Sightseeing with someone special! day 2

I will start off with the shocking news that we all slept well last night! What?! I woke up around 3:30 and assumed I was done but was actually pretty happy with that.  After reading a while, however, I fell back asleep until Erik woke us up at 7. Beautiful, blissful sleep...ahhh. Anyhoo, so Lily (the director of the foster home) met us and another family at 7:30 to go sightseeing but before we went, we got to go to Harmony House and pick up Charlotte and the other little girl being adopted by the other family so they could  come with us!!! She was very standoffish when we met her but after a bit, when we started to head out, she let me pick her up.  She is itty bitty and beautiful! So off we went to see The Great Wall of China!!! It was pretty amazing...and exhausting! I carried Charlotte in a carrier and I will just go ahead and blame it on her extra whopping 21 lbs that I felt like I was going to die by the end. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We got to ride a chairlift type thing to get to the wall and then a toboggan on the way down! Well, Charlotte and I were forced to ride the chairlift back down but Erik and the kids had a blast riding the toboggans down this crazy, windy track! The wall...is great! I don't know if pictures will do it justice but it was amazing! The stairs are crazy, steep in some parts, short and tiny in others, and completely tilted in some places.  Ethan, of all people, was scared of being so high up! I couldn't believe it! Never in my life, would I have thought he would be the one to be afraid! It was so cool and so big and so EXHAUSTING! I've heard before that climbing the steps is quite a challenge and it really is! 

After the Great Wall, we drove to the Summer Palace. It was also amazing but super crowded and by this point in the day, we were all pretty done.  It is beautiful there though and there were a lot beautiful things to take pictures of.  We hadn't had lunch when we got there (around 4) so we bought some hot dogs on a stick.  They were the worst! Erik, Ella and I threw ours away after a couple of bites. Ethan and Liana ate theirs just fine and claimed to like them.  Weirdos.  So we were all super tired and the kids were grumpy at the Summer Palace until one person asked to take a selfie with Ella and Ethan and then all insanity ensued. A crowd gathered around and our blond kids were the biggest hit there! They loved every second of it, the little freaks! Unfortunately, a few people forced me in on the action because apparently I'm blond enough.  After we were done at the Summer Palace, we headed back.  It doesn't sound like a long day really but every drive took forever and we didn't get back until around 7:30. Charlotte, who was stoic the entire day, lost it about 30 minutes before we got back to Harmony House and nothing would calm her down.  Poor baby was exhausted, probably starving because she wouldn't eat or drink much, and fed up with these crazy strangers who call themselves family taking her all over everywhere! She also gets very carsick, poor wee thing.  So she was very glad to get back to Harmony House and back to her nanny.  And we were pretty ecstatic to get back to our hotel! 

I will have write more about Charlotte later. Today, she was very much like Liana was when we toted her around China, quiet and very serious, so we haven't really learned much about her personality.  I mean, what an insane way to get to know your new family! She was such a doll baby though! Oh my word, so precious!!!

Okay, now to the pics...

Yesterday

This is inside our hotel

She's tolerating me but really wants away!

Charlotte's crib

The girls

Riding the chairlift up

The Great Wall

The Summer Palace

This craziness just cracks me up!