I can never get videos on here...so, once again, here's a link to youtube with the videos...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-QimG7rSLU
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W31W8NQ2PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uWIyDYmXEs
I've TRIED to do the 'link' thingy, but it doesn't work for ME. I know I'm doing something wrong, but until I figure it out, you'll have to copy and paste. Sorry.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Dan's gone...then he's back...then he's gone again...and so on and so on...
It's becoming a theme here...already. We've been very positive about it because, quite frankly, he could be getting shot at in the mountains of Afghanistan, but it still stinks. He's been home just two weeks(?) since we've been here. This past field problem, was last minute, and if you ask me, REALLY unfair (that they chose him to be the MAJ to go). I actually think it's a nice break for him though. I can tell a difference in his attitude because he's dealing with the Koreans instead of other people...he normally has to deal with. We do get to talk and text frequently. He should be home Thursday night (14th) and then have a four day. He was gone last week Tuesday (5th) and came home the evening of Friday, the 8th. He's also supposed to go out again the 25th(?) thru the 29th again. I keep telling him it would be like this ALL OF THE TIME, if we were living in Yongsan (like so many MAJ's wives do and ALL the higher ups). So, you take what you can get.
It was a great and relaxing weekend. The girls were so happy to see him! We just took it easy yesterday, but did decide to take a walk. I had bought a Kelty kid carrier from someone on a flea market facebook page. It turned out to be a commander in Dan's unit (1/72), so it was fun to meet him. It is kind of concerning me, though, that the people I meet, that work with Dan, are kind of afraid of him. They tell me he's a good guy, but their voices always raise when they say that...I guess I shouldn't worry as long as he's nice to me?haha:)
Anyhow, Dan wanted to try this thing out, and off we went! I can track our distance and time with an app on my iPhone, and we ended up walking almost 3 miles. Dan said the carrier was comfortable, but Libby IS 26 pounds, and the carrier is another 3 or so...so it adds up after a while. She was happy in it until the end, but we were gone for an hour (we stopped at a few shops as well), so I think it would be great to take on trips. We want to climb Soyason(oh gosh...I can't remember the spelling!), and there's a lot of stairs, I've heard.
I think I've found a babysitter. I haven't really called her to meet the girls, but I think I will this week. Just for an hour,and then test her out again while Dan and I go either on post or up the street to grab something to eat. I PRAY she works out! It would be so fun to, just Dan and me, grab a train and spend an evening in Seoul.
On the way out...in front of our apartment building.
Jihaeng train station.
Not an uncommon sight here...old people passed out on benches. Dan says they're all drunk from Soju. We actually, on accident, woke him up!
Dan and the girls in front of the train station. We have to walk under it to get to all the shops. Does Dan look tired? This is about mile 2 and a half.:)
It was a great and relaxing weekend. The girls were so happy to see him! We just took it easy yesterday, but did decide to take a walk. I had bought a Kelty kid carrier from someone on a flea market facebook page. It turned out to be a commander in Dan's unit (1/72), so it was fun to meet him. It is kind of concerning me, though, that the people I meet, that work with Dan, are kind of afraid of him. They tell me he's a good guy, but their voices always raise when they say that...I guess I shouldn't worry as long as he's nice to me?haha:)
Anyhow, Dan wanted to try this thing out, and off we went! I can track our distance and time with an app on my iPhone, and we ended up walking almost 3 miles. Dan said the carrier was comfortable, but Libby IS 26 pounds, and the carrier is another 3 or so...so it adds up after a while. She was happy in it until the end, but we were gone for an hour (we stopped at a few shops as well), so I think it would be great to take on trips. We want to climb Soyason(oh gosh...I can't remember the spelling!), and there's a lot of stairs, I've heard.
I think I've found a babysitter. I haven't really called her to meet the girls, but I think I will this week. Just for an hour,and then test her out again while Dan and I go either on post or up the street to grab something to eat. I PRAY she works out! It would be so fun to, just Dan and me, grab a train and spend an evening in Seoul.
On the way out...in front of our apartment building.
Jihaeng train station.
Not an uncommon sight here...old people passed out on benches. Dan says they're all drunk from Soju. We actually, on accident, woke him up!
Dan and the girls in front of the train station. We have to walk under it to get to all the shops. Does Dan look tired? This is about mile 2 and a half.:)
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Seoul and stuff...
