Thursday in Beijing

So Logan and I got up at 2 AM and stayed up. We had a snack and watched Shrek while Erich slept. Then Erich and Logan watched Superfriends while I took a little nap. The child did not go back to sleep. Yikes! We went for breakfast. It is very formal with white linens and a chef to make omelets or waffles. We drank juice and ate a lot of fruit (pineapple and mandarin oranges). The milk was scary as it is frothy. It was labeled Islam Milk so I'm not sure what that meant.

After breakfast, we walked around the hotel. We found the Darnell's who are from Germany (with US military) and are adopting from the same orphanage. They and a group of others in our travel group were going to the zoo. We took a taxi ride which wasn't too bad. It cost $1.50 a person for admission to the zoo. It was very large. We saw the panda bears and got some great pictures! There were parts run down and others that were very nice. Everywhere in Beijing, including the zoon, is under construction. They are getting ready for the 2008 Olympics. We left the zoo a little early because Logan was tired. We saw at least 3/4 of it. Logan fell asleep on the way back 'home'. We needed lunch though and went to Pizza Hut a block away. It was the nicest one we've ever seen. The menu was huge and the desserts looked awesome! We didn't get any, but I can't wait to go back. Back in the hotel room at KunTai Royal Hotel, we watched soccer and took a nap. Even Erich dozed a little. Afterwards we found the Silk Market. We heard much about this from friends. The taxi ride to and from the market were quite scary. There were many close calls. It is very overwhelming. Imagine a flee market and everyone wants your attention. You cannot make eye contact or they won't leave you alone. There are many booths that sell the same things. We made some great deals and did some souvenir shopping (pearls, jade, video games, etc). Erich says we can go back tomorrow. We were there for a couple of hours and were only on one floor that we didn't even finish. There are at least 7 floors total.

We just got back from dinner at McDonald's. We ordered milk shakes because we weren't sure of the fountain drinks. You cannot drink the water here as it can make you sick. Since fountain drinks use water, we had the shakes instead. The boys are already asleep. Pray Logan sleeps through the night.

3 days to go until Forever Family Day!
Robin