One Year and One Demolition

One year ago today we were ten hours into our 13 hour flight from Chicago to Beijing, China. Three of the five families in our travel group were on that flight. Thanks to seatguru.com, we had picked out choice coach seats at the back of the plane with a large space to stretch your legs between the seat and the window and a large space behind us so we could recline way back. The male flight attendant barked at all the old Chinese ladies on the flight and scared us half to death. The long flight did not seem so bad as it was almost like a mini-vacation where I could read uninterrupted, do crossword puzzles and lean against Craig. We flew over the the west coast, followed the west coast up through Canada, crossed over the Arctic where the outside temp was around -59 at our elevation and then down the east coast of Asia, over South Korea until we landed at 3:00 local time in Beijing. Talk about doing a number on your internal time clock. I then learned the real meaning of jet lag, a condition I thought wasn't real. We walked through the beautiful new Beijing airport until we got to customs. My passport was nine years old and the agent questioned whether or not it was me. Thanks, dude. That's what having two boys will do to you. I had aged. I pointed out the date on the passport and he let me through, to my immense relief. We picked up our bags and headed through to the unairconditioned part of the terminal. It was HOT. Craig was feeling the effects of food poisoning from the burger he ate at McDonald's in O'Hare and he had to sit on the floor and rest while we waited for an elevator. Our guide from Bethany, Joy, met us and became our best friend for the next few days. She rocked! We boarded a Bethany bus to the Days Hotel and Suites where even the hardest beds in the world (imagine just sleeping on your boxspring) felt wonderful after 20+ hours of travel.

Fast forward to today. Our little Chinese princess somehow discovered how to dismantle her brother's zebra toy box. She removed the large screws and had it in taken apart in large sections. We have no earthly clue how she accomplished this. See for yourself in the picture. She also had her first successful experience with a sitter, minus the presence of her brothers.