The weekend of the Fourth, we had reservations at the Dragon Hill Lodge at Yongsan in Seoul. Yongsan is on the southern side of Seoul and probably the biggest military base in South Korea. Humphreys might be bigger, but we've not been there yet. We took it easy Saturday morning (the 2nd), and then headed to Casey to buy a GPS and run a few other errands. The PX didn't have the GPS, so we grabbed a bite to eat and headed South. I won't say whose fault it was, but we went the wrong way and ended up going under some mountains through some really LONG tunnels. Thankfully, where we were going is the largest city in the country, so we finally found a sign that pointed us in the right direction. We got to the hotel, and were informed that we had been upgraded to a suite for free! What a wonderful bit of news after going the wrong way and then getting stuck in horrible downtown Seoul traffic.
The room was really nice, with a large living room and separate bedroom. We let the girls stretch out for a bit, and then headed towards Itaewon (E-TAY-WON). It's a shopping district right outside of the Yongsan post, and has a lot of 'Western' brands. I didn't get any pictures of the street because I was so busy site seeing. We had fun seeing all the shops, people, and sidewalk vendors. It was so crowded, though, and a little hard to navigate with two kids and a stroller. As we were just getting ready to turn around (we'd already walked a mile and half), we spotted The Outback! It was pretty good, but not like the Outback in the States. We walked a little further, and found a Cold Stone Creamery just a block away!! YAY!:) I can't wait to go back!
The next day, it was pouring...and I mean POURING! We decided to go to the PX because our PX is pretty small and what they carry is pretty limited. We found a GPS (yay!), and several other things we'd been going without. Think: curtains, curtain rods, Bath and Body works, hair product other than SUAVE(!), and several other items we normally take for granted. We spent some money...although, I have no clue because Dan checked out and I don't want to know HOW much. It's probably still cheaper than me shopping at Target and Wal-Mart several times a week. The hotel is resort style with several restaurants on site. We ate some good food this weekend. Monday morning, we were going to check out and then find a temple or something very 'Korean' to site see at. Unfortunately, Abby got sick (like, you don't even want me to tell you details!), and we had to head home. The weekend was nothing too adventurous, but it was nice to get away and see some different things. We also got to do things we would normally take for granted in the States.
Some cool trees on the grounds of the Dragon Hill Lodge.
The backside of the lodge. Libby and I took a walk early on our last day so that the rest could get some sleep.
McDonalds in Yangju(I think that's how you spell it), about 25 minutes south of our house. Drive-thru AND they deliver. Poor Abby was still not feeling well, so she didn't even touch hers.:(
The room was really nice, with a large living room and separate bedroom. We let the girls stretch out for a bit, and then headed towards Itaewon (E-TAY-WON). It's a shopping district right outside of the Yongsan post, and has a lot of 'Western' brands. I didn't get any pictures of the street because I was so busy site seeing. We had fun seeing all the shops, people, and sidewalk vendors. It was so crowded, though, and a little hard to navigate with two kids and a stroller. As we were just getting ready to turn around (we'd already walked a mile and half), we spotted The Outback! It was pretty good, but not like the Outback in the States. We walked a little further, and found a Cold Stone Creamery just a block away!! YAY!:) I can't wait to go back!
The next day, it was pouring...and I mean POURING! We decided to go to the PX because our PX is pretty small and what they carry is pretty limited. We found a GPS (yay!), and several other things we'd been going without. Think: curtains, curtain rods, Bath and Body works, hair product other than SUAVE(!), and several other items we normally take for granted. We spent some money...although, I have no clue because Dan checked out and I don't want to know HOW much. It's probably still cheaper than me shopping at Target and Wal-Mart several times a week. The hotel is resort style with several restaurants on site. We ate some good food this weekend. Monday morning, we were going to check out and then find a temple or something very 'Korean' to site see at. Unfortunately, Abby got sick (like, you don't even want me to tell you details!), and we had to head home. The weekend was nothing too adventurous, but it was nice to get away and see some different things. We also got to do things we would normally take for granted in the States.
Some cool trees on the grounds of the Dragon Hill Lodge.
The backside of the lodge. Libby and I took a walk early on our last day so that the rest could get some sleep.
McDonalds in Yangju(I think that's how you spell it), about 25 minutes south of our house. Drive-thru AND they deliver. Poor Abby was still not feeling well, so she didn't even touch hers.:(
Friday, July 1, 2011
Gettin' busy!
This past few weeks, we have been BUSY! I signed Abby up for swim lessons and wanted to sign Ava up too, but they had to be six. They're Mondays and Wednesday on post. It was so funny...Abby told me she needed to take the advanced class because she took lessons last year and knew how to swim. However, when she got in the water, it became quickly obvious, to even her, that she was right where she needed to be-beginner's class. There is one other kid in her class and the teacher is Korean.
