Good morning - or evening here.  It's 10:46 pm here and I'm getting really tired and ready for bed.  Most of you are just starting your Saturday, 8:46 am.  Sorry if there are any spelling or grammar errors!   

I'm finding out that it's really hard to write something different for both posts.  I hope pictures are enough for this post at least for now.  I'm sure that when we get Addison, it will only get more busy so better luck next year Derek if you think that I'm actually going to write something everyday for this blog!

Speaking of which, I need to address a couple of requests from previous comments some of you have made!  Ok, so I only feel like 2 comments needed a reply, everyone else just seemed to be content with putting best wishes as comments, but not my brother or you Derek!  However, that way I at least have something to write about, so thanks for giving me something to go on:

First of all, we don't meet up with Addison until Monday, sorry no pictures of her cute little face until then.  Kind of like this whole process, we are just hurrying up to wait!  Just like our time spent in Chicago - we had to hurry up and wait just 6 1/2 more hours until we could leave compared to our scheduled time.

Now to answer Jared (and stop ripping on the fact that I've never blogged before - at least this way you have more pictures to see than just 6), as far as the food and the cultural experience.  Jen and I went with another couple to eat yesterday at a local Chinese restaurant, they didn't have any pig or cow stomach on the menu.  They did have pictures of what the prepared food looked like along with what items were written in English under each picture - but even when we tried to order in English the wait staff looked at us as if we were speaking a foreign language (for your information Jared, we were speaking a foreign language).  They said, "ok" but that was about it.  We ordered by pointing at what picture we wanted, but we didn't see any stomach or chicken's feet.  I'm thinking that we would have to Snack Street or whatever Andrew Zimmern called it - when we asked about Snack Street at the front desk, here too they looked at us like we were speaking a foreign language, but some of the hotel employees speak fairly good English, so it wasn't like they didn't understand what we were asking them.  

We were the only 2 couples that didn't eat either here at the hotel or at McDonald's yesterday, so just be accepting that we ventured out of our comfort zone at all.  As a matter of fact when we ate lunch today as a group at a Chinese restaurant, people in our group were asking us what stuff was, or which dish to try first.  We couldn't give much advice, except that the restaurant the day before was more of an experience than where we were at today.  

I'd like to see the price difference between ordering online compared to buying direct!

Factory conditions weren't what I would call accommodating!

If you read the other website, this was the lady that got upset with our tour guide, who is standing in the black coat right behind her.  They exchanged words, and I think that he told her to settle down and get back to work.  She wasn't very happy with him, and he just looked at us and shrugged his shoulders!  We left shortly after their exchange of words.

A finished Cloisonne Ware.  Many hours of intensive tedious labor involved for the finished product - something like 2 to 3 weeks for each piece.

The ride to the top of the Great Wall.

Our lunch today.  Don't know what any of it was, it was order for the whole group.  We tried to tell the rest of our group that they missed out the day before.  I'm sure that we have more opportunities to find pig or cow stomach.  I will try it if we find it, I'm up for the experience!

Leave it to my wife to find a sale.  And yes, Addison will be getting a nice sculpted piece of Jade for her birthday someday, which birthday will have to be kept a surprise

!

More of the Olympic venues.  This was a view from the bus of the Water Cube.

Apartment life in Beijing.

The Dynasty of Rock!  Don't worry Jared, we didn't eat here, we just bought Addison a t-shirt or 2.

Keep the comments coming, it gives me something to write about.  Now that I think of it, I have more to write about our experience taking a taxi to the Hard Rock and the traffic in general, but that will have to wait until later, I'm getting tired.  Later, Jason.