Danpung

This week we took a trip to Seoraksan (Mt. Seorak) to see the danpung (autumn leaves) - it's supposed to be the best place in the country for it, and it did not disappoint. it was so nice to get out of the city and hike around in the beautiful mountains. The day graced us with the perfect fall weatehr - cool, crisp air, and clear blue skies. A Wonderful Day!

Sinheungsa Temple Area. The buddha statue here was amazing - HUGE!:)

Taking a snack break on the side of the trail. There were a lot of other hikers, and they all pointed and ooohed and aaahed over our cute kids.

They were doing some construction on the riverbed, so there wasn't much water flowing. It was still pretty though. They were moving HUGE boulders, and every time they dropped one it would sound like really loud thunder, echoing through the mountains - kind of cool;)

Stacking prayer rocks lined the hiking trails.

Half-way up one trail was a food stand. We bought Gamja Jeon (potatoe pancake with veggies) from this lady. She came over to our table later, reached over Alex, took one of his crackers from his Lunchable (all the kids had lunchboxes in their backpacks), and then walked back to her grill. She didn't ask. She simply said, "this looks good", and helped herself. It was shocking and hilarious.

We ended the day by taking the cable car up the mountain. Great views from up top.

Yes, that is the ocean you see in the picture above. Mt. Seorak is just a few miles from it in the NorthEast corner of South Korea.

While we were in the cable car, an older Korean couple kept shushing our kids, and at one point the man said, "be quiet, baby" to Madelyn. At first I thought they were trying to hear the announcements on the overhead speakers, but then they were talking too. Clearly, they thought that children should be seen and not heard. Joe said, in Korean, that they were rude, but I don't know if they heard him because they didn't respond to that. This was also very shocking, and a first for us here, because Korean people usually dote on children. We are constantly getting compliments on our children, or people trying to talk to our kids and give them things. In fact, while we were at Seoraksan, there were two ladies by us when we were resting, and they just couldn't get enough of Madelyn. They gave her candy, took her picture, and talked to her for about 10 minutes, enraptured by her every word.

We only had one day here, so we didn't get to all the trails that I would have liked to. But we did as much as we could, and our feet were aching by the time we left. This is our last year in Korea, and I've got a list of things I want to do, that I haven't done yet, and this was one of them. Personal goal - NO REGRETS!:)

Busy Bee

I have been incredibly ever-so busy, busy, busy, doing not much of anything at all really.....mostly being lazy. And when you're that lazy, I mean busy, it's hard to keep up with the blog sometimes. Then you get all kinds of backed up with a million random pictures, and.....where to start?

Back in....whenever....I took Alex on a Seoul Searchers adventure to Namsangol Hanok Village. It's always interesting to see people in these villages making things (like the baskets and sandals below) the same way they've been made for thousands of years. I also love seeing all the little preschooler field trips everywhere we go. They are so well behaved, and usually have very little adult supervision. Alex was getting some paparazzi attention, but I think it was mostly due to my friends little boy, who has the most delicious blond curls on his head:) Alex especially loved the spring water holes around the village. A little scary, but he didn't get diarrhea, so what the heck. He also insisted on having a turn with the camera.

Last week the base had a fall festival, which I had no intention of going to, but..... That morning I woke up to discover that I literally had nothing to feed the kids for breakfast. I decided to take them to Burger King on base for breakfast, and stop at the commissary afterwards to do some much-needed grocery shopping. When we got to the commissary, we were stopped from entering the parking lot, and told that it would open until 10:00 because of the parade. It was 20 minutes at the time, and it would have taken me that long (and probably longer) just to go home and come back again, which I didn't want to do. So I decided to let the kids see the parade....and now I'm the best mother ever;) This parade was....well....somewhat lacking. Although there were some highlights, there were no floats, and it was mostly just groups of people walking down the street - groups like the boyscouts, the girlscouts, the tae kwon do class, the ballet class, etc. Yawn. However, there were very few people lining the street to see this parade, and every group of people walking in the parade had exorbitant amounts of candy, which the practically piled at my children's feet. JT exclaimed that it was the best parade he had ever been to! Obviously our criteria for "the best parade ever" is beyond different, but to each their own. My biggest problem with this is that I was not mentally prepared to handle the temptations of so much candy until the end of this month. It's ridiculous.

I've been taking the kids to the school playground a couple of days a week. Although I've seen this (below) often out and about in Korea, I was not expecting to see it on base. Can you see? I apologize, but I HAD to take a picture. Look closer.

