We said farewell to Beijing and hopped on a plane to Hangzhou, the city where my sister and her boyfriend, Lars, spent a semester through their college study abroad program. It’s still astonishing to me that both my brother and sister were living in China at the same time! And we are so thankful we got such an amazing opportunity to travel there!

We arrived at the Hangzhou airport, and Ben really did need to “caution head” so he didn’t hit it on the low ceiling!

We checked into our hotel, a Best Western. We had some time to kill before Jamie got out of class, so Craig asked at the hotel desk for a restaurant recommendation. We headed to “Grandma’s” just a few blocks away. It was cute, cheap and good! (I was tempted to steal some of their pillows. tee hee!)

The entire meal cost the equivalent of about $11 U.S. dollars and fed all of us. We tried lotus root (the white in the middle), a pork dish (the one Ben has his chopsticks in), green beans, potato smiles and xue bi (Sprite, pronounced “shway bee”.)

I thought these potato smiles were so cute, and then, when we got home, Andrew told me he’s had them at school. I guess I need to get out more.

After lunch, we got a chuckle out of the street cleaning vehicle pictured (poorly) below. If you look carefully, you can see that it is shooting water in two directions. We were glad it started spraying the water just after passing us, or we may have gotten a little wet! Hopefully, the cars in the other lane didn’t mind the bath.

Hangzhou is further south than Dalian and Beijing, so the climate is warmer, and there were bikes everywhere. Many had little electric motors on them so they were motor bikes, I guess.

Got water?

We took a cab to Jamie’s school and were happy to find her! Here she is in front of her dormitory that housed international students. She sporting her knock-off Abercrombie  sweater (the tag said it was authentic, but it had  the brand name spelled incorrectly) and her snazzy tea bottle.

She showed us her electric meter. She was allotted a certain amount and had to pay extra for more.

Her room was cozy, and she had her own bathroom.

We looked around campus a bit and noticed a few bikes.

We thought this sign was funny because it looks like “no trumpets.” We assume it means no honking, but we couldn’t tell since several people honked horns as they drove by the sign.

When Lars was out of class, we took a bus adventure to find a shopping district. Jamie and Lars did pretty good getting us there, considering there was no English spoken on the bus or printed on any of the signs. We, of course, had to take a picture of a car accident we saw while walking from the bus stop. We laughed at the fact that we had not seen more accidents!

We also laughed when we saw a Porsche parked in front of a KFC restaurant.

We arrived at the shopping street and bought a few trinkets.

There was not a lot of bargaining to be found in this area, but the prices were all pretty decent.

Michael Jackson (top left) and Kobe Bryant (right) are quite popular. We also saw many guys like the one pictured under Michael. They have better hair than me.

The guy below was making things out of glass. He was very talented, and his art was very cheap considering how much time he put into each piece.

It turns out Jamie wanted to take us to a place for supper called “Grandma’s!” We found out it was a chain restaurant and got to eat at a different location.

Some of our meal included an egg & tomato dish, potato smiles, looks like some more pork, green tea cakes and fish.

After supper, we ended our night with a little tour of Trustmart, which was basically Walmart. It had some Walmart signage, even.

Lars showed us his favorite book. The title kind of gave us the creeps.

Maybe the use of the word “lurk” should be edited. We laughed quite a bit, maybe even shed some tears, over some funny English translated shirts that were for sale. Jamie’s shirt says, “One, Eight, Four, Seven, Three. Do you like the numbers game?”

The one below kind of leaves you hanging. And, yes, that is really all it says. No continuation to the back or anything.

The toy aisles looked familiar. The prices of the real Barbies compared to U.S. prices, so they would be very expensive to the average Chinese person.

And then it was on to the grocery section. A bunch of eggs. Not sure what kind of eggs.

Goose feet anyone?

Some of these turtles were moving.

A large vat of fish.

We did find a familiar product, and we bought some for dessert. And breakfast.

I think our list was a little longer this year, and maybe a bit unrealistic. Although, looking back at our list from 2010, we didn’t get everything crossed off that year either. I guess it’s all about perspective. We had a very fun and memorable summer, so we’ll call it a success!

Here was our list, the person who suggested each idea, and how we fared on that item:

1. Color a flower. (Paige)

Hmmm … I know we color a lot around here, but I can’t say for sure that we colored a flower during the summer. I would bet we did, but I have no proof. I do have a couple pictures of Paige after she colored on herself while wearing a flower dress …

2. Play on the swing set while the sprinkler is on. (Morgan)

This was a winner, although there is no picture. We put the sprinkler near the swing set and everyone had fun! I think it was most popular to get sprinkled while on the slide.

