing to Chicago and Chicago to Omaha (so glad to be home).. jet lag has struck

Woo Hoo...we made it home after about 14 hours in the air. Sonja is on the sprawled out with Zoe on the couch, Nathaniel is on our bed sleeping. I know if I do not stay up I will not get adjusted but I did get a quick nap in this afternoon.

We got up really early to get to the Beijing airport.  We had arranged a Taxi to pick us up at 3:30 in the morning Beijing time.  The Taxi came on time however the taxi was very small and the taxi driver said there was no way he could all our luggage in the car. The hotel suggested we call another taxi however we helped the taxi driver figure it out and we made it to the airport with plenty of time.

On Wednesday we went to the Great Wall and it truly is amazing.  Our tour guide Emily took us to the wall that was about an hour out of Beijing. So we began our climb up the wall...I figured we would try to climb to 2-3 watch towers however it was so steep that Sonja, Zoe and i made it up the first set of stairs while Nathaniel made it to the fifth watch tower.  People were literally sitting on the stairs to catch their breath.  The stairs are so uneven.  One step may only be 3 inches high while the next step might be a foot and a half. Really made for burning lungs and rubber legs but it was so worth the visit. We were really worried about Zoe, on our last day in Guangzhou Zoe's ankle and foot had swelled and she was limping. Fortunately one of our new adoptive family friend Tara who is a doctor looked at it and said it as an allergic reaction to a bug bite.  She was right and by the next day the swelling had subsided and she climbed the wall with Sonja. I was quite amazed.  After our visit to the wall we went to a Cloisonne factory where we had lunch and learned how Cloisonne is made. It was a very interesting visit.

Back to our flight home....Zoe did reactively well on our flights home.  However there was about a 5 hour period from Beijing to Chicago where she was squirming, pushing on the back of the chair of a passenger in front of us and jut couldn't stay in her seat. I cannot imagine what was going through her mind...we tried everything to keep her entertained but that was difficult.  Too many buttons to push, knobs to turn and other stimulation on a plane for Sonja and I too keep her focused. The trip from Chicago to Omaha was a little over an hour and Zoe did amazingly well. As we approached Omaha we were amazed to see all the flooding...must have been a lot of rain.

So we are home and Nathaniel has a baseball tournament this weekend in Souix City. I am glad he is back as he sorely missed being with his friends and playing baseball.  I think it was a great experience for him and it was important that he was their to meet and begin to bond with his new little sister.  China has an amazing history, beautiful landscape and we met a number of really nice people in China.  Really great people...I am glad it is a requirement for adoptive parents to travel to China for their children.  It was truly an amazing trip.

Well that's all for now...I have added some pictures now that it is much easier to get on the internet.  It was actually quite difficult while in China.  It makes you appreciate the freedoms we have here in the U.S.  I have posted a few pictures with more to come.

At the Guagzhou Zoo

Guanhzhou at Night on the Pearl River

All the adoptive families

Enjoying Papa Johns on the Dragon Boat

The Great Wall

Shot of our climb up the staiss to the first watch tower

Sonja and Zoe climbing the wall

The Dragon boat we toured on! The Pearl river at dusk.

Chinese Medicine Market