11YEARS!!!!! 11 years in the military, and I have never lost my ID card - I've never even misplaced it....until now. In the last month, I lost my ID card, not once, but TWICE. The first time was horribly inconvenient, and took an entire day (one of Joe's days off) to get a new one. The second time was mortifying, and was accompanied with a torrent of tears, and a near-mental break-down, and then a lot of pain in my feet, legs, and back, after hours of walking around trying to find it (and this was after I had jogged for an hour for my exercise that night, which is when I lost it). The silver lining was that it was easy as pie to replace it, because we already knew exactly what to do.

Katie gave me this idea as a long road-trip diversion, but I used it as a FHE activity. My kids thought it was hilarious. Each person takes a turn making a face, which you take a picture of. Then everyone looks at the picture and tries to copy it. Simple, but highly entertaining.

Back in High School we used to have a Sadie Hawkins dance every year. This dance was a girl's choice dance (meaning the girls asked the boys out), and each couple was supposed to wear matching shirts. I loved those dances, although they seem incredibly lame to me as I'm typing about them right now;) Well, here in Korea it's like Sadie Hawkins every day for young couples. If you are out in public with your significant other, it is perfectly acceptable, and maybe even encouraged, to wear matching shirts. I see it all the time, but even more so at places like Everland and Lotte world. Here are some pictures I've caught as proof of this magnificent phenomenon.

My favorite is when they wear ridiculous matching headbands. This guy and his girlfriend (who you can't see in the picture) are wearing huge, sparkly, red bows (like you see on Minnie Mouse).

And perhaps my greatest accomplishment of all - for the first time in about 4 or 5 years, we actually celebrated JT's birthday IN OCTOBER! Thank you, thank you - hold your applause. Yes, his birthday is October 25th, and every year his birthday gets lost in Halloween somewhere, and we don't end up celebrating until November. But this year we were on top of it. We went down to Osan to eat at Chili's (a favorite for my children's birthdays). The place was COMPLETELY decked out for Halloween - it was the best Halloween decor/ambiance I've ever seen at a restaurant, and all the staff were in costumes. Of course, I forgot to take me nice camera with me, so I didn't get any good pictures of it all. Afterwards we went to the BX and JT picked out his present, which was a Harry Potter castle Lego set.

Happy 9th Birthday JT! Here are some 9 things about Joseph Thomas.

He loves 1) swimming, 2) legos, 3) sandwiches with just mayo, lettuce, and tomato - no meat or cheese, 4) Cheese Pizza, 5) video games, 6) science, 7) Everland, 8) watching movies and Doctor Who, 9) and most of all he loves his family.

He doesn't like 1) tuna fish, 2) math, 3) "boring" field trips (not sure how he classifies those), 4) mosquitos, 5) apartments (because there's no backyard), 6) the movie Rio (seriously?), 7) wearing warm clothes (he ALWAYS says he's too hot), 8) metal glasses (we finally got him plastic ones, and he likes those a lot better), 9) and homework.

He wants to 1) always swim in the deep end, even though he's not completely ready for it, 2) start Tae Kwon Do this year, 3) have free game time (as opposed to doing a chore for game time, which is the rule around here), 4) go to Disneyland again, 5) get a remote-control car, 6) go to Lagoon again, 7) help the poor, 8) live in Utah, 9) and be a toy maker when he grows up.

He is 1) self-confident, 2) loving, 3) funny, 4) energetic, 5) happy, 6) picky, 7) emotional, 8) smart, 9) and handsome!

We love you JT!

Re-discovering a 3 Year Old

This week I will be watching my friend's 2 little boys most days, and sometimes overnight (She had to pop back to the States to be there for a good friend, and her husband's schedule is a typical crazy military one). Her youngest boy just turned 3, and I've been reminded what an interesting age this is. True, my Alex was this age just a year ago, but it is incredible how much they change in that one year.

This is basically how I describe a 3 yr. old:

A 3 yr. old isn't a baby anymore - if you don't have any younger children, this is a hard realization, because you still think of them as your baby....but they're NOT. However they are still so cuddly and loveable at this age. They still have some baby fat leftover, and they are so darn deliciously CUTE!

A 3 yr. old talks more. Their little mouths are like the Energizer Bunny. And they say the funniest things, and pronounce words fantastically, like burpday (birthday) and sasslight (flashlight). They crack you up ALL the time, and there is never a dull moment.

A 3 yr. old has to be potty-trained. This is my least favorite thing. Simply put, I hate it. Girls aren't so bad, but boys.......grrrrr. And until they get the hang of it, you are still changing dirty diapers/pullups/underwear, not to mention messes in the bathroom, bed, and wherever else they have an accident....like maybe in the closet.

