Tickets-Check!

That's right we have officially booked our flights to China, WOOHOO! It certainly was not an easy task, but I did it. I was truly amazed at the wide range of quotes I received from all the different travel agencies. I suppose a lot of people aren't as frugal as I am with their money and they just choose an agency and hope its the best price available. Well I am here to tell you that I was quoted a lot of different numbers that ranged in price difference as much as $3K! So for those of you out there looking or one day to be looking make note of these 2 folks: Mandy Hu at Asia Travel and also David at Tam Travel. These 2 were by far the best deals out there. I chose Mandy because she has been so helpful from the beginning and she was the first one to give me the best price. We are going to be flying with Northwest Airlines and Air China. So here is what our flights look like:

Oct 31- Leave Atlanta at 12:30PM (go thru Detroit and Tokyo)
Nov 1- Arrive in Beijing at 9:30PM
Nov 4- Fly to Nanning from 2PM-6PM
Nov 10-Fly to Guangzhou
Nov 16-Leave Guangzhou at 8:30AM, Arrive Atlanta 5:30PM!

So everything is coming together wonderfully. Turns out that our Gotcha Day is going to be on Monday, November 5!! I was a little disappointed that I have to wait one extra day to finally meet Shelby; however, I am glad that we will now get a full 2 days to spend in Beijing sight seeing. I think this is all for the best as we will now have all day Sunday to simply get from one province to the next and not be rushed. So now I am on to planning my Beijing portion of the trip. I am only really interested in doing the Great Wall, Peking Duck Dinner, and the Acrobatic Show. These are the 3 things that I don't want to miss, so I am now getting quotes for all "private tours" just for these items. I am not a big fan of big tour groups and buses especially not with my kids. I don't want my 4 year old to have to hold it for an hour just because it would be an inconvenience to the "group". So I am willing to pay a little more for the convenience of a private guide. I will let you know what I come up with.

PS- Turns out that I am so smart that I bribed my 7 year old out of the big Boy Scout Camping trip that we were supposed to attend this weekend. Once I found out that is was going to be in the 40s in the mountains and I was supposed to sleep in a tent, I knew I had to do something! So yes, I bribed him with nothing less than his weakness-FISHING. I promised him a fishing trip instead to south Georgia in a nice cottage by the lake with heat ;) So we are going to be spending our last "vacation" without Shelby with my aunt in south Georgia on the lake. And yes, I know I am spoiled :) Sorry, but I just could not make the switch from this:

to this: