Moon festival in Malaysia

To celebrate the autumn festival we headed to Malaysia.
Our first stop was an Island along the west coast, Penang.

Thunder storms were forecast for the entire week but we only had rain one evening.
It was so hot that even Daniel got a slight sunburn.

The waves knocked Oliver down a few time so he was done with the beach.

More sand activities.

Swimming Lessons

We spent August and September here - in the Pool

Isaac loves in goggles and he was so proud to be old enough for swimming lessons.

Tiananmen Square

After the forbidden city, we "crossed the street" to see Tiananmen Sq.
(crossing the street means walking to a tunnel a block away - at least 15 min)

Isaac fell asleep while we were trying to get across the street

Oliver loves to be barefoot

Since Mao's mausoleum is closed on Mondays and because 1/2 the city was closed all weekend for the 60 year celebration rehearsal, we not able to see his frozen body. Until next time.

The mausoleum

After seeing the tourist traps, we headed to TGI Fridays to enjoy some American food.

It was a great way to spend Labor day!
(yes, I'm 2 months behind in blogging)

Forbidden City

We finally made it to the Palace Museum

The North gate:
Gate of Divine Prowess

Right before several guards told him to get down.

Daniel, the imperial soldier,
walking near the Palace of Earthly Tranquility,

I love these names.

This is one piece of stone which was transported to the palace on ice in middle of winter

Golden rooftops in all directions.

Marc listening to his "tour guide"

My boys

The real China.

The Inner Golden Water Bridge

Who we met when we exited the palace.

Hutong

After we visited the Great Wall, we checked-out and stayed in a hotel located
in one of the Hutongs (streets and alleyways in old Beijing).

A picture of where we stayed.
The boys - at the end of the courtyard got wet every day from playing in that pond.

Our hotel's rooftop

Racing in the Hutong

A little "tienda" -
Yes, I still speak more Spanish than Chinese.

More little streets that are difficult to navigate.

The current trend - reconstructing the Hutong.

It was fun to stay in the hotel even though it was kind-of a pain to get a taxi to go down the narrow streets.
One of the highlights was eating at a Xinjiang resaurant - even the boys enjoyed it.