A 3 yr. old is a terrible-two, but with more intelligence, experience, and talents. Yeah, I always thought 3 was worse then 2 (with Cora as my only exception). Ooooooh, the things they get into, the messes they make, the tantrums they throw, the sassiness that spews from their mouths, the trouble they cause.....they are full on into asserting their independence. But almost ALL of it can be laughed at when looked back upon.....and sometimes in the middle of it:)

Here's a look back at my kids when they were 3 years old.

Alex

Alex, at 3, was DESTRUCTIVE and INOVATIVE (in his distruction).....maybe not quite as bad as when he was 2, but still going strong with things like coloring all over our wood floor with black permanent marker. He was completely obsessed with Spiderman, even though he's never seen the movies.

Madelyn

At 3, Madelyn was SASSY and DETERMINED. She cut her own hair several times, and this is the main reason why she has short hair and bangs, instead of long hair and no bangs like Cora (Cora never cut her own hair). She changed her clothes about 50 times a day. She was obsessed with Barbie.

J.T.

J.T. as a 3 year old can best be described as NEEDY and LOVING. He was obsessed with Woody and Buzz Lightyear. He was frightened of spiders to near insanity. His potty-training almost killed me.

Cora

Cora, at 3, was and INDEPENDENT. She was obsessed with her baby brother JT. She would drag him around by his feet, letting his head bump whatever was on the floor. She would "paint" on him with mud. She was constantly trying to hold him, squeeze him, and drive him crazy. And, for the first couple of years, she did all the talking for him too.

I hope I cherished my 3 year old's enough. It's cliche, but it goes by SO FAST! It's a little bit sad that we'll never have another one......but not sad enough to actually have another one;)

Do you remember your 3 year olds?

Is it Christmas yet?

Madelyn lost her first tooth. A couple of days later she yanked out a second one, even though it must have taken some doing, because it was NOT that loose:) The second tooth she decided to experiment with. We aren't into the whole tooth fairy thing at our house, and when she asked Joe if the tooth fairy is real, he said no. She decided she would put her tooth under her pillow anyway, just in case we were wrong - you'd be surprised how often she doesn't believe us;) Anyway, the next morning she came to me with the tooth and told me that she hadn't gotten any money. I appreciated her effort, so I gave her a quarter and said, "You don't need a tooth fairy because you have me." She was perfectly satisfied with that:)

Now she's got that cute smile kids get when they lose their two front teeth, and every time I look at her I think of that stupid Christmas song that I hate.....but that DOES make me excited for Christmas:)

Confessions

Copied from Katie and Mary, who I seem to copy a lot. But you know what they say about imitation.....;)

1. So, when we found out that we were moving to Korea this time, a friend of mine said, "Oh, I have a friend who is stationed there. You should check out her blog." And I did. for several months before we moved here, I was reading this lady's blog, and all about how she felt about Korea, and what she was up to over here - kind of psyching myself up to come. I never commented on her blog or anything - I figured I would never meet her anyway, because they were stationed down in Osan, and we were coming to Seoul. Anyway, I continued to read her blog once we moved here. Then her and her friend started a sewing blog which I really liked, and I started reading that one instead of her family blog. Anyway, when she had about 5 months left over here, I was called as the District Primary president, and her name was suggested as someone I might call as a counselor, and that's just what I did. But you know what? I NEVER told her that I knew who she was or that I read her blog. Why? I have no freakin' idea why. Totally weird of me, but there it is. I still read her sewing blog, and sometimes I want to comment, but I never do because I don't want her to know that I've been reading her blog this whole time and never told her. Is that the dumbest thing ever, or what? Hi, my name is Ruth, and I'm a creepy blog stalker. Hi Ruth


2. There's this woman who lives in our apartment complex. She's gorgeous. Long beautiful hair. Great body - I see her all the time in the gym. Always dressed cute. I am sure that she is just a lovely person on the inside too. HOWEVER, she walks soooooooo weird. It's like how you walk when you're 8 1/2 months pregnant - you know that waddle walk, where you walk with your feet spread further apart then normal because of the watermellon between your legs? That's exactly how she walks. It just completely throws me off whenever I see her. I'm full of curiosity, and I really want to know why she walks like that. Of course you can't just ask a stranger an inappropriate question like that, and she probably wouldn't really have an answer anyway. "I don't know why I walk like that, I just do, you weirdo!" It kind of reminds me of how we used to give one of my best friends a hard time because when she walks she doesn't really swing her arms - they just kind of hang by her sides. It's hilarious....and we love her;)



