I remember........

We will also have to get visas for us all.

Last night I was looking through the calendar.

Isabel and I traveled February 29 to March 20.

Almost exactly  what we are doing this time....

February 26 to March 20......less a day because there 

is no leap year day. And I didn't even check that before I booked.

Flight booked....check!!!

I seriously hope I did not jump the gun here and way over pay for these flights!!! 

Time will tell.  Paid $3260 for the three of us with fees, taxes and fuel surcharges et cetera.

What do you think?

So we leave February 26 (bus & ferry x3)  and will overnight in Vancouver (hotel + dinner) and up early for a 6am hop to San Francisco and then it's Beijing here we come baby.

 Get in around 330pm where we will be met by the good folks from New Hope Foster Home and transported to our digs. I believe we are staying in the main building which is good. Hopefully we can wander around and visit the children at will.

Returning March 20th.

Fares $3260

Bus/ferry $91

Hotel $113

Dinner/misc $100

San Francisco magazines/snacks $100

TOTAL=$3664 from budget of $5000-6000 (best case/worst case)

I think that's pretty good for 3 travelers for 3 weeks

See our blog link section for our last trip and family blog.........and more.

Something is up.....

Those cheap fares were too good to be true. They must offer very few at those prices and when they are gone they are gone. Every time I tried to book them they came up as "sold out". What's that all about???

Heard from Hope. Good news, bad news situation. Yeah,  we can come but they now charge for room and board. That will add $600 to our budget. I know it is a deal and I know they have expenses but still it ups the ante.

Also talked to a woman who was there with her daughter last year and with another woman who lives in Beijing with her daughter who is the same age as our girls. Fact is I met her many years ago on Grace's adoption trip. Long story I will tell you about later. Great gal. 

We are making progress with our plans. We are so blessed to be able to do this. It is huge that I get the girls back to China. It is a promise we made and did not take lightly when the miracle of adoption brought us all together. I wish the whole family could go together but for now we have to do it this way. I am grateful.

Cheap flights....

Have found some great fares to Beijing and am seriously thinking of purchasing them now.

For budgetary reasons I need to hold off just a bit longer. Fingers crossed they are still there next week.

I have emailed Joyce at New Hope and asked if we can come next spring break.  I am hoping to speak with  several people who were there last year. I really hope we can be of  help in our time there, not just some tourists stopping by.

Pandas...

I took this photo at the panda reserve in Chengdu in March of 2008 when Isabel and I had our return trip to China. That place was one of the highlights of our trip. Loved the city as well. It took a real hit during the earthquake.

Vacation...

We are on vacation at the beach.....see our family blog in the links. I plan to book our flights in the fall but meanwhile I continue to follow, via blogs, all the adoption stories still happening. It makes me kind of sad that a lot of the experiences people have are not positive ones. I wish I could tell them that two weeks under the stressful conditions they are under is not enough time to get to know the real China or her people. I was as judgemental until we went back too and I was sorry for that and learned from it.