The Great Wall of China

Mikaela during Great Wall Visit!
>





A beautiful sunny but cold day today. Still not feeling very well but pulled it together to take in one of the seven wonders of the world. wow! worth it but it further exhausted me so even earlier to bed tonight (830pm-the ex bartender!) It is something that everyone should see and experience... very impressive indeed.
Mikaela slept during the climb; Mark and I take turns with Snuggli each day and thank God it was his day today as I do not think I had the energy to carry her and climb. That is some climb; not for unfit people that is for sure. It was an awesome sight, view and experience. We were also taken to various tourist stores; jade and pearl factory but did not buy much as we had done much better at market in Beijing on our two first days... glad we did that as we are so scheduled that we would have been forced to get ripped off. We did buy Mikaela her first pair of tiny pearl earrings however for a later date...
All in all a very long day as I feel lousy but I think by tomorrow I should kick it at least I hope so; Mark is already much better.
Went for a quick coffee when we got back to the hotel (we were out from 830am-5pm with Mikaela and tour) just to catch our breaths and now off to bed... Mikaela continues to totally delight us in so many ways... the attachment is going very well; she comes happily to us now and even offers us some of her food which is a big thing in Mikaelaland. We have been really thrown into parenthood on this trip with constant travel and planning long days but if I dare say so we are doing quite well at this now; we have gotten to know her appetite, her rhythym, and her cues that indicate hunger, sleep and other needs. We feel great about that and shocked at how much harder we thought this would be than it actually is. Yes it is a big change but really only positive... She travels wonderfully well, loves shopping (very girly) and loves looking at people so loves outings. She sleeps beautifully thru the night and just is a wonderful little girl. Our girl. We love her so much already. Mark said tonight he wants to get home to make sure we are on Canadian soil with her so that it is a sure thing. It is a sure thing but I know what he means. Sometimes we just look at each other as she squeals with laughter and we just know how much she has brought to us already.
Tomorrow is a big day up at 630am ( stop laughing everyone!) and we are going to Canadian Doctor for her final check up. This is very important in general but Mikaela seems to have a bit of conjuctivitis after her cold and we want to be sure it is treated. We also will feel good to have another clean bill of health. Yesterday we got her Chinese passport too... so cool. So on that note I must go to bed so I can kick this annoying cold and get up tomorrow for her big day at the Dr. Enjoy today's photos.


The girls having coffee and chat!
The famous squealing of laughter- the sweetest sound I have ever heard.