Mutianyu Great Wall

Last spring the school took us on an outing to the Jiankou segment of the Great Wall, but since it is one of the hardest Great Wall climbs, we didn't actually get to the wall. Seth was pretty disappointed and has been begging us to go back to the wall ever since. We have this week off for the Chinese National Holiday and Mid-Autumn Festival, so we decided to go to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. We invited our best friends, Peter and Jeni and their one-year-old daughter Mackenzie, but the more people whom we told about our plans, the more people who wanted to join us. I soon found myself planning a day trip for thirteen people! (It sounds like a lot of work, but all it really entailed was hiring a van and driver for the day.)

This morning when Seth woke up, I teased him a little:
Me: Are you ready to get ready for school?
Seth: [smiling] No, I not have school today.
Me: No? I think you do. It's Tuesday, isn't it? I think you definitely have school on Tuesdays.
Seth: But today we going to the Great Wall of China.
Me: The Great Wall of China?
Seth: [after rolling his eyes in exasperation] Silly Mommy! "Great" means "amazing", "wall" means "wall", and "of China" means "here." Got it?

Yes, Sweetie, I "got it." We were on the wall all of two minutes before Seth said he was ready to go home! But we had a really nice day and got some cute pictures besides, not to mention the bonus picture of a shoulder bag featuring President Obama dressed as a Chinese soldier. It was the first time I'd seen one of these, but apparently they are all over the place now. Not sure what the intended political statement is, or if there is anything intended by it at all (besides making money, of course).