Where'd I go?

Wow slacked off there lol. Sorry!!!! That second week in China was just so draining and, now that we're back, Im even more drained.

So the last week we went to Xian to see the Terracotta Warriors and to Gui Lin which is quite possibly the most beautiful place Ive ever seen. Just gorgeous with an almost unnatural beauty. After that we headed back to Beijing for all of about 18 hours, squeezing in a visit to the Lama Temple which was awesome, and then it was back to the states. Oh and to work the very next day. OUCH!!

So overall I would say the trip was good but really I ended up having a bit of a love hate relationship with it. I LOVED seeing all the sights. They were just amazing. I didnt love the dirt, smog, congestion, and cleanliness issues that come with going to China. In the end, I loved it but at the same time, Im not in a hurry to go back. I'd go back to Gui Lin and Shanghai maybe but probably not with Maya.

As for Maya, well, let's just say China wasn't on her list of favorites. I think it was just too much for her. Too much to look at, too many things she couldn't do (for safety reasons), too many people wanting her picture. I think it was just overload and that combined with turning 5 soon (and thus knowing the answer to life, the universe, and everything) it was just too much. I'm STILL battling with her some even now that we're back at home. I think she's maybe still adjusting. OK I'm HOPING she's still adjusting. The good news is that she seems very happy to hear that our next international destination, Tunisia, is probably going to be a lot like Turkey. I really think she wishes all of our trips could just be to Turkey because she loved it there. Oh well. Hopefully we can get back into a more normal system and she can be normal again. Please, please be normal again :p

Don't forget to check out Josh's gorgeous pics! You can find them here:

Beijing

Shanghai

Xian

Gui Lin