3. Go to Russell Wildlife. (Andrew)

Unless you count the school field trips, (which you shouldn’t) we failed at this one.

4. Swim in the pool. (Morgan)

I know there was quite a bit of swimming in our little kiddie pool in our yard. I, once again, don’t seem to have any photos. I guess I’m slacking off in the photo department. I do have a picture of Penny (the Panda) and Lenny (the Leopard) lounging by the pool. There is a very long story behind this photo, all in good fun with some friends who like to  dump their junk play pranks on us.

5. Go on a nature hike. (Andrew)

Fail. Probably partly because of failing #3.

6. Have a big ice cream sundae for the whole family. (Andrew)

Cha-ching. Hello, sugar!

7. Swim at the public swimming pool. (Morgan)

We went swimming at the public pool in Muscatine and Pella, but strangely never made it to our local pool. And I have no photos because it’s hard to take a camera to the pool.

8. Go to Muscatine. (Mom)

We tagged along with Dad when he had to work in Muscatine for a couple days. We had fun swimming in the local pool (see above) and our hotel pool, visiting parks and having a picnic supper by the Mississippi River.

9. Go to Florida. (Everyone)

What a fun trip we had!! More to come on this in the future.

10. Go to Disney World! (Mom — and I must say, it was fun to put that one on the list!)

More incredible, amazing, fun days! We got to go to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios!

11. Camp outside in our yard. (Morgan)

Thanks to borrowing a tent from Grandma & Grandpa Baumer, this was a success! Dad didn’t join us, because he had to get up for work the next morning. Morgan said, “That’s so unfair for Dad!” Yep, poor Dad! He missed out! It actually wasn’t too bad, I must say. Paige must not have gotten enough beauty sleep, because she wasn’t up for a photo in the morning.

12. Camp inside in our living room. (Andrew)

This one was fun! It’s always a little risky. And Mom has a tendency to get grumpy when it’s time to settle down. I think everyone did pretty good this time.

13. Do an obstacle course. (Andrew)

Nope. We never did this. 

14. Make something out of marshmallows. (Andrew)

I’m not really sure what this one was supposed to be. We did make s’mores (see #19), but I don’t think that is what Andrew had in mind.

15. Dance the ballet. (Paige)

I’m pretty sure not a day goes by without the girls dancing. It’s just a staple in our house.

16. Go to the library at least once a week. (Mom, Andrew)

We did very good with going to the library at the beginning of the summer because of the Summer Reading Program. For six weeks, there were various activities to participate in. This was the first year we were really gung-ho about the programs. It’s a little hard because there are programs for school age and non-school age kids. So, only Andrew can go to the really fun ones. There were programs most days, so we usually picked one for Andrew and then the girls went for story time for age 3-6. We got lots of books, of course, too. The kids act like they are at a toy store, which is too fun! Andrew delved into a Star Wars chapter book that was quite above his reading level. Our library visits dropped off later in the summer. We usually made it every-other week, when our books were due.

17. Have a science day. (Mom)

Nice idea, Mom. Maybe next year.

18. Read! Read! Read! (Andrew)

See #16. We did plenty of reading. I’m sure the Summer Reading Program “bucks” were an incentive for Andrew to put this on the list, but he really does love to read. We’ve been enjoying the Box Car Children books and then a variety of other books the kids pick out at the library and from our bookshelves.

19. Make s’mores. (Morgan)

We did this as part of our camp out. We used our gas grill to toast the marshmallows. 

20. Plant Evergreen trees. (Andrew)

This on almost had me stumped, because I couldn’t remember why Andrew wanted to plant Evergreen trees. Then, I remembered that I had a conversation with him one time about how I’d like to remove two ugly bushes we have and replace them with slender Evergreens. Apparently, Andrew thought that would be a fun idea. Bless his heart! Truth be told, I’m not sure I want to invest in trees in a house we don’t plan to live in forever. So, we’ll just keep dealing with our ugly bushes.

21. Go to Edmundson Park. (Morgan)

Edmundson is the largest park in town. We go there often, it seems, for various reasons. Here’s a picture from a Van Utrecht family picnic of the kids doing the limbo at Edmundson. That picnic was the only time I took photos at Edmundson, so I’ll throw in some other park photos, too. 

22. Try the disc golf course in Pella. (Dad)

We put this on the list for Dad. And we haven’t gotten it done, yet. Maybe before it gets cold.

