Seeing the Forest for the Trees

As promised, this is our outing to Seoul Forest with a group of my friends from our branch. These pictures are actually from two different trips there, with the same people. The first time around, my two littlest kids got overly heating, and we had to bail out early. We were glad to get a chance to go back. It probably won't be our last time either.

Even though this place is called Seoul Forest, is does not, in any way, resemble a forest. Perhaps this is why the bakery had such a hard time understanding what I wanted for Madelyn's cake (see post on Madelyn's birthday party). What it DOES resemble is a really great family park. We went to their playground first.
It have this HUGE slide, of which we've never seen the likes.

It's no wonder the kids got too hot, running up this monstrosity over and over.

But they couldn't get enough of it.

I even got talked into giving it a try...in a skirt. What was I thinking?

I didn't get much speed until the VERY end, and then I thought I was going to fly right off.

They also have this....thing.

You could climb inside it, but not to the very top.

They also have an area with deer. You could buy a box of food to feed them for 1,000 won (a little less than a dollar)

Most of the kids were brave enough to feed them.

I put my camera through the fence and got an insider's perspective. If you really want to understand the deer, you've got to put yourself in their shoes. Nobody fed me anything though - very disappointing.

Feeding deer makes your hands stink.

So does feeding giraffes.

There were no giraffes in Seoul Forest.

We also went to an insect house. We walked around.

And walked some more.

But we weren't really seeing any bugs. Being in an insect house, I wasn't really sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. But we did see a waterfall.

And we saw birds.

And a very large turtle that I wanted to sit on....ya know, just to see.

And fish - nothing says insect house like fish.

And finally towards the end we saw some bugs - whew. It reminded some of us of "A Girl of the Limberlost", which we had just read for book club. I don't necessarily recommend it.....the book.....or maybe the insect house....it's hard to say which.

My kids were very, very HOT, even the second time around. Still cute though.

But no worries, we had a cure for the heat - the very best kind.

This was a REALLY great splash park.

Which my kids completely loved, even fully clothed.

It was on for over an hour, but I think my kids could have gone for another hour as well.

Very wet, very happy, very tired.

I was really hot too, and I thought I'd just get my hair wet, but before I knew it I was totally drenched too. Unfortunately for you, I didn't get any pictures:) Stay tuned for our next outing to The Children's Museum.

Getting out of the City

We had a long weekend, so we decided to head down to Gyeungju again. As much as we are loving Seoul, we also love getting out of the city and heading south, because this is what we get to drive through.

Beautiful Mountains.

Rice Fields...

and more rice fields.

Up close.

So much different then all the skyscrapers and crowded living. It was funny trying to take all these pictures, speeding down the freeway with my head sticking out the window. I took a million pictures, hoping I'd get a few good ones out of it - I think I did:)

When you're driving long distances in Korea, and you need stop (for gassing up the car, snacks and potty breaks), it is not just a simple matter of getting off at the next exit, like in America. It would be way too difficult to find what you need. However, Korea has amazing rest stops, with everything that you could imagine needing to buy, huge bathrooms, and a variety of other things including beautiful views.

Play grounds and picnic areas.

Water features.

Animals.

Cute kids provided by us.

We didn't eat Korea food at the rest stop, but we could have. We saved it for later though, down in our final destination.

Yummy.

We also took a ride in these wacky paddle boats.

The wind was so strong, and was blowing us in the opposite direction of the dock when we decided we were done. I seriously did not think I was going to make it back. My thighs were on FIRE.

It was a long hot day and we were all tired.

But here was the absolute funnest part of the day. We rented these little ATVs and motorcycles that were sooooo much fun.

We rode around on them, taking turns, for an hour.

Lookin' good Joe - I think Hells Angels would take you...

but not me.

Yes, that is Madelyn you see driving. They let kids as young as 4 yrs. old drive them. Thankfully they have a slow speed.

Alex was NOT happy about not being able to drive, but he settled for riding with everyone else. The lady who was renting the things actually felt bad for Alex (because he was crying at one point) and told us that we could let him drive the little ATVs, but there was not way we were trusting him with that. However, when Joe and I had him on the motorcycle with us, we would let him push the throttle button, and he felt pretty good about that.

The older kids were all about the speed.

We had a few, not so bad, run-ins with walls and trees, and near run-ins with fellow riders and pedestrians, but no run-ins with the police:)

Definitely doing that again:)

Naturally

Last week we enjoyed a couple of hours at the Seodaemun Museum of Natural History here in Seoul. We went with a group of friends, and in all I think we had 6 ladies with 14 or 15 kids - invasion of the Americans:) This museum is kind of small, but it was still fun, and it cost me less than $5 to get me and my 4 kids in - Beat that Thanksgiving Point! Here's what we enjoyed.

Giant Clam eating my children.

Outdoor play area, surrounded by tall apartment buildings

and beautiful mountains. Stuffed baby elephant - kind of creepy, kind of cool.

Dinosaurs bones - you can't call yourself a natural history museum without them.

Fake fish tank.

Real fish tank.

Cool chairs - kind of Mork and Mindy. If you're sitting in these chairs, then it really doesn't matter that you can't understand what you're watching.

Garbage. No really, this display was about not littering. Garbage is fascinating when put in a cool display and lit up.

3D short film, in Korean, about the Big Bang theory. It's important to educate our children on the way the world was REALLY created....yeah, right;) I stole this picture from my friend Amber. I'm on the right, taking my own picture, which apparently didn't make the cut.

Madelyn was either really tired, or she really, really liked this huge grasshopper. Just look at that huge grasshopper - what's not to like? Okay, I think maybe she was tired.

Topping it all off, the piece de resistance, a huge outdoor sandbox, complete with dinosaur bones just waiting to be excavated.

Stay tuned for our next outing with these fun people, to the Seoul Forest.