Day 2

Day 2 – Beijing, Olympic Park, Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square
Wow! What a great day. Yesterday when I said that Beijing felt like a lot of other big cities was totally wrong, it is absolutely amazing and huge. The density of the apartments and buildings is hard to wrap your mind around. We drove the Olympic Park and got to tour the Water Cube or as the kid on the bus said the “ice cube”. They did a great job with the venue and Chinese people are very proud of it. We were ready to see some ancient history so from there we went to the Forbidden City. It was completed in the early 1400’s and we got to see how the Chinese ruling class lived and it was amazing. The power that was displayed and the opulence was staggering. The city went on for miles and the detail of the architecture was spectacular.
The Chinese people have been very friendly and very interested in us. One of the ladies in the group looks a little like Izzy from Grays Anatomy. She had an entire group of people line up to take pictures of her and they kept saying ..”ahh greys anatomy”. When we went to TSquare we got to see a demonstrator throw flyers and how quickly he was hauled away. We were also drew a lot of interest as people wanted to take pictures of us.
When we got back to the hotel we had a 90 minute foot massage. It was somewhere between ecstasy and torture. I thought I would go back today, but I am on the line. Scott’s big buy yesterday was 3 Mao dictator watches. His arm moves up and down in dictatorship style. Too funny! Today the Great Wall! 2 more days until Piper!

We are in Beijing!!

We are here! – Beijing
Our travels to China have been smooth so far. The nice man at Indy upgraded us to Economy Plus, which means 5inces extra of leg room…whooohooo! The flight to China was not too bad Scott and I both slept some watched a couple of movies and read a book. My brother Steve arrived about 3o minutes before us and we found our guide immediately. Several of the families in our group also had a layover in Chicago so we got to meet them and hear their stories. One family is from Nora(15 minutes from Carmel). She works at Lily and is traveling with her parents and her 8 year old adopted daughter from China. Other families are from Milwaukee, Chicago, Knoxville and Seattle. We arrived at our hotel around 7pm and got checked in and then went to the local market to buy water and some food. Our guide asked if we wanted Pizza Hut, McDonalds or KFC, we opted for Chinese and it was very good! I stuck with my tofu and Scott had pork. When I ordered a beer our guide was worried that it would be too big for me to drink, so I told her I would split it with Steve and Scott, 3 shared beers later she was worried about us oversleeping. Too funny! Our hotel is very nice and I got to check it all out at 3:00am. Scott and I both slept from 9:30pm to about 1:30am. So in my sleepless state I tried to workout (fitness room opens at 6am), go to the Starbucks(opens at 6am) so now I am updating my blog!

When we left Indy we were so sad to say goodbye to Cooper and in his always joyous state he smiled and waved and yelled “see you soon”. No tears from him.
Beijing is 13 hours ahead of Indy. So we are waiting until 5am to call home and talk to Cooper.

Today in Beijing we are leaving the hotel at 8:30 to go sightseeing. Last night walking around it was hard to believe we were in Beijing. It has the feel just like all big cities but the amount of bikes is overwhelming. I can’t wait too see what the day holds. 3 more days until we get to hold our precious Piper. Below are pictures of us in the airport and our guide. More soon!

It Takes A Village

I can't believe we are leaving tomorrow. I am so happy to finally be going and so sad to be leaving my little man for 2 weeks. I would like to thank all of our friends and my parents for their help. It would not be possible without you! Next post will be from China!!!

Travel Itinerary

Only 7 more days until we leave, but who's counting...haha!
Here is what our trip is going to look like:
Nov 19 - leave Indy
Nov 20 -arrive in Beijing at 4:30pm
Nov 21 -Tour of TianAnMen Square, Forbidden City and Olympic Green Park
Nov 22- Tour Great Wall
Nov 23 - Fly to Guangzhou
Nov 24 - GOTCHA DAY - we will get little Piper Mei in the afternoon
Nov 25 - Bottles, diapers and naps oh my
Nov 26-Nov 28- Drive 5 hours to Maoming (Piper's birth city) tour orphanage and see city
Nov 29-Dec 3- Hang out in Guangzhou - Passport, visas and medical appointments
Dec 4th - The labor begins;
Guangzhou to Beijing 3 hours
Beijing to Chicago - 14 hours
Chicago to Indy - Arrive home at 8:00pm YEAH!!! (Dec 4th)

Travel Dates

YEAH! We just booked the international portion of our trip! We leave on Nov 19 and come home with Piper on Dec 4th. We will be in Beijing for about 3 days and then head to Guangzhou. We are waiting to hear the details as to when we will get to Guangzhou and when we get to finally hold our precious little one. My brother Steve is also going with us and we are so excited he gets to share our journey with us. I will post the details when I get them!

Travel Approval

We just got word that we have travel approval from China. So now we are waiting to hear when we have our appt. with the Consulate. Our trip is tentatively scheduled for Nov 19- ?? we think we will be home around 4th or 5th of Dec. Yeah! The countdown begins!!

More Information about Piper

We received more information about our daughter.
Yun means to allow or consent
Mei means beauty or pretty
Nan means south
They said she is happy, has a ready smile and likes to say yiyi and yaya. She likes toys that make sound and has a close relations with her caregiver.We are now waiting for travel approval which can take up to 3 more weeks. We are estimating that we will travel around Nov 19th and be home the first week of Dec. Words can not describe how happy we are.