Beijing | Summer Palace

I was really excited about visiting the Summer Palace - I knew it was huge, very pretty and had a dragon boat that you could ride so I was all in.  Here are some pictures if you would like to take a look.

^ the entrance to the Summer Palace - we waited here while Glenn got our tickets ^

^ the place was gigantic ^

^ i was excited about walking on the longest corridor in the world ^

^ the girls loved these lily pads ^

^ weeping willow ^

^ family picture (3 out of 4 looking is not too bad) ^

^ loved all of the color and patterns ^

^ the beginning of the longest corridor plus that is Glenn on the right ^

^ i loved this door ^

^ we saw some new and interesting designs that we had not seen previously at the Forbidden City or Temple of Heaven ^

^ if you go, don't forget to look up ^

^ the views were stunning ^

^ can you see that steep incline to get up to the viewing deck of the temple? we decided to pass because lugging up a stroller plus two little ones did not sound like much fun :) ^

^ a dragon boat ^

^ this boat was made out of marble ^

^ it's our turn!! ^

^ Glenn took this and literally had to chase after the boat because it had pulled away while he was still on the deck ^

^ view from the water ^

^ little girl, exploring this big world ^

^ love that he is always up for a boat ride ^

^ what the dragon boat looks like from the side ^

^ i am so glad we decided to pass on those stairs ;) ^

^ Evsie's and I went on a little tour to the front of the boat ^

^ that smile! ^

^ the boat ride was fairly short and when we got to the other side, we walked across the bridge to an 'island'.  on the way, we saw the biggest kites in the whole wide world. ^

^ love the view of of the boats sprinkled all over the water ^

^ getting one of the kites off the ground ^

^ common thing to see all around China - it is good luck ^

^ the bridge! ^

^ looking at this, I can tell I am pretty tired. it was hard work to carry that girl around on my back all day! ^

^ Emma and daddy - I know I talk a lot about Everly and I looking alike, but these two are still twins in my book ;) ^

^ happy girls plus Glenn in the background ^

^ we could have stayed longer and kept exploring but we were all feeling pretty tired - so we told Glenn we were ready to head back to the hotel for the evening.  I am pretty sure we made it back out for dinner at the mall near us and quite possibly had some more donuts because the ones the night before were so delicious. we had to get a good night's rest - the Great Wall was waiting for us in the morning!! ^