our journey to Mary Katherine {the great wall}

On Saturday we climbed the great wall. We have a great book at home that we read to Lily called Isabella Girl on the Go and in it she visits different places around the world, one of which is the great wall of China. Lily was very excited about seeing and experiencing in person what we have read and talked about at home. This is the beginning our our trek up the wall. It was a cold day and my toes were numb by the top but at least the sun helped keep us warm.

As you begin the journey up the wall the stairs are lined with locks of love.

Spencer was determined to surpass the highest point Michael and I climbed when we visited 3 years ago so he asked if he could venture on solo since our little one was holding him back :)

As soon as he had the go-ahead from Michael he was off to complete his mission.

Lily completely surprised us. We thought she would be up for a few steps and maybe make it to the first tower but she proved us wrong. She conquered all the uneven steps like a pro and with a great attitude of excitement and joy. She kept saying “this is a lot of hard work”. We made it to the first tower and looked back at where we started.

After taking a short water break to catch our breath we walked up to the second tower. Lily loved the little stone tunnels inside. We decided not to press our luck going any further and started the decent back down the wall. Climbing up the wall definitely gets your heart rate up but claiming down is equally as hard on your legs…mine are still feeling it two days later :))

As we reached the bottom of the wall Spencer came running up behind us quite proud that he surpassed our goal 3 years ago!

It was a perfect day and a wonderful experience to have together as a family.

We warmed up with some hot chocolate and coffee before heading out to the jade factory. Michael bought me a jade bracelet when we were here to adopt Lily and I was happy to learn that it has almost doubled in value :))

We ended the day with an amazing acrobatic show that the kids loved complete with popcorn and some coke.

Unfortunately no pictures were allowed so just imagine people contorting their bodies in ways you never imagined possible, eight motorcycles in a large round metal cage doing tricks at the same time, and people balancing layers of cups on their head, feet and hands while doing the former rubber band like movements and you will have a good mental picture of what we saw.

Lily was wiped out by the end of the day. Michael brought us some take out pizza for diner and Spencer tried to get me hooked up with a VPN so I could blog. I’m still having spotty service which is why I am late in posting these pictures. Thankfully I have a sweet friend who is helping me post this so you can follow our journey.

Today is Mary Katherine day and I cannot wait to have our sweet girl in our arms and become a family of five.

The real adventure is about to begin.