Welcome to our blog- detailing our "first trip back" to China- a homeland tour

Welcome!  It is 1 day before Maggie and I (age 10) head off to China for a tour of 5 cities.  We leave at 9:15 wednesday morning from Charlotte to Newark, then Newark to Beijing.  We are traveling with my friend Joyce, and her two girls (Grace and Ruthie), also adopted from China, and Joyce's parents, Tom and Ann Bott.  We will be on the road for a total of 16 nights, returning on April 29 at midnight.  The purpose of the blog is to document the trip for our memories, and share our experiences with family and friends. I am hoping to get better at this blogging thing.  China doesn't actually allow blogs, so I will be writing emails and sending the emails to my blog for automatic posting.  For the record, I haven't figured out how to spellcheck on here so I am sure there will be some mistakes!  I am not sure yet about pictures but will try.  I will also try to get Maggie to share her own experiences, but she is being shy about that right now.  As you all probably know, Maggie goes to Chinese Immersion School in Charlotte (as do the other girls on the trip) and is quite fluent in mandarin, however, she insists she will NOT be speaking mandarin in China.  So, we'll see about that.  Stay tuned!