Let’s take a breather from gift guides, eh?

So if you were following along on Instagram (stories are my jam!) you may have seen that we took a little trip to Beijing over the Thanksgiving holiday to visit family.

Well, we are back stateside and finally getting over our jet lag, so why not share some trip photos with you!

We woke up around 4:30 a.m. so that we could make a 6:30 a.m. flight to Detroit. Upon arriving at the airport and realizing we didn’t have to do a ‘Run, Run Rudolph’ sprint a la Home Alone (TSA pre-check FTW), we posed to take a pre-flight photo with everyone.

Our first flight was easy, just a hop skip and jump. Once wheels were down, we headed to the Delta SkyClub in hopes of enjoying some adult beverages and were blessed with a cat nap for Fitzie.

A little after noon we headed onto our next flight, and this one was a whopping 14 hours! Everett didn’t seem to be phased by it and probably watched The Polar Express and Home Alone 20 times.

For the most part, they boys did great with the flights. There were a few moments where Fitz fought falling asleep, but other than that – it was long, but manageable.

I would like to give a A+ rating to our amazing JetKids BedBoxes. If you haven’t seen one of these things, check them out. Everett loved riding around on his through the airport and I can’t count the number of times someone stopped me to ask about them. Definitely a game changer for traveling with toddlers.

We arrived in Beijing around 3:30 p.m. THE NEXT DAY and let me tell you, time travel is exhausting. Marcus and I hadn’t slept much (if at all) on the flights, so staying upright was getting pretty difficult. After getting through customs and loaded up, we sat in about an hours worth of traffic before arriving at the residence. It was so beautiful and I wanted to take it all in, but I could barely keep my head up.

Our first dinner together in months as a family was the most delicious Chinese food I’ve ever had, yet I basically had to force myself to eat and not fall asleep at the table. 

After a night of interrupted sleep, thanks to the time difference and two young boys who wanted to party with their cousins at 2 a.m., we woke to a low smog day and bright blue skies.

While waiting to head out on our Great Wall excursion, the boys and I decided to do a little exploring around the compound. We loved the big red doors and you’ll notice that Everett managed to find their garbage cans right away.

Up next, a steep walk up The Great Wall and an amazing stay at Soho China’s Commune.