Day 1

We are here safe and sound. After our 12 hour flight we landed at 4:10 am got to the hotel at 6 am. We were all so tired. None of us slept to well on the plane. Trent and Jared took in every moment since this was their first plane ride. The hotel is nice and they were able to put us in our room at such an early hour. After getting settled into our room we ventured out. What a difference, things are so different here. McDonald's was a welcomed sight for us for breakfast. It was just a few blocks from our hotel. From there we made our way to 7-11 to buy some bottled water. At 9 am we took a tour of the Summer Palace with a few others from our travel group. It was quite breath taking. All the detail and the size of it was amazing. After the tour we came back and the boys went swimming and then we all took a quick nap. Some of us in the group decided for dinner we would try a local restaurant. One of the couples ordered fried fish once the order was placed they brought a bucket with the live fish to our table. We assume it was to make sure they were pleased with the selection. The food we got was delicious can't wait to try more. Since I am starting to see double from being so tired I am going to say good night. Tomorrow is another busy day of sight seeing. Enjoy some of the pictures. Oh yeah, Trent had an especially great day as it was his birthday. I don't think he can ever top it.