First Full Day as a Family

Our day started with a buffet breakfast in the hotel. It was a very nice one with lots of wonderful choices - good for us, overwhelming for Wade. I can't imagine what was going through his head. We took him around asking him "yao, bu yao" meaning do you want this or not? He just shook his head yes or no. He choose a few items and then went back to the table. He quickly ate up what was on his plate and then when offered more, he indicated that he was full. Well everyone at the table proceeded to go back two, three or four times and we asked him a few more times if he wanted to try something that we had gotten. He was adamant that he was full. After breakfast, we went to get ready for the day at the Great Wall. It was looking like a beautiful day and it proved to be so for the entire day. What a blessing! The ride to the Mutianu location of the wall was long but so worth it. Having been there two previous times I never get tired of the awesome beauty of the wall and surrounding mountains. As we arrived at the Wall, we realized that we did not do a good job of planning for lunch so we discussed our options as to what to take up on the wall with us for a couple of hours. Our guide, Jenny said that she thought there was a new Subway opened up at the base of the wall by the parking lot. I found it hard to believe, but sure enough there is was! It was perfect for us to take with us in our backpacks. Wade had never had a sandwich before but dove right in choosing the meatball sub. Once again, he did not hesitate to try something new. I am amazed at how easy he is to please.

We really enjoyed ourselves as the weather was so nice and it was fun to watch Wade take it all in. I wonder if he got tired of us taking pictures of him? Is there ever a bad picture on the Great Wall? I doubt it. He pretty much stayed ahead of the pack the whole time. Must be he is in pretty good shape. I never saw him huffing or puffing on those steep climbs as I was. So many times I wished that I could read his mind. What must he think of this place?

After hiking together for a while, Rich, Wade and Lucas continued on to the end of the renovated part of the wall. It was quite a steep hike as you can see from the pictures. At the top they stopped to have their picnic lunch of Subway subs and bask in the sunshine. The rest of us picniced farther down and waited until they rejoined us. We then continued on in the opposite direction to pick up the alpine slide to take down the mountain. It was another long up and down hike but it seems as if Wade picked up the pace (even after he just completed the long hike with Rich and Lucas). I think he was very excited to go down the slide (another first!).

Wade is such a great age for this kind of thing. He seemed to be "in his element" even though he has had few experiences of this type. He is active for sure. At times he was just like Lance jumping down stairs, hopping up on things and spinning around.

Wade was a bit anxious about the alpine slide but did just great and enjoyed it very much. Rich is behind him breaking the rules of the road by taking pictures while driving. The other kids were worried that I would go too slow on the slide. They didn't want to get caught behind a slow poke. I flew down that thing leaving the slide monitors along the way yelling "slow down lady!" I just laughed out loud thinking about my kids' and their comments.

After a very long drive back to the hotel, we freshened up and our guide took us to a "popular" restaurant right down the street from the hotel. Wade had never had Peking duck and we wanted him to try it. The problem was, that all the other dishes came first while they roasted the duck and he was full before it ever got to the table. At our insistence, he was a trooper to try it anyway and said "hao chi". It was good.

Long enough for now, there is so much to say but impossible to say it. All of the kids are handling this really well, and we are so proud of them. Their attitude will make or break how this transition goes, and we can say so far that they are a huge part of the solution!

Keep praying, we covet every thought sent to Him on our behalf. Much love.