The Great Wall!

We actually climbed the great wall of China today. It is still unbelievable. It was awesome. We could not believe the people there. We went to the Badaling station and rode in a gondola to the top and then walked the wall from there. We tried to get to the highest portion. We got into a huge mob of people, squashed together, with lots of pushing and shoving. We made it through a small door way and then realized we wouldn't have time to get up there before it was time for our bus to leave. So we turned around and squeezed and fought our way out! Adventure! We learned today that there are over 16 million people in Beijing and just 30 years ago, most of the city was rice fields! It is the largest city you can imagine. Indy has several downtown blocks with skyscrapers, Beijing has them everywhere for miles!
We went to the Cloisonne Factory. The time and energy put into making these copper pots and other items is crazy. 2 or more days just to do 1 step and there are several steps. And the workers don't make much money. We bought a couple of things, but couldn't afford most! Some of the pots were bigger than me!
We got to drive past the Olympic Village and see the water cube and birds nest. It is now a tourist spot. There were more people there than at the wall. Our guide said that they are going to sell the apartments where the athletes stayed to citizens. They looked nice.
We are still trying to recover from either jet lag or time change. We aren't sleeping much. Last night we woke around 3 and finally got up at 4. Would you believe I did some handwashing of laundry in the sink at 4am? Tonight we decided to try something different. We took a nap from 6 to 10. Then we got up to talk with the boys and update the blog. We're getting tired now and hopefully we'll sleep until about 7. We leave today for the Forbidden City. Then we come back to the hotel to pack to go get Hanna! We get her on Tuesday at 2pm, which is 2am your time. We are so anxious. It is hard to forget why we are here. We are drawn to all of the children and just watch them. They are so cute and love to wave at us. There is a 4 year old in our group who is probably Hanna's size. We can't wait to see them together. We'll post only one more time before we get her!
A note for Jerry's 4th hour class: I was playing with a knife and accidently cut myself. I'm in the hospital. Just joking Kristen. Good one Denny.
Boys - we love you more than and longer than the Great Wall!