China

I tried to get us to Guilin the last time we were in China eight years ago but it just didn’t work out. So I worked hard to get us there this time around, and it was every bit as beautiful as I imagined it would be. Everywhere you looked…

Why does all the crazy stuff happen when Dave is out of town? Or do I just feel like it’s more crazy when he’s not by my side to share it? Today I ran to pick up the girls from school, bracing myself against the icy cold wind.  We huddled…

(Beijing part 1 is HERE) We were so full of excitement on the morning we headed to the Great Wall.  I can’t explain it except to say that it was like there was electricity in the air and smiles all around.  We bundled up knowing it would be cold, and…

Warning: this is a marathon of a post.  Maybe my longest ever, and that’s saying something!  Probably outside of our family only my mother will make it all the way through…hi mom!  But this is for our family record and I wanted to have it all in one place rather…

You know those little surges of pure joy that can just hit you sometimes?  Those little moments that just whack you over the head and remind you how dang lucky you are?  Like when you notice someone actually put away their shoes for the first time in a whole week…

When we arrived in China someone told our kids that there was a place here where you could hold a baby tiger. They were all over it.  Every weekend we tried to find a time to go but it didn’t work until we decided to jump in the car and…

Meet our handsome new chauffier: His name is David and I kind of have a crush on him. Yep, Dave got a Chinese driver’s license. When we first arrived here there was a guy from Dave’s office who drove us where we needed to go.  The plan was for him…

Ok, enough blabbing about the Olympics. I promise to be done after this. But I’ve got to write this all down before it fades since it was the trip of a lifetime for us.I loved the Olympic venues. I loved the dancing water show in front of the Water Cube.I…

I think both Dave and I agree that the highlight of our trip was our night at track and field. It was just so cool to be there in the bird’s nest watching event after event and a whole slew of medal ceremonies. We were so anxious to see a…

We were so glad we already went to the Great Wall and other big Beijing tourist spots last time we were there so we didn’t have to fight the crowds. We were also really glad that they installed a bunch of normal toilets for the Olympics so we didn’t have…