The Great Wall of China

  I wish I could say that we took the time & camera to take amazing, breathtaking photos of The Great Wall while we visited but we didn't. We just enjoyed our walk along the wall, relatively people free. We hiked, climbed into windows, scurried up and down stairs, and laughed. We just enjoyed our time. It was good.   We spent a weekend in Beijing exploring the Hutongs, Lotus Lake & took a day trip out to the Great Wall. I made sure to do my research & picked a section of the wall that was less popular with Chinese tourists, therefore way less crowded. We chose to go to the Mutianyu section of the wall which is still one of the most popular sections among foreign tourists but if planned right, you can go at a time of year & day where you'll still have a lovely, crowd free time. I don't think this will be true for long, though. When we pulled up to the parking lots, where you start your hike to catch the lift, they were in the process of building a big tourist trap outdoor mall with a Pizza Hut and Burger King included. Thankfully, it was still in the process of being built, so we could enjoy our time w/ only a small crowd.    If you've seen the pictures of the more popular spots, filled with people, you'll understand why it's worth doing your research & finding a less popular section or waking up super early to go.   Below are the shots we did manage to capture. Enjoy! :)     The Great Wall stretches an amazing 13,170.7 miles long, is more than 2,300 years old & crosses over 9 Chinese provinces and municipalities. In December 1987, just a year after my birth, it was named by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.   We packed some snacks for our hike & enjoyed climbing in to the huge "window sills" to sit & enjoy our snacks. I couldn't help but think back to all of those years ago when they were first built & about all the years that have passed & feet that have trod over it since. 
  Have you been to the Great Wall? What did you think? Let me know below!

End of Summer Photo Diary

I am loving reading LaurenConrad.com these days & she recently posted an End of Summer Photo Diary. This post is entirely inspired by hers. :) 

The summer started with the birth of this cutey, Elijah! We've tried to spend at least one day a week in the company of this gorgeous little man and his mommy and daddy, our close friends, Justin & Catherine. Photo by Catherine.

 We went to an awesome & super patriotic 4th of July Party.

Then, we zipped on over to Shanghai for a day, and then red-eyed it to Manilla.

We took a tour of Zachary's future new school & explored a little of Manila.

Then spent a heavenly week in Bohol...

 where we saw the Chocolate Hills, pet a giant snake, saw the rare tarsier, zip lined, motor biked, snorkeled...

 stayed at this fantastic resort..

 fed monkeys for the first time..

 and kayaked the gorgeous Loboc River.

 As soon as we got back to China, Zachary bought a scooter which has improved our summer immensely.

 

The scooter has inspired me to start wearing sleeveless shirts, which is, seriously, quite an accomplishment for me. All the Vitamin B is doing my heart & soul some good!

We checked out the pseudo-jazz band at the Himalayas with our good friend & Himalayas GM, Sonny & stuffed our faces at Z1 (Pseudo because there's just a keyboardist and singer, NOT because they don't sound awesome, because they do!).

 We rode our scooter tons!

 And helped Trent and Angie by their own! (Scooter gang in the works, ya'll!)

 We went to a dinner party at our friend's new apartment where they have this view.

 We explored some of Lao Shan's hidden gems, like crystal clear lakes and green tea fields.

 After a few weeks of tutoring, snuggling up with our girl dog & enjoying our new bike, we headed to Beijing, stayed in the Hutongs and hiked the Great Wall.

 Exactly, one week later we jumped on a plane and headed to another famous city in China, Xian.

 Where we saw an entire army of Terra Cotta Warriors!

 

And to close out this fantastic summer, we are now officially an aunt & uncle, with the birth of my sister's first little boy, Sebastian. 

And here we are guys, 2 days out from our first day back at work. It's been an awesome summer. One of the best, actually. We are feeling so blessed.  What does your End of Summer Photo Diary entail?