A Special Visitor

I will finish blogging our Spring Break trip, but I wanted to share about a special visitor we had come to our base this past weekend.

When the opportunity presented itself for us to go hear him speak Russ and I knew it was a once in a lifetime chance and jumped on it.  We had to get there very early in the morning and had to go through numerous security checks before we could get in.

Russ was separated from the girls and I as he had to sit, in uniform, behind where the President was standing to speak.  Once we got inside the gym where he was speaking everything was very planned and organized.  Right down to where each of the different service members had to sit in the bleachers behind the stage.

The lady in the pink jacket was in charge of making sure everything looked good for the pictures. 

Russ is right in the middle of this picture.

Russ took a selfie of the crowd as we were waiting.

We knew it was almost time when they let the press in.

After standing and waiting for a VERY, VERY long time he finally arrived.

The girls and I were fortunate to be in the very front of the gymnasium.  We were right in front of where he stood to speak.  He spoke to us for about 15-20 minutes.

The man in the suit is the US ambassador to Korea, Mr. Sung Kim.  If you look at the very left edge of the picture, the third row up you can see Russ.

After he finished speaking he came down the greet the crowd and shake hands.  Since we were right in front he shook both girls and my hands.  He even stopped for a brief moment to talk to the girls.  Taylor asked him how the bowling alley in his house was.  He responded that it was good and asked them both a few questions about bowling. 

Secret Service clearing the way for him to greet people.

Russ took this picture from where he was standing in the bleachers.

Here he is shaking Taylor's hand and talking to her.

And here he is shaking Lucy's hand and talking to her.

He seemed genuinely happy to be talking to us.

And soon after that he left the building and we heard his helicopters leaving the base. 

Meeting the President of the United States-a once in a lifetime experience for sure.

Spring Break-Part 1-Beijing

Our family took a vacation over spring break to Beijing and Hong Kong.  It is very expensive for Americans to get visas to enter Beijing, but they have a 72 hour pass that you can use to enter the country visa free.  Since Russ and I have both been to the major attractions in Beijing we decided to just stop there for whirlwind 48 hours before we went on to Hong Kong.

We left our house at 5 am and were at the airport very early...so early we were the first in line to check in. (before the check-in counters even opened)  Unfortunately for my family, arriving before something opens is not an unusual occurrence on vacation for us. 

Every time we board a plane the girls refresh themselves on the evacuation guidelines.

Even though we live in a massive Asian city, we were taken back by how many people there were everywhere in Beijing.

The lines to get a subway ticket... (In this picture it looks like very organized and calm lines, but this was a chaotic, crazy scene.  We had no idea where we were supposed to be or how to get a ticket.  We just got in line and hoped for the best.)

We had some free time before we went to a Chinese Acrobat show in the evening and we visited the Bell and Drum Towers.  These towers were originally built in 1273 and were used until 1924.  They functioned as time keepers with the bell tower being used during the day and the drum tower at night.

The bell tower

The drum tower

While we were at the Bell Tower they offered to do a tea ceremony with us.  We had a great time learning all about different types of teas.

The next day we took a tour of Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
We started out at Tienanmen Square~

It was a beautiful, clear day in Beijing.

Chinese soldiers patrolling the Tienanmen Square

Getting inspected before going out on patrol

Next up Forbidden City~

I always thought the design on Oriental buildings looked the same until living in Korea and comparing the difference between Korean and Chinese design.  As beautiful as Korean design is the Chinese design is much more ornate and detailed. 

The girls were like small celebrities in China.  People would ask to take their picture and want to have pictures taken with them.  At times it got a bit out of hand and Russ would have to intervene and pull the girls away from the crowds.  It was a crazy experience for both of them.  Taylor loved the attention, Lucy didn't like it as much. 

One last picture of the beautiful flowering trees that were around the Forbidden City before we got in the car to head to the Great Wall.

 It was a busy weekend day and it was also a major Chinese holiday and so there was tons of traffic.

This was our view for the next 3 hours.

 We visited a section of the Great Wall that had a chair lift taking you up the mountain to the wall.

Russ and I stopped to do some exercising on the Great Wall.

After we had walked on the wall we rode down the mountain on an alpine slide.  This was a highlight of our time in China for all of us.  We had a great time, flying down the mountain on these small sleds.  We went way too fast and they yelled at us the entire way down, but we had so much fun.

Russ went first, next Taylor, Lucy and I went last.  Russ would slow down a little bit and we would all catch up to him then we would all fly. 

Look at my girls leaning into that corner...they were like old pros.

That evening after a long day of touring in China we decided to eat an all American meal.

What a great and exhausting day of seeing the awesome sights in Beijing!