Our final post from China!!

Playing around with daddy in the morning (up at 7 am today)

Time to get dressed!!! I love my pretty barette(sp??) Auntie Andrea made for me!!

I love to slap my belly while I'm waiting for mommy to get my clothes!!

I'm walking a lot now....so this is where mommy and daddy put me while they're getting ready!

"Krazy Kate" came over for a short playdate....look at all of her hair!!!

My favourite toys are boxes, bags, and containers!!!

A visit to Tian An Men Square.

Getting closer to The Forbidden City.

Finally inside the Wumen Gate at The Forbidden City

Some beautiful works of art inside The Forbidden City.

More beautiful sculptures.

Colourful buildings.

Jada checking out some of the artwork.

In the beautiful Imperial Garden in The Forbidden City

Just outside the Shenwu Gate

"We're now out of The Forbidden City"

Alison, Brad, Sophie and I browsing along Wangfujing Street, just outside of our hotel.

Some of the buildings along the way...

We found a little market (thanks to Tannis) off the main road...more bargaining!!!

My new red dress mommy bought me. I'm ready for the Celebration dinner!!

The lights outside of the restaurant where we ate.

The gang's all here!! Our Celebration Dinner in Beijing

We will all miss Anna and her smiling face!!!

To everyone who followed this blog. Hope you enjoyed travelling with us, and thank you Leslie for setting it up!!! All of the comments were great...and once I got the hang of it, it was fun to do!!! A special hello to Div. 9 ( Mr. MacGregor's Gr.1/2 class). Hope you learned a little about China, and you enjoyed travelling along with me!!! I will bring Jada in to meet you as soon as we're settled in at home.

Today was our last full day of our trip. It was another eventful day starting off with our yummy breakfast buffet. Jada will sure miss the selection she gets there...from yoghurt and fruit, to dim sum, congee, noodles and scrambled eggs with cheese!!! She loves it all. I hope she will like the breakfasts I make her at home. We visited Tian An Men Square and The Forbidden City, and mommy also managed to squeeze in some shopping along Wangfujing Street, while daddy stayed at the hotel with Jada....they seem to like their afternoon naps....good bonding time for them as well!! Had our last celebration dinner with our group where we especially enjoyed the deep fried bananas and Peking duck!!! Our plane leaves tomorrow afternoon, so we will have one more breakfast buffet!!! The trip was fantastic, but I think we're all looking forward to going home and seeing everyone there. Signing off from China,

Charlene, Brent & Jada

Last post from Beijing!

Tian An Men Square - through the mist you can see the north entrance to the Forbidden City.

Alison and Sophie in the Forbidden City.

Charlene, Brent, Jada, Alison & Sophie walking through the Forbidden City.

One more picture from the Forbidden City!!!

A little 'Crazy' Kate kung fu action at our farewell dinner!

Amelia, Mitch and Zen enjoying dinner.

Sophie can't wait for dinner!

Sophie out like a light as soon as she was finished eating.

Our last day in Beijing has been very busy!  We went to Tian An Men Square and the Forbidden city in the late morning (after the girls had their naps).  It was beautiful, incredibly large and very crowded.  This is tourist season in Beijing.  Tour buses are everywhere!  After a late lunch at the hotel we walked to the pedestrian mall near our hotel.  It was fun to people watch and use our bartering skills once more.  It has been a very overcast day today and it is finally raining.  We have been very lucky with the weather through our entire trip.  We will be enjoying the breakfast buffet for the last time tomorrow.  We have all been explaining to the girls that they will not be able to have 16 different kinds of eggs, congee and fruit every morning at home!  Our flight leaves here at 4:20 in the afternoon tomorrow.  We will all be arriving in Vancouver at around 12:20 p.m.  We can't wait to get home!!!!!!!!!

See you all soon,

Brad, Alison & Sophie  XXXOOO

Hi Jonah - this is a picture of the Chef at our favourite restaurant at the hotel.  He has sent you something from his restaurant - he says you have to wear it when you cook Chinese food!

See you on Monday!! 

Day 3 Beijing - Olympic venues/ Silk Street Market

Before you begin reading please proceed to the bottom (more technical difficulties...pics/labels are in reverse order!!)
Ooops....almost forgot smiling Sophie at dinner tonight!!

Daddy and Jada running the bath - she loves bathtime now and loves to splash around!

Amelia, Mitch and Zen also had dinner at the same restaurant!!

Sophie and Alison walking off dinner!!

A yummy Chinese dinner at the hotel with Brad and Alison (Hey...where's Brent? - the waitress cut him off!!)

Alison, Brad and Sophie and I bargained at the market, while Daddy and Jada had a relaxing afternoon playing and then napping for two hours. Everybody had a good day, and daddy didn't snap!!

More "Market" shopping at the Silk Street Market....getting really used to bargaining!!!!

Jada slurping up her noodle lunch in our hotel room

Jada eating on the bus ride back to the hotel. She loves to snack!!

The happy family outside of the Bird's Nest

Once again Brent and Jada are bombarded by old Chinese ladies!!! They always comment on Jada's big, beautiful eyes!!

Anna (our guide) was sooo excited to be at the Bird's Nest. Jada is with her "Dianjiang Sister's"
Nika and Sophie

The "White" family outside the Water Cube (it's smoggy today!!)

The Media Centre near the Olympic sights.

 Once again these pics/labels are done in the opposite order....sorry (technical difficulties again!)

As you can see we had another great day!!!

More to come tomorrow as we will be spending our last day in Beijing doing some more touring around.

Goodnight,

xox

Char, Brent & Jada (who has been sleeping while mommy and daddy post on the blog!)