23. Go to Adventureland. (Mom)

We went to Adventureland … twice! I’m sure we’ll have another post about that coming soon.

24. Go to the zoo. (Andrew)

We went to the zoo three times! Thank you Groupon season pass! Watch for more zoo photos in the future, too.

25. Learn math! (Andrew)

Andrew is a math wiz. I think we must have made our list before school was out for summer, so math was still on his brain! ha ha! He really is always learning math, so we did this one! 

26. Build a rocket. (Mom)

Um, I’m not sure this one was even age appropriate?! We didn’t get to this. I think I should do a little research before adding it to next year’s list.

So, that was our Summer Fun List 2011! And thanks to an insanely long World Series game, I was able to finish the post all in one sitting! (Go Cardinals!)

Morgan started with a bus ride from preschool to Russel Wildlife. (It’s a place we’ve enjoyed before.)

We found some new friends.

Morgan revised her role as snake charmer!

She participated in a little listening game.

And cheered on a turtle race!

We hunted for some fossils.

And played games.

Not much later, Andrew took a trip to the same place!

We looked at some snakes.

And examined some animal parts.

Andrew standing in the black coat, ready to play a game.

With  his buddy, Khydin.

Fossil hunting.

And fishing! Watch out! No one caught anything, and thankfully no one snagged anyone else, either.

Next, his class headed to the park for lunch and playtime. And a little pile-making.

Morgan also went to the park with her class, although on a different day than her field trip. It was her last day celebration. Dad and Paige got to come along, too.

Morgan likes to swing. Wait, she LOVES to swing.

Dad and Paige like to swing, too.

A little merry-go-round action.

And a nice class picture of some cute kids!

The end.

Before getting into the Olympic area we had to go through security. When we picked up our camera bags and such from the X-Ray machine, we saw that the guy monitoring the security screening was asleep! We felt very secure as we headed into the Olympic Green!

The Bird’s Nest: 

The “Green” which was mostly. not. green. It was large! Just more concrete color. I suppose “The Olympic Concrete” doesn’t flow as well.  

The Cube: (Home to the swimming events.) 

The Ling Long Pagoda  broadcast tower. 

A picture of me … taking a picture of Craig … who was completely copying a pose a girl was making on the other side of The Green. (Have I mentioned some Chinese people make funny poses for pictures? Well, they do sometimes.)

And a better view of Craig. Here’s the picture I was taking. Those crazy Americans!  

There was quite a bit of artwork on The Green, but apparently I only took pictures of the human artwork above.

We then took the subway back to meet up with Nicki. On the way, we noticed a temple listed on the subway maps. It was one of the stops, so we decided to check it out. Each subway stop had multiple exits, and had we taken the one closest to the temple, we probably could have gotten in. Unfortunately, we wandered around like lost tourists for a few minutes and got to the temple entrance just after it closed.

We were always amazed at the number of people using the subways. Here’s a photo from underground. I think this was a hallway to transfer to a different line. It’s probably not the best photo, but it’s pretty much solid people everywhere you go.

We got back to our hotel, met up with Nicki and went looking for a Hutong. We passed an area we had seen before, only now it was all lit up for the evening.

A Hutong is a traditional neighborhood with many homes all hooked together and small walkways and alleys between them.

We wondered if this was up to code?

This was a fancy motor bike!

The building below is a hostel.

A neighbor left a note for anyone staying at the hostel.

Our next adventure was looking for supper. On the way, we passed this bike. Not a great picture because it was getting dark, but a very common sight in China.

We headed back to Wangfujing Street, the walking street that reminds me of Time Square in New York.

We ended up eating at Subway in a mall. If you ever go to a Subway in China, Ben does not recommend the meatball sub. He took one bite and ordered another sandwich. We also got Blizzards at Dairy Queen. So, on the day we hiked on The Great Wall, we ate only Western food.

Maybe.

Someday.

And this is starting out as a very weird introduction to the post about one of the highlights of our trip to China: THE WALL! To call it The Great Wall almost seems like an insult, because it is so much grander than “great!” We were there in March, if you remember, so the mountains it goes through were gray. The pictures would be all the more impressive if there was a bit more color.

We started our journey at McDonalds, of all places! It’s hard to find what we consider breakfast foods in China, so it was a quick and easy to place to grab breakfast.

Nicki didn’t join us on this adventure since she was about 7 1/2 months pregnant. To get to the wall we started by taking the subway to a bus stop.

We had a short walk between the subway exit and the bus area. Along the way, we passed a double-decker bike parking area.

