October Holiday 2011

We had a great trip to Xi'an!!

 Since the first week of October is a holiday in China (we celebrated the 62nd year of the founding of the People's Republic), we were excited to once again take a trip! (Remember last year?? We came back for Jonathan & Annette's wedding, and then Ray & Maria's wedding! We also announced that we were expecting a baby!) 

This year, however, with our amazing brothers visiting us, Tim & Mike, we decided to travel to western China to a city we'd never visited before: Xi'An. 

I don't know if the map is clear enough, but Shanghai is on the coast of China, and Xi'An is where the "A" arrow is pointing.

We took the overnight train, so the long trip wasn't too bad at all!

This is us waiting to board the train...

 and here we are in front of the train

We had our own room (there are 4 beds to a room, so we had the perfect number of travellers!) and of course Wes doesn't take up much room yet. :)

eating the traditional travelling food: instant noodles!

Once we arrived in Xi'An we were shocked at how many people there were who also decided to visit the city over October holiday!!!

This is the first time that we carried Wes around in his carrier! He LOVES it!!! He can look all around and see people, and people see him, which is a win-win for him and them!! haha...his light hair and blue eyes are always an attraction with Chinese tourists!

 here he is "helping" Daddy read the map!

SO much fun exploring with Tim & Mike!! Here we are in a local restaurant. They were NEVER afraid to try something new! 

Xi'An is famous for the Terra Cotta warriors. 2200 years ago, the Emperor Qin (famous for uniting China) created a replica of his army. Each warrior and horse were crafted to duplicate the real person and his horse! These statues were not discovered until a farmer found them when he was digging his his field in the early '70s! It's now a very famous place to visit in China.

This is us exploring the area built up around the museums, as well as exploring the museums. 

Because of the holiday, the place was SO packed with people, walking was almost impossible! Wes was SO good, though...he loved the attention he was getting! Such a sweetie...

On the bus heading back to the heart of the city of Xi'An after a long day exploring the Terra Cotta Warriors and the memorials of Emperor Qin... our cute little baby on the bus...

The next day, Wes and I explored Xi'An together (and Nica got to practice lots of Chinese!) while Joe, Tim, & Mike took off to climb a mountain! Although Wes and I had climbed Moon Hill when we visited Yangshuo, I was glad we stayed back to let the guys climb this one. It was much more steep than I could have done with a baby!!! But the pictures sure are beautiful!

Most people climb to the top, then spend the night so they can see the sun rise the following morning. Our adventurous guys grabbed a bowl of noodles at the top, then climbed right back down! haha, they were feeling new muscles the next day, but they did it!

That evening, we explored some of Xi'an at night! Here I am in front of the Bell Tower...

And here is a family photo in front of the Drum Tower

so beautiful at night!

 We loved going out for dinner at local places because Wes was SUCH an attraction! It was free baby-sitting for us, and we were able to enjoy our dinner, the restaurant staff, had fun taking photos of our son, and Wes revelled in attention! Win-win-win!

We explored a pedestrian street, and some fantastic street food!

Mike had his dream fulfilled and was able to try both octopus and squid on a stick. haha (yum?)

a tired baby...out past bedtime...

 The next day we visited the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower during the daytime!

Side note...after he showed great signs of loving simple solids on this trip, I started feeding Wes rice cereal when we got home! Here he is trying his first bite of plain yogurt!

Here we are visiting the Bell Tower!

Here we are waiting for the bell demonstration with an otherwise-fussy-baby-turned-happy by yet another adoring fan... :)

Here is an "interesting" clip of the bell demonstration that took place while we were there! haha...we didn't stick around for the entire performance. :P

Family Photo on the Bell Tower!!

And the Drum Tower!!

We then made our way to the very ancient and very famous "Big Wild Goose Pagoda"!

This kid gets his diaper changed in the most interesting of places... ;)

Double bonus: Wes gets quality uncle time, AND we can recruit these strong guys to carry him!! Thanks Tim & Mike!! :D

A trip to Xi'an cannot be complete without sampling their dumplings! 

(mad chopstick skills, there, you guys!!)

...and of course, free babysitting while we ate... :D

Around the city is a HUGE wall that was built in the 14th century, in the Ming dynasty. Of course its intent back then was to protect the Emperor and keep people out of the heart of the city. Today, though, the opposite is accomplished, and attracts TONS of tourists! It really is amazing to see such a well-preserved piece of history.

 Since Wes can't quite keep up with his uncles in his explorations, I stayed back to let him rest while Joe and the guys toured the wall. They said there were so many people up there that it was hard to walk!

When Joe, Wes, and I went back later after October holiday was over (after the guys left for Beijing), the wall was completely empty! We enjoyed our time up there together before grabbing a taxi to the airport to fly home.

And then, just like that, we found ourselves with yet another trip behind us, to another amazing place, filled with more amazing memories! The longer I'm married to Joey, the more lucky I feel to make so many great memories with him, visit so many interesting places, and enjoy the adventure of our life! As he likes to say, we are "Living the Dream" ;) Thanks for an amazing trip, babe!

Here is a clip of me trying to entertain Wes on our way to the airport...the last bit of memory on our camera card, so the clip is a little short, but you get the idea. Picture this for the entire 30 minute cab ride. haha

We really had an amazing time! Wes did great, and we had SO much fun with Tim & Mike along. The guys left to go up to Beijing to explore on their own, and Joe, Wes, and I went home to Shanghai to conclude our vacation. 

I restrained myself from hiding the guy's passports when they got back to Shanghai since I reallyreally didn't want them to leave. 

Thanks for visiting us, guys!! It was a blast hanging out with you!!

Joe, Nica, & Wes