HAWAII AND HELP

I need your help with any info or advice you can give us about Oahu. Matt and I are thinking that we might take a mini vaycay to Hawaii in just a few weeks!!!

We don't have much time to plan the trip and we have never been to Hawaii before, so any advice or tips or info would be so helpful! Even if you have never left me comments before, I don't care, any info would be much appreciated!

We are thinking of staying in Waikiki. There are TONS of hotels there so how do you choose one? And it seems like they all make you pay for parking....what's up with that?

We need help deciding on a hotel. What hotels have you stayed at that you liked/disliked and why? And what kid-friendly activities do you recommend or not recommend? What are some good restaurants that we HAVE to try? Of course we want to spend some time on the beach, but really, we have gorgeous beaches here too. So I think we are more interested in lounging by the pool, so there is shade for Miles, and sightseeing. Where are some spots that we have to see? Or if you know of any websites that are helpful or give reviews. I was on tripadvisor.com and got so tired of reading reviews over and over again. So I am done with that website! Instead, I am asking you for help :) So readers, it's up to you now!!

PS This is not a picture of Hawaii. It's a picture of the beautiful island we live on :)

Beijing: Day Three: The Great Wall

This was the last day of our trip. It was BY FAR the BEST day of the entire vacation! Here is a picture of Matt and I in our hotel before we headed downstairs for breakfast and then our long car ride to the Great Wall!







Unfortunately, it was so hazy :( Of course, the visibility was the worst today out of all the days we were in Beijing. But we still took tons of pics!

If you didn't want to walk up the steps on the steep mountain, you could opt to be carried up. Some of the group tried talking me into it, because they were worried I wouldn't be able to hang.

But I was up for the challenge and wanted to be able to say that "I climbed the Great Wall while I was seven months pregnant!!"!

As you can see, the visibility was horrible. But this picture was taken from the parking lot looking up the first set of stairs. I love how you can see all the people climbing up and down.

Here is the group before our big hike up the Great Wall! We were all so excited!

Once we got through the entrance, we stopped to take a few pics. Here is looking back at the entrance.

Looking up the wall. We made it all the way to the far tower on the right.







Matt and I at the bottom.

Percy at the bottom.

The little village to the right of the beginning of the Great Wall.

A little bit of a clearer view of the first set of stairs.









Another pic of us before we started climbing up the stairs.

Can you tell how steep it was from these two pictures??

It was totally nuts!

Looking down after we stopped for our first break.

I loved this picture. Look how high we climbed and that was only the first tower.

And look at how steep it is!

We still walked up to two more towers after this.

Taking another break!

I had to pull my hair back into a ponytail at this point :)

Looking down from half way up the second set of stairs.

Lora and I. We were almost to the top of the next tower!

The boys.

Action shot of me and Lora.

You could climb up the into the towers.

This picture was taken from the top of one of the towers.

At the third tower!

Another view to the fourth tower.

Another view looking down.

Peek-a-boo!

Can you see us?!

We only had a short time to climb up the wall. I wanted to go up further since I felt totally fine (Lora wasn't feeling so hot at this point). But we only had a few more mins before we needed to head back down, so Seth and Matt practically ran up this next set of stairs to the fourth tower. I would have taken too long, so I sat back and enjoyed the view instead! I still wish I had gone up further, but I'm pretty dang proud of what I did accomplish being so pregnant. Everyone on the wall was given me the thumbs up and then rubbing their tummies. I think they were trying to me that they were pretty impressed with me considering I was so preggers and all.

Matt took this picture looking down to the third tower. He stopped before a bend in the stairs. He was trying to get a picture of the three of us waiting down there.

Same picture, just zoomed in.

Can you see us now??

Another picture of the third tower. This one was taken a little further up on the set of stairs.

Zoomed in again.

Can you see us again?!

At the fourth tower, looking down at the third tower.

Zoomed in again.

A centipede on the Great Wall.

On our way down the Wall.

Matt was right by my side the entire time, making sure I wasn't in too much pain from my SPD (symphysis pubic dysfunction). I was 'diagnosed' with it back at 20-something weeks, and with all the walking on this trip, I was pretty sore the entire time. But I hung in there, didn't complain about it, and didn't let it get in the way of this amazing opportunity we had to climb up the Great Wall of China! Although, I was feeling it the next morning, for sure :)

What a gentleman, huh?!

As we were walking down the Wall hand-in-hand, we were enjoying this little bit of alone time and were talking about how awesome this is that we are actually on the Great Wall.

I told Matt that there was nobody I would rather be doing this with than him, my bestfriend.

I love this guy!!!

How many people actually get to say that they climbed the Great Wall? Seriously!!!

At the bottom again. Looking up at another view.

We actually made it down the Wall in record time, so we did a little exploring. When we walked in the entrance we took a right to head up the wall. This pass was to the left.

This is the Juyong Guan Pass. There were cannons built here to help defend themselves.

Here is one of the cannons.

And that is the Great Wall in the background on the opposite side (the part we didn't walk to).

The wall actually was all alond the ridge, but the visibility was so bad, so it's hard to see in the pictures :(

Zoomed in with the flag.

Another view from where the cannons were.

These little things on the roofs again.

I think they are so cute!

After the Great Wall we went to have lunch. We were all starving after that huge hike!!

Ming Tombs

We headed to the Ming Tombs after lunch. This is the resting place for 13 of the 16 Ming Dynasty Emperors. This dynasty reigned from 1368-1644. The tombs are spread out over 15 square miles and it is absolutely amazing to see the architecture and effort put forth for the tombs of these men. This land was actually chosen because of the feng shui element. It has mountains surrounding the tombs on three sides which is believed to protect the tombs from the evil spirits carried with the north wind.





The entrance of one of the tombs.

Hair Pins

Belts made of jade.

Emperess Crown

Gate to Heaven. It is believed that once we cross through that gate that we have left earth and entered into heaven.

We couldn't go to the actual tomb, it is closed to the public. But we were told that it is somewhere behind this fence among the trees.

These trees were seriously growing out of the wall. It was so cool!

Have you ever seen anything like this before?

So awesome!