Since we were foreigners, it seemed to be somewhat of a challenge to find the correct bus. For one, there were two routes with the same number. One was direct to the Wall and the other had numerous stops. Also, people kept telling us that we were at the correct bus, when, in fact, we were not. It was always made obvious when we were told the price was much higher than we knew it was supposed to be. We would have been lost without our experienced guide, Craig. The bus ride was about one hour, if I remember correctly. It was interesting to see the city along the way.

There are numerous places to access the Wall. We went to the location closest to Beijing called Badaling. It’s one of the most popular locations for tourists and has been restored and renovated. Our option for actually getting up on the wall was the “Sliding Car.”

It was nice of them to provide some “Warm Tips.”

The car was basically an individual roller coaster ride, without the speed of a roller coaster.

We had lovely artwork to admire as we went up through the tunnel.

Our first views of the Wall behind the trees.

Views of the Wall from afar …

Walking on the Wall!

Sporting our stylish hats purchased for about 75 cents each before taking the sliding car to the top.

Our Chinese friend who works for Musco in Oskaloosa said the correct English translation of this sign should be: Do not pee.

More photo opportunities! I wonder if they put this picture on their blog?

Some areas were very steep and the steps are rather uneven.

A view near the highest point we climbed.

I got this couple in my photo again!

According to Mao Zedong, also known as Chairman Mao, Ben is now a real man. He has a famous quote that goes something like, “If we fail to reach the Great Wall we are not men.”

Below is where we got on the wall. You can see the green thing on the left which covered the sliding cars.

How many pictures of us on the Wall?

More photo opps …

I think these girls all got numerous pictures!

A different group of ladies …

Sorry, ladies, he’s taken!

Some of us fit better than others.

It was sometimes harder to walk where there weren’t any stairs.

An alternate way to get on the Wall.

And, of course, no Wonder of the World would be complete without people selling junk, er, I mean, souvenirs!

And just like an amusement park photo of you screaming on a roller coaster, here we are on our way down on the sliding cars! And, yes, we bought a photo! We couldn’t pass that one up.

This lady was selling books about the Wall. We were discussing that it was a decent price, but we weren’t sure we were really “vacation book people.” We walked away but then had to pass her again to exit. She offered a price equivalent of about $3.50 U.S. How do you pass up these deals? You don’t. So, if you’d ever like to read about the history of the Wall or see some more photos, we’ve got a great book!

At least the prices are fair!

We got back to the bus stop and then headed back to the city. It’s almost like a dream that we walked on The Great Wall of China. Seriously! We did that!

Need help moving? That’s a mattress and some other furniture on the back of a bike. The orange things are phone booths.

Exploding cars are not allowed in this area:

This was a fairly quiet street:

Some traditional decorations:

And dinner was Peking Duck! Maybe one of our  most exotic dishes. Cause, we weren’t very exotic eaters. The duck is on the left on the lettuce and there is a pile of green beans on the right. The plates with the compartments had various sauces and veggies to add to your duck rolls.

Craig demonstrating how to make a duck roll thingy.

It was pretty good! The round pastry things on the right were really yummy. They were basically like donuts.

The outside of the restaurant.

We weren’t sure if these would be good masages or not based on the English translations, but the price wouldn’t be too bad as 98 RMB is about $16 U.S. dollars.

Dishes with Chinese characteristics sounded interesting.

And, finally, back to our hotel for the night!

Photo opportunities abound! (People taking a picture of Craig.)

Signs translated with Brittish English.

Intricate detail on all the ceilings above and large open courtyards below.

You can’t tell in this photo, but this child is wearing split pants, which is common in potty training kids in China. There is a split in the crotch of the pants so there is easy access to “go” anytime. I think it’s also common for kids to be over dressed and bundled up.

Detail everywhere you look …

A throne room.

The large bowls collected rain water to use to fight fires, which according to the history written on signs there were many fires and quite a few started by lightning.

Ben thought the stone by his feet looked like home plate, so he played a little baseball.

Tour groups often had matching hats and their guide carried a flag.

This structure is on a hill outside the Forbidden City. A moat surrounds the city area and the dirt removed to make the moat created the hill that the structure sits on.

More details. Hand carved stonework.

A funny sign …

The emperor’s new clothes …

And here are the perilous hills … This was located in a garden area.

A very harmonious, peaceful place …

The moat …

The view from atop the moat hill … It gives a better feeling for the size of the Forbidden City. All of those roofs are part of it.

That was a lot of photos, and probably not even half of what we took at the Forbidden City! It was a really interesting place to visit!

Age 1:

Age almost 7: