Our last day in Kunming

     Today was our last full day in Kunming. Tomorrow we board a plane and fly 2 hours to Guangzhou to finish up our trip in China! It's been a busy week thus far so today was a welcomed breath of fresh air! We drove for 40 minutes to visit the Ethnic Village. For our hometown area, I'd compare it to a Sauder Village type place... except one hundred times bigger. It was a great day to just walk around and take in all the sights. It was also a great opportunity for Josiah to walk around a lot... which we've learned he loves to do!
     In China, there are fifty-five minority groups. Twenty-six of these groups are represented in Kunming. Our guide explained that 1 in every 3 people is an ethnic minority here. It was very interesting to learn about the culture. The backdrop wasn't too bad either. Breathtaking!

     We tried our first "meat on a stick" in the  Dai Village. For 10 Yuan, we were given 3 sticks of mutton. It was super yummy going down...but my belly didn't feel so hot later in the day. Meat on a stick is popular as you roam the streets... and by meat, I don't just mean chicken and pork and beef...think squid and maybe creepy crawlers too. Oy!

     I made sure to snap several pictures of our boy in his element. He was being so cute as he toddled around! He's especially in to puddle stomping! Here are some of my favorites. He likes to hold our hands as he walks which is just the cutest. We also saw an elephant show and fed one of them bananas! I can't get the video to transfer to my phone from Eric's...but it was fun!

     On our way back, we stopped at a jade store. Kunming is known for its jade so we all thought that'd be a great token to remember our time here. Each mom in our group ended up picking out a bracelet...where they'd fit it to your wrist and use any extra beads to make a necklace for you. Beautiful! Our guide told us all the jade was natural, class A jade. Other markets don't always use natural jade. We were also told that the longer you wear the jade...the better quality the jade becomes. Each display case actually had a glass of water in it for that reason.

Josiah seemed much more comfortable today. Now that he knows we let him walk... we'll see how the rest of the trip goes. Sometimes, the pace of a toddler isn't the fastest for group tours and walking. While we're still learning about one another, we felt much better about today and how Josiah handled things. He has quite the personality! He may just be our most ornery one yet! Prayers were answered though...so thank you! We can't wait to see how he does on a plane tomorrow. It will be good practice for our flight home. (gulp)