Our 4th of July: They are HERE!

I'm just going to say this now, not sure how much I'll be blogging these next few weeks but I will try my best because I know that I'll want to look back on this time. My mom and Kiah arrive on Thursday evening and I was there, waiting for them at the airport. My flight to Beijing was a little delayed but thankfully I was still there with plenty of time to change terminals, grab a Starbucks, and was ready and waiting with a smiling face. 

After a good night of sleep, we started our 4th of July out nice and early by meeting up with our tour guide at 8 a.m. Our first stop was Tienanmen Square and Forbidden City. 

Tienanmen Square is behind that busy road behind us.

Kiah and her buddy, Mao.

We are really here!

On the Great Wall of China! It was so hot but thankfully there was a breeze up in mountains which helped a lot. There were so many people! We went to the Badaling section of the Great Wall which is the most popular. Surprisingly, I had never been to this section of the wall! It was fun because since this was my fifth visit to the Great Wall, I'm glad I was able to experience something new.

So thankful to this beautiful country for giving me my precious sister.

My beautiful sister.

My last trip to the Great Wall for a while.

Love, love, love having my Mom here. Hard to believe after talking about this for so long, they are here!

It was a fun day and wonderful memories were made. After finally arriving back at our hotel at 6 p.m. we had dinner and went to bed, exhausted.

The next day we were meeting up with my high school social studies teacher and his wife, who are in Beijing for the summer. Then it was off to Guangzhou!