Day One in Beijing

What a day!! We are soooooooooo tired. We began with Tiananman Square and Forbidden City. It's huge, and it all starts to look alike after a while. Very crowded, but beautiful architecture. Our group seemed to be the main attraction. More people took our pictures! At one point, our guide, Sherry, took our 4 guys to the bathroom, and Sawyer and Warner came back, but Hunter and Tanner didn't. We found them talking to a girl on the bench where Sherry had told them to wait for us. The girl's english name is Grace, and she speaks English fairly well. She followed Hunter and Tanner and hung around them for the rest of the time in the Forbidden City and even stood outside the bus until we took off!! Of course, everyone in the group is teasing Hunter and Tanner now. They aren't the only ones I have to watch though. I was talking to Barbara and I turned around and 2 young women were taking their picture with Chris!! They kept turning around and looking back at him and he waved and smiled and they giggled and turned their heads. He won't let me forget that one for a while. After Forbidden City, we had lunch. Well, Hunter, Tanner and I had lunch. Chris, Sawyer and Warner had sticky rice and chicken. Sawyer tried a new dish that he thought was chicken. I wish I had a picture of his face. He had to excuse himself. After lunch was the pearl market and the Summer Palace. Summer Palace is breathtaking. Picutres don't do it justice. Following the Summer Palace, we went to the Silk Factory and learned how silk is made and bought a few silk outfits for the baby. Needless to say, it was a full day, and we were all very tired. Then we went to dinner at a "western restaurant". It's funny what they call western food here. If it's fried, it's western. And they fry everything! I think we've had french fries with every meal so far!! The boys just couldn't hang in there any longer and fell asleep at the table. All 4 of them. 3 at our table, and Warner at the kiddos table. Everybody in our group thought that was hilarious and took pictures of the sleeping teenagers. They'll be embarrassed tomorrow when I tell them that 7 year old girls outlasted them. gotta go to bed. Church and the Great Wall tomorrow. Happy Easter everyone.