China

We just spent 10 exciting days in China - first in Beijing, then Xian followed by Guilin.

Here we are at the Forbidden City in Beijing. We got to wear all of our cloths because of a surprise snowfall the night before.

These pictures were taken at the Temple of Heaven which was beautifully restored for the 2008 Olympics.

 We decided that we couldn't go to China without visiting The Great Wall. The girls favorite part was taking the cable car up. Most people who visit the wall probably don't take great note of the little openings near the bottom of the wall, but they made great peepholes for our girls.

 Check another wonder of the world off our list. :)

 After much research on the internet, Ryan decided that The Great Wall probably can't be seen from space, but that didn't stop us from looking up, just in case they were taking pictures from satellites.

 I really had a great time trying all these dried fruit. Many of them I had never heard of before.

 This is picture from one of the restaurants we ate at, the girls look so happy that I couldn't resist.

  Here we are at the Summer Palace, where spring hasn't even arrived yet, let alone summer.

 We got to ride some rickshaws in the old - now super-touristy part of Beijing. It was fun to ride around.

 This was our typical lunch set up. Rice, kung pao chicken, stir fried vegetables, soup and bottled water. Alice would eat her weight in kung pao chicken every meal it was served.

February Fun

Alice dropped her morning naps and now gets to join in our daily sledding expeditions  She loves it, although it's hard to tell with all the layers on. It's a wonderful day when your kids can walk up the hill by themselves and bring up their own sleds.

Ryan taught the girls to go down on their stomachs backward so they wouldn't be so nervous. After watching their delighted faces whoosh down the hill, I thought I would try - terrifying.

Please note the height of the car compared to the snowbank. I never knew until living in Misawa that it's important to shovel down the tops of your piles of snow too. Otherwise, 1. you can't reach it and 2. all the snow falls back down. Rumor has it that we are at over 170 inches or snow.

With Alice's help, the girls have re-discovered that winter clothing and be fun when you are inside too. Alice loves taking everything out of our outdoor bin and putting it on.

Not only fun, but fun-ctional.