3. One thing that I really appreciate about Korea is how big they are into recycling. If we wanted to, we could get away with not recycling anything here because we live in military housing, but we recycle as much as we can, and I'm glad for the opportunity to do so. Also, I usually try not to be a wasteful person. I'm all about second-hand everything, including clothes, furniture, whatever. I don't leave the water running when I brush my teeth. I don't leave the air conditioner running non-stop, even though I don't have to pay for it. I follow my kids around the house all day and turn off all the lights that they have turned on (Joe thinks he's the only one who does this, but I beg to differ). You get the picture. Now, that being said, I have to admit that above my identity as a recycler and a non-waster is my identity as a not-so-great-housekeeper. If I had a bazillion things on a list of things I wanted to do, not one single one would have anything to do with cleaning. And if I had a list of things I hate to do, right up there at the top would be doing dishes. And if that hate list was a hit list, all my dishes would be dead. Soooooooo, I use paper plates and plastic silverware a lot around here. A LOT! The non-wasteful part of me feels really super uber-bad about this and says, "Ruth, you are just being lazy!" But then the recycle part of me pipes in and says, "Yeah, but you can recycle paper and plastic," and that's who I usually listen to.

4. A few of the many random thoughts that went through my head the other day when I got my hair cut and the lady washed my hair not once but twice before putting in conditioner (wow, look at that beautiful run-on sentence:) - Really? You're washing my hair twice? Is that really necessary? Do you do this with everyone? I don't think so, because last time I was here I didn't get my hair washed twice. When was the last time I washed my hair? I don't think it was that long ago. 2 days? 3 days? Do I have dandruff? Do I stink? You smell like garlic. Do you think I stink because I don't smell like garlic? Should I eat more garlic? Just kidding. Okay, I'm making too much of this, and your done anyway. I'll try not to be offended.

5. I hit a Korean lady with my car. I'm serious, I really did (admit it, when you read the title of this post, you were secretly hoping for a juicy humdinger like this one, weren't you?). Okay, okay, don't freak out, it's not as bad as it sounds. Let me just set up the scene for you. I was coming out of the front gate of our apartment complex, and I was going to turn right. I was stopped there, waiting for traffic, and I had pulled up so that the back part of my car was still part-way in the cross-walk, like this:
As I was about to pull out onto the road, I let my foot off the break at the same time that I looked up and gently nudged (yeah, that makes it sound better) into this young lady walking in front of my car with her boyfriend. I immediately put my foot back on the break, and started saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!", even though my window was rolled up and she couldn't hear me. Even if she could have heard me, she might not have understood me if she didn't speak English. Anyway, she didn't say anything to me, not one word - she just gave me her very best dirty look (it was REALLY good, like she'd practiced it in the mirror at home.....or maybe like she'd just got hit by a car) and she kept on walking. Why in the world they chose to walk in front of my car instead of behind it (in the part of the cross-walk that my car was not on,) is beyond me, BUT I still should have looked to my right before I let off the break, and I felt horrible, BUT hello, crosswalk!

Hmmmmmm, should I actually hit "publish post" on this one? Oh well, here goes;)

Last Call

This kid started preschool. My last one, but I didn't cry;) Man alive, I love my kids!!!

Lagoonies

As promised, my last post from our vacation - LAGOON! This trip to Lagoon was made possible by my very dear friend Missy Haderlie, who gave us their free tickets when they couldn't use them themselves. Thank you!!!

All of my sisters were able to join us on this day, and we had SO MUCH FUN!:)

Sorry girls, but I had to post that one - come on, it's fantastic;) Marie, just be glad I didn't post the picture with your finger up your nose....I came soooooooo close.

Our kids look AWESOME!!! But the best part of Lagoon was the Sky Coaster, which I talked ALL of my sisters into going on with me. First up were Lorraine and Marie. They almost died.

Then Me and Rebekah - we're old pros, 'cause we did it together back when they first opened this baby about 10ish years ago. Going UP!

And we made it safely down.....screaming all the way;)

And here's a video.

Other crazy things I've done recently? Funny you should ask, because today I went on this.

The T-Express at Everland - remember how I said I was going to go on it? I did, and it was CRAZY GOOD! Remember how I said it had the the steepest drop in the world for a wooden roller coaster? It does.........and it's steep. Amazing. Oh, and I found this hilarious Korean music video about this roller coaster - you totally have to check it out here:)