The Great Wall of China

Boy am I behind on this blogging. Nothing like a jet lagged 4 year old getting you up at 4 every morning (if you are lucky) then having a full day and falling into bed at night… I shall try to catch up a little. (Sorry aout the sideways pics!)
Today was Great Wall Day. We piled onto our bus after breakfast and the kids entertained themselves up front and we folks relaxed in the back of the bus (from where we could see them. Unlike the first day…figured that one out!) We arrived at Mutinyahu part of the Great Wall which Claire and I had visited last year. Turns out that was the other side. So we went up on ski-lifts (honest, that’s what they were like) and climbed a bit and then the boys and Mr. N and one of the girls went on to climb as far as they could before the wall stops at that point (1500 steps, I believe) My calves are aching days later from the bit I climbed (Did I mention it was 96 degrees?)
How to get back down? Well, Andie wasn't interested in the other option so she and her Dad went back down the way we came up. But the rest of us took a slide down. Yup. And was it ever cool. Claire and I rode together and I think everyone had fun although our two boys crashed and that was not too good!
After we cooled off with a drink in the govt store and bought a few items, out we went to face the many vendors. Some of the kids really did not appreciate the yelling and grabbing but I tried to explain, it’s all part of the process. Everyone got something and we left happy with our Great Wall adventure. We then rode a few minutes in the bus to a wonderful meal , thoroughly enjoyed by all. The chicken ,which was delicious, came with its head on ( I have a great picture) and the food was great (Again!) and the beer tasted great too. Cold beer on a hot day after a climb on the Great Wall. Ahhh.
Back to Beijing and to the Pearl and Toy market. Some bargains were found, some purchases made and off we went back to the hotel. We tried not to fall in bed from exhaustion and headed off down the block to McDonalds for dinner. We passed 8,(kids counted) Pekinese dogs on the way. No other kinds and the walk and meal put us right in the mood for bed which we gratefully fell into.