Busy in Beijing

Quick impressions from a very busy day 2:

** Tomorrow we get young Abigail! Amazing. We have been sooo busy, it's easy to forget every now and again. But the big day is almost here.

** Yesterday was wild and tiring, but amazing. Shopping on a "walking street", toured Tiananmen Square and the vast, historic and crowded Forbidden City and then a quick stop at Olympic Village and Beijing Acrobats show, then home at 9 p.m. We ate a power bar each and collapsed.

** Our hotel is great. Breakfast bar is amazing. Many dishes labeled Muslim or non-Muslim. Chicken rings? No. But there is squid rings.

** Allison got physically dragged by a walking street clothing vendor after refusing a purchase.I looked around and saw this woman literally hanging onto Allison's arm and pulling her back. She was hollering "Doug ... help!!"

** Food on the walking street? How about live scorpions on a stick? Or locust larvae? Stewed tentacles? The locals seemed to be enjoying it. We passed.

** Natalie has been great. A real touring trooper. She sleeps on the bus, which is best, cause the traffic will scare the &&%$ out of you. I don't know how people survive driving in it.

** Natalie has already bonded with her "new best friend" Genna, the 10-year-old in our group. There is also a 5-year-old daughter with another family in our group, although they are going to another province.

** Natalie has been very engaged in our touring. She answered a hard question from guide about a Chinese statue and could tell the difference between chinese police and Chinese soldiers. (We get lots of looks, here in Beijing, by the way, from locals.You can tell they are curious about our family.)

** We are getting ready to go out for another full day.This time the Great Wall, the summer palace and a jade factory.

Tomorrow we fly to Nanchang in the morning and get Abigail in the p.m. We will try to post again, but the next time you hear from us Abbimae will likely be part of the gang.