Summer Palace

Following the Great Wall workout, our next stop was the Summer Palace - built by the Qing Dynasty in the early 1700s.



East Palace Gate - the main entrance.



Another sweetie picture by the scary dragon-thingee.



Cote gets a happy snap with Longevity Hill in the upper left of the picture.



View of the Seventeen-arch bridge and South Lake Island in the background.



Entrance area to the Long Corridor.



Walking through the Long Corridor (2,388 feet long with over 14,000 scenic paintings).



View of the Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha in the background.



Another sweetie picture by a neat gateway.



Sweetie picture along the Long Corridor.



The Marble Boat (only the base is actually marble, the rest is wood painted to look like white marble). Nobody spends money so wisely as a monarch with absolute power.




Getting ready for our ride across the lake.



View of Longevity Hill from the boat.


More sweetie pictures by the Dragon King Temple.



Viewing crossing over the Seventeen-arch Bridge.

The Great Wall

For our adventure to China, we spent the first three days in Beijing for some sightseeing. First on the docket was a jaunt out to see the Great Wall. We hit the pass at Juyong Guan (close to Badaling). This was quite the stair workout.

You can see the haze in the air around Beijing in the pictures below.


Time to start the climb.



One of the various guard towers.



Cote pauses for a moment to catch her breath.



Keep them feet moving.



Cote tries to catch some breeze.



Joe checking out the view.



A sweetie picture.



Come on Cote - everybody makes it.



Looking back.



Self portrait.



You aren't a hero until you've climbed the Great Wall.

Open Arms Graduation

On Friday the 13th, Open Arms held their graduation ceremonies. Alex, Ry-Ry, and Justin all participated in (different) group performances. The pictures of the performances aren't all that great as our camera didn't do so well with the lighting.



Ryan heads toward the stage.



Alex waves to her adoring fans.



Alex admires herself on the big screen.



Alex throws kisses to the crowd.



Justin gets ready.



Ry-Ry enjoys the spoils of graduation.



Heather and Cote share some juice.

Nationals Game

In early June, we headed back to catch another Nats game. This time we had a gaggle of Kerri, the Yates, and the CoteNances. While it was a blistering hot day, we were lucky enough to have seats in the shade.


7th inning stretch.



That is some good singing.



Those kooky kids.



Cote is so lucky.



The mellow crowd.



The CoteNances and Ry-Ry.



CoteNances only please.



The Yates.



Alex with the Yates.



The ladies get their moment.



"You're Out!"

Soccer finale

In early June, the final soccer practice was held. There had been a few rain delays that pushed the season into June and the day was a scorcher. But everyone pushed through and had fun in the process.



Jeremy goes for the gusto.



Alex bends it like Beckham.



Perhaps a future goalie?



Alex and dad take a moment to pose pretty.

Alex & Joe spent a fine Friday morning & early afternoon at Joe's work picnic. The location on Fort Belvoir by the water couldn't be beat. The best part of the day (other than no work for Joe) was the dunk tank. Alex got ample opportunity to get Joe's work mates wet, and she loved it.



The natives get restless before the dunk tank opens.



The crowd gathers.



The anticipation builds.



Those are some nice tosses.



Alex drops the General into the water (yes, that would be Joe's boss' boss).



Alex submerges the Colonel.



Craft time.



The post dunking chatter.



More crafts.



Now for some water balloons.



Volleyball anyone?

Baltimore Aquarium

We spent the weekend in Baltimore following the Red Sox game. We hit the Baltimore Aquarium Saturday and Sunday, and caught a few meals at the Inner Harbor.



Alex stands behind the shark jaw.



Flying dolphin.



One of the dolphins shows off.



Alex gets attacked by a big ugly fish.