This morning we woke up and were able to just hang out around the hotel room as we didn’t need to meet our guide until 2:30 to go to the Kumbum Monastery. It was so much fun to play with Madison and be able to relax without the pressures of hurrying up and getting ready! I know boys and girls are way different but it has become even more obvious to us. Madison is very thoughtful; loves to play with her dolls and her fine motor skills amaze me. She eats better with a fork than Jake does. At this age Jake was running around jumping off things, not so with Madison, she is content to play with her toys on the bed. While she is stubborn she defiantly listens better than Jake did. When I put her down for her nap, she will lay there until she falls asleep, not the case when Jake was little…he would have gotten up and run around.
We headed for the monastery and were not prepared for how cold it was going to be. It was FREEZING (probably in the teens). I am soooooo not winning mother of the year, I forgot Jakes gloves and poor Madison didn’t have on enough layers. My only saving grace was that I had packed another pair of pants of Madison in case of an accident so, I was able to add another layer. The monastery was very beautiful and our guide did a great job explaining the Buddhist religion to us. Everywhere we go we get stares but at the monastery people were stopping and touching the kids and taking pictures. For us this was very strange but, per our guide it is meant to be a compliment. Both of the kids do not like to be touched, they both tried to hide behind John or I. The monks were also fascinated with Jake and Madison and would stop to touch them or talk to them. Many monks tried to get Madison to put her hands in her pockets and let go of the Cheerio container but,
that just resulted in her screaming. We toured the monastery for about 2 hours and when we were done my legs were numb and the kids were cold and exhausted.
Once back in the car and warm everyone’s spirit was much improved and we headed to the hotel for dinner. Since it was Christmas Eve the hotel put on a huge buffet including a roaming Santa who gave the kids stuffed animals. The buffet was good, of course I played it safe and only ate American type dishes but John was more adventurous and ate pigeon, pork knuckles, duck and sushi. Jake ate noodles and fries while Madison ate anything put in front of her. The dinner was quite expensive 800rmb (about 120usd) but well worth it. It was the best meal we had eaten so far (no wonder John is down 5lbs and I am down 9lbs) Once back in the room the kids opened the few presents we brought and then it was off to bed.
Tomorrow we are off to Guangzhou for the last leg of our trip.
Merry Christmas!!
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