Oct 15th - Day 4 - Great Wall and Jade Factory
Today, George surprised us and brought his wife, Michelle, and son, Jacob, on the tour with us. They were a GREAT hit! B'Elanna and Jacob had a great time using her tablet together. They didn't seem to have issues with the language barrier. Hahahahaha!!!
We got to the Great Wall, which was again impressive. But this time is was much more difficult to see due to the Dense Smog!
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| B'Elanna and her Charlie dog at the Great Wall |
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| This is the section of the Great Wall that we climbed! |
Before getting started, we decided to hit the bathrooms. Yep, you guessed it, they smelled Horrible and they were all squatty potty's. Well, we were not to be deterred... and B'Elanna had her first Squatty Potty experience. She did pretty good... she didn't pee on mine or her own shoe!!!
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Don't worry... I have my clothes on!! This
is just so Mommy can have a crazy picture!! |
Then we went off to see the Temples that Grammy discovered last June, and we had completely skipped four years ago when we were here. We weren't able to take pictures of the Buddha, but we did get some nice ones of the Zodiac Warriors! We are partial to the Ox, Tiger and Dragon!
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| Incense prayers |
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| B'Elanna the Tiger |
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| Ayla is the Dragon |
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| Mommy and Grammy the Ox's |
And then it was time to climb the GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!! I took a few pictures and a few videos. I still need to splice and edit the video clips together, so check back in a couple of days for that video!!
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| Eager to get started on this Climb! |
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Family photo at the beginning of the climb.
Jackets on and Charlie dog securely in her arms! |
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| "OH MY Gosh! I'm on the Great Wall of China!!" |
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| Waiting for Mommy to catch up so she can start the climb! |
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| C'mon Mommy your SO Slow!! This is EASY!! |
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| We made it to the 1st tower. Jackets are off.... |
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| and Charlie is tied on... |
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| and 100% secure!! |
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| OK... these steps are a bit bigger! |
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We made it to the 3rd Tower!!
B'Elanna was popular. This gentleman from Ethiopia wanted a picture,
but a gentleman from Ghana also talked with her and a gentleman from Sudan
was captivated and kissed her and Jacob! |
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Mommy and B'Elanna selfie from the 3rd Tower before
we start the climb back down. |
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| I got this! EASY! |
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| Little Steps... |
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| Big steps... |
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| Really BIG steps!! |
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| Must Concentrate!! |
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The exhaustion is starting to show. After this picture,
B'Elanna climbed on my back and hung on as I carried her down
but having to hold onto the railing and keep my own balance!!! |
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| Back at the first tower... the end is in sight... |
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| Oh wait.... I SEE GRAMMY!!! |
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| OK... exhaustion forgotten... let's go!! |
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| Photos with some students (no idea what the sign says) |
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| Racing to Grammy!! |
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| Running the last few steps!! |
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| Made it!! Hurry up Slow-Poke Mommy!! |
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YES!! Get up her Carmel!! These ladies want something and won't let me go!!
George to the Rescue... they want a picture with you and the Temple. |
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| Playing with Jacob (George's Son) |
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The Great Wall in the opposite direction from where we climbed.
Smog was less over there. |
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| George with his girl, B'Elanna, and his son, Jacob |
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| Attempted to get a picture of George and our Family.... this was the best on. |
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| All done... so of course I have a TON of energy |
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This is the section of the Great Wall of China
that we climbed. |
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| Olympic Memorial |
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With Grammy and the section of the Wall B'Elanna
climbed in the background (behind the smog!!) |
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| B'Elanna and her George (SO SPOILED!!) |
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| Playing on the Tablet with Jacob |
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| But she wouldn't stop patting his head!! |
From here we went to the Jade Factory. We did a bit of shopping, I wanted to get some earrings for B'Elanna and Ayla for their 16th birthdays, and a few other odds and ends. It ended up taking a bit of time, so I didn't get very many pictures this time. Please refer back to our 2012 adoption trip for some AWESOME pictures of the Jade Factory Statues and displays.
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| Beautiful White Jade Horse at the entrance of the Jade Factory |
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B'Elanna listened attentively as Amanda (our factory guide) explained
all beauty and medicinal benefits of Jade.
She got a bit bored after this, because Mommy and Grammy were shopping
and wouldn't let her run around and touch things!! |
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B'Elanna has done Great with all the different flavors and samples
of food Mommy has been giving her to eat. |
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Jade Factory Lunch. Really GOOD, almost as good as the
Hutong Family meal. |
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| HUGE Jade vase |
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Hugging a Jade Warrior!! Mommy held her breath
that nothing would break during the photo. |
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| Huge Jade Mural |
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| Jade Daddy Lion |
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| With a Jade Emperor and Jade Mommy Lion |
Love all of the pictures....The ones at the great wall brought back memories of the ones of when you and Alison had the girls in those backpack things walking up those steps!! So glad everything is going well!
ReplyDeleteLove all the pictures! Looks like you all are having a great time. :). By the way, for what it's worth, I was told when I was in Japan years ago that you are supposed to face the plumbing when you use a squatty potty. Apparently us Westerners always use them backwards. :)
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