Forbidden City

We started the day at 9am and gathered in the lobby for the ride to the Forbidden City. I got a pic of the 4 little girls we have in our group. Just think - in 3 days there will be EIGHT more kids in the picture! What a zoo!!

We toured the Forbidden City (Olivia said she didn't want to go because it was forbidden - she thought we weren't supposed to be there) today. It was hot. Did I say it was hot? Well, let me tell you, it was HOT. And we had our first experience with Squattie Potties. The name tells you everything you need to know. Ugh. Try using a squattie potty for the first time in sweaty hot heat, with a reluctant 4 year old. The best investment we made all day was the frozen bottled water. The City was very beautiful and I'd like to go back some time when we could tour the entire thing and take our time. Olivia was quite the star attraction. Because of her blonde hair, she got many looks and a few people wanted their pictures taken with her. She cooperated, but you could tell it got old pretty quickly.

We had a traditional Chinese lunch which was very good. We toured a silk factory where I found a small (16"x24") handwoven silk carpet that only cost $1500. I think I'll just stick that in my suitcase! And we visited a "typical" working class neighborhood.  

I'm not writing any more tonight because we can't see the blog and this may turn out to look like a mess. And room service just brought up our sandwiches. Hope you can see the pictures!