Ni Hao, Daddy! {Again...}

Wade got back on Tuesday night from his second trip to China in the last 3 months. To say that I was happy to see him is a HUGE understatement. He was gone for 11 days, and it was tough. Whenever he is gone for a long period of time, it softens my heart towards military wives and single mothers. I pray so hard for those women and what they must go through. I just don't know how they do it!

As usual, Daddy came home with a suitcase full of goodies, tons of pictures, and lots of stories to tell. :) Both times that he has gone to China, he has been there over a weekend. All of the businesses that he is going to meet with are closed on the weekends, so that is when he gets to sight see. Since he has yet to accept my invitation to be a guest blogger, I will do my best to share his photos and stories. ;)

During this trip, Wade went to Taiwan, Shanghai, and Shenyang. The way that the weekend fell, he was in Shanghai. He said that he was bored sitting in his hotel room, so he decided to google something to do. He decided to climb the Lupu Bridge.

That, my friends, is the fundamental difference between myself and my husband. I would have just sat in the peace and quiet of my hotel room with books and magazines. Not Wade, though. He's always up for an adventure!

The Lupu Bridge is similar to the Sydney Harbor Bridge in the fact that it has stairs to the top of the bridge and back down. 367 stairs, to be exact. Which is probably about 357 too many for my astmatic husband. Wade said that he was wishing for his inhaler about halfway through. Ha!

Shanghai is preparing for the World Expo. This is their mascot/icon.

That was the only sight seeing type of thing that Wade got to do this trip. The rest of the time was spent working hard.

I think that he enjoyed his trip in August much more. Here's a little recap of that trip:

Wade got to spend a fun weekend with his Aunt Kim & Uncle Joe. They are living in Chengdu right now for Joe's job. Wade stayed at their house and they showed him around the city. He had a blast with them!

They took him to the Panda Research and Breeding facility

He got to hold a red panda. He said it was an amazing experience! They are much smaller than the black & white version and have a long tail. They look kind of like a raccoon.
Wade said that these playful baby pandas reminded him of our boys. :)

Wade with Kim & Joe

The black swans at the Panda Reserve

I've always told Wade that I wanted to adopt a little girl from China. I've said that since we were in high school - no lie. He saw this sweet little girl and told his interpreter that he thought she was cute. Her mom asked if he wanted to hold her. How precious is that??? It makes me want to fly over there and get me a baby girl pronto!

Wade obviously stuck out like a sore thumb with his blond hair, blue eyes, and 6' 2" height. He said that people were randomly taking his picture on the street. Ha!

Eating octopus skewers...

At a canal

My hubs is such a cutie!

This little lady was 93 years old. Wade said she was the tiniest little thing. She asked to have a picture with him. Check out that height difference!

While in Chengdu, Wade also got to play golf with Joe. He said that the course was AMAZING. Each golfer gets their own caddy. The caddy lines up your ball for you and cleans it after every stroke. That's my kind of golf!

I'm sure that Wade would have done a much better job of recounting his travels, but I tried my best. :) I am thankful that Wade gets to see so much of the world as a traveling salesman, but we sure do miss him when he's gone. It's true what they say - Absence really does make the heart grow fonder!