Wallace's Wonderful Adventure

Todd went to work and at 12:00 we picked him up and headed to Beijing. Once there we went to Tom's DVD Shop in the new location. We found some movies and then headed to the Western store next door. We bought some pretzel rolls and bologna for Cameron to eat for lunch.

We then went to Yashow Market. We had never been there. As we were headed up the escalator I heard my name. Herman and his mom were going down the escalator next to us. Pretty funny. We bought a big Chinese Lego set and a pair of sock shoes for Cameron. Todd is king of negotiations. Once he starts Cameron and I walk away so he can work his magic. He some how always wins.

No, these are not King Kong's feet.

So funky to look at.

As we were leaving the market there was a guy selling DVD's. We stopped to check out what he had and bought some. We were headed to the van and all of a sudden I see Carrie Barsi Toland. I knew she was in town and we were meeting for dinner but it is hilarious when you run into people on the street that you know. It isn't like Beijing is a small place. We chatted for a few minutes then made plans to pick her up at her hotel at 7:00.

Our next stop was to The Tree. It is a pizza place we have heard about. We decided to go have a drink there and check out the menu. It was a little hard to find. It is by Around the Tree and Beside the Tree. Seriously, those are the names of the 3 places. Once inside The Tree we had a drink and then left. Mr. Xue was parked a little ways away so we started walking. Then walking faster because it was getting dark and very windy. A storm was brewing. We found him just as it started to rain. Jump in the van, take off, and it started to pour. We decided to just go to the hotel.

Sitting at the bar at The Tree.

Cheers.

The storm is coming.

Checked in and headed up to the 25th floor. We watched the lightning and rain but it was a pretty short storm. We headed to the lounge for snacks and drinks. We looked out the windows and could actually see the mountains. This doesn't happen very often. The rain washed enough of the pollution away and it looked so neat.

The storm clouds.

The mountains. It was much clearer in person.

At 7:00 we went to Carrie's hotel. They were in the lounge having a drink so we joined them. She had 2 co-workers with her. We headed to Home Plate BBQ for dinner. When we ordered the waiter came back and was trying to tell us something. It sounded like he said they were out of everything. Todd went over to someone who spoke more English. As it turned out the waiter was afraid we ordered too much food. We kept our order the same but got a laugh out of it. The food was awesome. Cameron ordered a rack of ribs. They were huge so he only ended up eating half. It was a great dinner and it was fun to have Carrie and Cindy join us. We dropped the girls back off at their hotel and headed to our hotel. Cameron watched a pirate movie but Todd and I fell asleep during it. I woke up and Cameron was out cold too. I woke him up to put him to bed. He said he watched the whole movie though. Not sure about that. Off to bed.

Cameron and half of the ribs he ordered.

Cindy and Carrie enjoying the Wallace's.
Nice rib smile Cameron.

Saying our goodbyes at the hotel.

Cameron's last day of school and he got out at 12:00. Rachel, Ileana, and I had a fun day planned for all of our kids. We picked them up at school and blindfolded them. Our first stop was Jusco. When we got out all the kids were saying "why are we here? This isn't fun". We walked inside and told them we had to do some shopping. There were a lot of moans. We actually headed to McDonald's to get them lunch and then to Subway for the adults. The kids took over some seats in the middle of the mall. We had quite a crowd checking us out. The kids had fun watching a french fry get stuck in the elevator. Goofy kids.

The kids are ready for their last day of school.

Blindfolded and ready for an adventure.

The kids were not impressed with our stop at the mall.

Grabbing lunch at McDonald's. One of the workers told me I couldn't
take pictures in McDonald's.

Eating in the mall.

Next stop was the arcade/fun area. Cameron had never been there. 50 RMB each worth of tokens and him and Alfredo were off trying to see how to spend it. They had a lot of fun with the games. The rest of the kids enjoyed the play area. They climbed, swang, gathered balls, etc. We pretty much had the whole area to ourselves so it was fun.

Tatum pretending she is racing like the big boys.

The Carrasco's stuffing their shirts with balls. Silly kids.

Very intense game.

2:20 we gathered all the kids and hit the bathroom. Wow, now that is excitement. We then found the vans. We didn't blind fold the kids this time just because they had no idea what this next stop was. 20 minutes later we arrived at the next destination. We got out of the van and we opened the back end. We started pulling out water guns and beach toys. They all yelled "The beach?" Yep, we are at the beach. They were all really excited. Cameron jumped back in the van to put his suit on. He bumped his head on the top but didn't say anything. When he came back over to where I was I looked at him and asked what happened. He had the biggest bump on his head that I have ever seen. I watched him for goofy behavior to be on the safe side but after about 30 minutes I realized it was the same goofy behavior he has always had and there was nothing to worry about. We carried all our stuff down to the beach. Amazingly, it is a really nice beach. We found our spot and the kids settled in for a fun afternoon. It didn't take long for the Chinese to notice our kids and want pictures of them, with them, and with their toys. Oh yeah, and pictures with each adult. So weird. Two guys (one covered from head to foot except his eyes) stood and stared at our boys for at least an hour. Then a water gun fight broke out. Wesley was chasing the one guy around the beach. It was hilarious. The other people continued to play right in front of us until two of them started throwing sand. Ileana jumped out of her chair, shaking her finger, and started yelling "No, No, Bu, Bu, go away." They obviously got the hint because they grabbed their stuff and moved on. Finally, after what seemed like 2 hours, we were alone. Not one of our kids wanted to leave. At 6:20 we finally pryed each one off the beach. They headed for the shower on the beach. Which, as it turned out, was also a ton of fun. These kids are so easily entertained. We loaded up the vans and headed home.

Wow, a trip to the bathroom.

At the entrance to the park. Do you think we took enough stuff?

Why do they want their picture with our kids?

The boys building castles.

Tatum is thinking about taking a drink of her mom's beer.

This guy rolled up his shorts and had the ladies take pictures of him like
he wasn't wearing pants. Odd.

Digging a hole to USA or Mexico.

These two guys watched our boys forever.

The water is fine as long as you don't go under.

So cute.

Sand angel.

Way too much sand on Cameron.

Taking a break and enjoying a snack.

The boys tower.

Loving the beach.

Our kids kept running back and forth around the bride getting pictures taken.

The kids joined towers.

Awesome boys.

All working together on something. Not sure what it was.

Shower time.

Ready to head home.

Last beach photo.

Back at home we all quickly showered to get the beach goo off. We then jumped in cabs with Carrasco's and headed to Harwoods for our next surprise. Papa John's Pizza was delivered for dinner. Rachel ordered 6 pizza's but when the girls were unpacking them there were 12 boxes. Rachel freaked out for a second until the girls explained the larges do not fit in the boxes so there was half a pizza in each box. Phew. We all ate and then headed out for our last surprise.

In need of showers.

Papa John delivery ladies.

Hot game of Simpson chess.

Dinner time.

For some reason all of Wesley's underwear came out and everyone was wearing them.
Funny thing is Wesley doesn't wear underwear usually. He hates them.

Outside we jumped in cabs again and headed to Jet KTV. It was karaoke time. We rented our own room. It took a little while for the adults to figure out the machine and how to find songs in English. But finally songs we knew. The kids took turns singing. It was a lot of fun. 10:15 p.m. our surprises were over. We walked home and went to bed. We were exhausted from such a fun day.