Last Day In Beijing

Today was our last full day in Beijing. It was a free day with our group as well. Mrs. M had a driver today so we were able to spend the day getting last minute things done. Nothing too exciting. K3 and AM5 both came with Mrs. M and myself. The rest of the kids stayed home with Pete and Ayi.

We started the day off by visiting the 2008 Beijing Olympic Park. Very cool to see in person. I just took a few pictures of the Water Cube and Birds Nests. We were, of course, stopped by others to take pictures of the girls. I don't think I'll ever get used to that here. It just seems so odd to me although I do understand their interest.

From there we went back to the market. I had a few things that I still hadn't bought over the past 2 days of shopping that I wanted to get for others back home. We spent 3 hours at the market that we had already spent 3 hours at on Wednesday! I hope family/friends enjoy the things that we picked out. We also needed a couple more carry-on suitcases since we only had 2 for a family of 6, so this worked out perfectly to pick up 2 more so that we are able to bring everything back home.

The girls were being so patient while shopping and were getting hungry so picked up some McDonald's for them to heat on the way to the next stop. That was the first time that we had to buy fast food in the 2 weeks that we've been here now. It tasted pretty close to the same as home. The sauces were different for the chicken nuggets and they had pineapple and red bean pies. I didn't try any of those things. Stuck with what I know.

From there we had to go back to The Shard Box that I visited on Tuesday with Mrs. M. I had a small cross shaped necklace made with every one's birthstone. It came out really cute. I'm very happy with it.

Then we were finally ready to head home. Once home and unloaded, we walked up to the Euro Market to treat everyone to Cold Stone Creamery. And you wouldn't believe it this, but we had a bit more shopping still to do! Quick stop into LeYou for diapers and another bottle. Jenny Lou's for snacks on the airplane tomorrow. Mrs. M had to pick up a present for Mr. M. Then finally headed home to start to pack.

We had another authentic Chinese dinner made by Ayi. Pete didn't get to try them but we had pork Chinese dumplings. They were YUM-O! The girls didn't like them but I'm not surprised. Ayi has been wonderful cooking special things for Pete over the past 11 days. We have all eaten way better than we had anticipated. I'll never get over the amazement of the hospitality of the M family and their Ayi.