summertime!

10 words to describe today… freezing frozen chilly bone-numbing sub-zero icy frosty bitter wintry arctic   so forgive the typos.  my fingers are still recovering from hypothermia.  as are my thighs and nose.   a full body snowsuit would have been appropriate for today.  our best educated guess was the temperature was around 10 degrees with the windchill well below zero.       however, we are strong, tough, and willing to sacrifice our appendages for a few good pictures and some memories.  so we ventured onward to the forbidden city, tiananmen square and the great wall with a stop at the olympic park.   i was thankful we had been to all three sites before as i was not exactly in the frame of mind to meander around enjoying the wonder of it all.  and we took far less pictures as my finger had a hard time even pressing the button.  eric forgot his gloves at the hotel so he bought some from a street vendor – i believe the word she used to describe him was 'stingy.'  pops would be proud of his bargaining skills.  and it gave our group a good laugh.   we fly out tomorrow morning to the capital of sarahjoy's province.  i met an adoption guide today who was from sj's city.  her description...'much colder than here.'  o yeah baby.  the long underwear and i are becoming fast friends.  in fact, they might be permanently stuck to me after the next 6 days.   should look great under a bathing suit this summer.    speaking of summer………….i could really use some about now.   **pictures are being very slow in their cooperation (probably because they are freezing)  so i will figure that out and have some more for you tomorrow!