We Made It! And a day in Beijing!

After lots of planning, packing, re-planning & re-packing, Thursday, December 30 was the day the literal journey to China began. Due to inclement winter weather in Dallas, we decided that we should leave around noon to make our way to Dallas to make our flight scheduled for Friday morning. We picked Ethan up from school at 11:30, we had lunch & began our way to Dallas. When we were preparing to leave our hotel on Friday morning to go to the airport, I called United Airlines to re-confirm our flight status, only to learn that our flight had been cancelled due to inclement weather in Chicago. We got to the airport at 6:45 am, and learned that there was a flight that we could catch to Beijing that flew through San Francisco, and was leaving at 8:00 am. So off we went. We got through security as quickly as we could even though it was the longest security checks at DFW I had seen, and arrived at our gate just as the plane was boarding. We arrived in San Francisco, and once again ran to our gate as the last passengers boarding the plane. As the Beijing bound flight was backing away from the jetway, a front landing gear tire blew out. So the delay began. It began with the wait for the appropriate personnel to change the tire. Then the 20 minute delay in leaving caused enough delay in fight pattern that permission to fly over Russian air space had to be re-secured. Then as the new flight plan was being formatted, it was realized that the plane did not have enough fuel to fly the new pattern, so we waited for a fuel truck to get to plane to add more fuel, and then we waited for a tow trolley to arrive once again to assist in pushing the plane back from the jetway. An hour and a half later, it appeared that we may actually leave DFW. Once we got into the air, the flight was very smooth, but VERY LONG! We were SO READY to get off of that plane. We arrived at our hotel, got checked in, and immediately went straight to sleep (at 7:00 pm). We all slept well, but awoke at about 12:00 am, took Benadryl, and went back to sleep until the next morning. We were now ready to see Beijing.
Yesterday was amazing! Beijing is an incredible city. We toured TienAnMen square, and the Forbidden City. That was followed by a tour of the silk factory (where we purchased a beautiful traditional Chinese dress for AbbyGrace), and a Hutong Tour. For those that are reading this blog that are planning a trip in the future to adopt your children from this great country, please let me say how incredible the Hutong tour is. Everything was amazing, but the Hutong tour was the highlight of our day. I really encourage you all to do this. AND, for Harrah's families - MAGGIE IS INCREDIBLE! We have all fallen in love with her. You must request Maggie when in Beijing.
After the Hutong tour, we went to a place called The Free Market. You all know that I'm a shopper, but this is like shopping on speed! I've been to many countries, and shopped in many markets, but this is the highest pressure that I have ever experienced. WOW! We bought one book. That's it! It was not my idea of a pleasant shopping experience. Then we were privilieged to be able to see the Acrobatic show. Another must see in my opinion. It was incredible! A Peking Duck dinner rounded out our evening, and we returned to our hotel for the evening.
Now it is 4:30 am, and we are all wide awake (partly because Ethan was sick most of the night, partly because we are all so anxious for this day to begin). Today is the day that our day family grows from three to four. In less than twelve hours, we will have our AbbyGrace. We will meet Maggie who will escort us to the airport to fly to Nanning. We will check into our hotel, and then go to receive AbbyGrace at 3:00 pm. Today is the day. It's GOTCHA DAY!