Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Peking Duck dinner and 2 very special new friend!

Before I start with what we did today, I will say that Alexander woke up at around 2 AM.  Because he feel asleep while we were out and was carried all the way to dinner and all the way back to the hotel, he had already slept 8 hours!  We all were awake for a while and after the guys were long back to sleep I had figured out how to enable the memory card reader on my computer!  I am so thankful.  Thanks Sandra for giving me pointers!
So, I finally was back to sleep at 5 AM and had to be out of bed and ready to go by 7:15 AM. 

We went to a fast breakfast in which Grace ordered and we ate.  The food was good but the soybean milk I did not care for!  After breakfast we went to the Forbidden City.  OH MY!  It was HUGE! 

 The gardening was beautiful!

 These big pots gathered rain water to use in case of fire!

 The painting on the buildings were amazing!

 The pictures don't even begin to show the size of The Forbidden City.

 This is carved wood that is then painted.

 This is a beautiful light.

 Going to the bathroom in China will strengthen your leg muscles!

 The goal is to throw money to land on the square piece in the middle of the water.  If you are successful, you will have good luck.

 Guess who was successful?!?!

 These arches are the exit of The Forbidden City.

 This is a moat that is wrapped around the entire Forbidden City.

Just when I thought we had reached the end, there was another huge section.  It was neat to see the different buildings and know what they were used for and to see the way each one was painted differently then the one before or after it.

After we were done with the Forbidden City we went toward The Summer Palace.  On the way there Jeff started not feeling well.  We ate and he slept in the chair for a bit.  When we awoke he was much better!  Grace's friend Maggie joined us today just before the Summer Palace.  What a delight that these two young ladies are!  They loved us, especially Alexander.  They were so sweet and kind to show us their city!  The greatest thing I will say about them here is "blessed be the tie that binds."

Since Jeff was not feeling well, he and Alexander took a ride to The Summer Palace.

The Summer Palace amazed us.   We saw and the beauty of the land and water that surrounded us!   The workmen ship of the Maker of the land and water is nothing less then perfect.  The gardens were stunning and the buildings had many unique features.

 Many people wanted their children to pose with Alexander.  He was such a good sport about it.

 Notice the split pants, and no diaper or underpants.  This enables the children to just squat whenever and where ever they need to go to the bathroom. 

This is a long bridge.  Notice all the paintings.  Each one is different.

 Grace and Maggie were such fun to be with!

And a US $1.00 toy brought "Mr Kaka" to life!

 We took a short walk back to the train station. 

 These carts all had different kinds of food.  Those that I recall are fruits, nuts, sweet potatoes, and unknown meat on a stick. 

Notice that this man has no arms.  He does he art with his feet.

 We said goodbye to sweet Maggie and took the train and a short walk to dinner. We went to a Peaking Duck dinner that was amazing! 

We rolled ourselves back out onto the street and then walked back to our hotel.  We shared a gift with Grace for helping us!  She has been great!

Now at 9:43 PM, I am the last awake and having trouble at that.  As for now.... good night!

Praying for a great night of sleep.  Off to the Great Wall Tomorrow morning!