This week, Abby started day camp. Again, I wanted to sign Ava up, they had to have finished Kindergarten, which I think is really unfair! She went M-F from 7:45 until 5pm. It's been great, because busy Abby was getting a little bored and driving me up a crazy wall! Monsoon season has officially started here and it's been pretty rainy. We get a few sunny days here and there, but they've been a little far in between. So, needless to say, I needed to get rid of one of them!!:) On Thursday, I was allowed to tag along on their trip to the aquarium in Seoul. It was...fun, but if I were to do it again, I wouldn't have went. I had to hold Libby on the bus, which was 1.5-2 hours each way...and she didn't want to SIT. And then, the aquarium wasn't stroller friendly...at all. I had to leave the stroller at the entrance and then let her walk or carry her. Not fun. She and Ava loved it, but it was a pretty small aquarium and only took us a half hour to walk through. Ava's favorite part was the gift shop, where she got a penguin in an igloo carrier. The FUN part was that the aquarium is in a mall...a HUGE 'western' mall and we had 1.5 hours to kill before we had to meet up with our ride. They have a McDonald's, TGIFs, and several other American restaurants! It was so perfect because we have a trip planned to Seoul this weekend and I KNOW we'll be going back to get a taste of some of our favorite American foods.:)
Today was Dan's birthday! He's been having a rough time at work with the new job and, I guess, today kind of sucked. To top it off, while I was doing laundry, the hose that connects to the faucet in the wall came loose. Water was spraying all over the laundry room and Dan was unable to get it back on. They put some kind of adapter from our American hose to their Korean faucet and it just wasn't working. Hopefully, the dude that charged us $110 to hook it up will come tomorrow morning to fix it...he didn't do it right, so he had better NOT charge us to fix it!!!
That's it for now...we're leaving tomorrow (probably afternoon now) for Yongsan (Seoul) until Monday morning. I'm pretty excited to be able to walk around and see things...and SHOP!!:) There's a shopping district right outside of Yongsan that is supposedly really nice and it has an Outback, McDonald's, Cold Stone Creamery, etc....I shouldn't have had that second piece of birthday cake! Hopefully, I'll walk it off.
Some pictures from the past few weeks:
Libby on playground at Camp Casey. She LOVES the swings. Her face is red because it is HOT here. We left shortly after this picture...
I should have cropped this so you could see it more closely, but when the Korean children go on field trips here...they all wear the EXACT same outfit with identical backpacks. It's too adorable!
I LOVE this idea! Do you know how, in America, when you go to an aquarium, all the children stand in the same spot and won't move...so your child has NO chance of seeing the shark, etc? Here...in this big tank, there is a people mover RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE GLASS. It doesn't go fast, but it doesn't give the children a chance to stand in one spot. Another thing I noticed...when they have the field trip kids entering the aquarium, we had to wait like 15 minutes after the group in front of us, so hopefully, we weren't all crowded in the same spot. It seemed to work! It didn't seem too crowded at all.
Ok...I need to get more bold about taking these kinds of pictures, because the uniforms the young workers have to wear are hilarious! The girls who sell things in the stores are super funny. I don't know if it's to get your attention or what, but these girls were too cute. They were at the entrance. I don't know what their exact job was, but they got me my stroller back. That's another picture I wish I'd taken...at the entrance, there's a spot for everyone to leave their big bags and all the children's backpacks....they were all lined up so neatly, and of course, all matched. Super cute!
I have no clue why Abby's group (from her camp) are taking a picture with the Korean kids' group, but this is how I found them. They all seemed excited to be taking their picture with a bunch of American kids. The Korean man taking THEIR picture was so giddy...kinda weird, kinda funny. (Is Abby giving her counselor bunny ears?)
This week, Abby started day camp. Again, I wanted to sign Ava up, they had to have finished Kindergarten, which I think is really unfair! She went M-F from 7:45 until 5pm. It's been great, because busy Abby was getting a little bored and driving me up a crazy wall! Monsoon season has officially started here and it's been pretty rainy. We get a few sunny days here and there, but they've been a little far in between. So, needless to say, I needed to get rid of one of them!!:) On Thursday, I was allowed to tag along on their trip to the aquarium in Seoul. It was...fun, but if I were to do it again, I wouldn't have went. I had to hold Libby on the bus, which was 1.5-2 hours each way...and she didn't want to SIT. And then, the aquarium wasn't stroller friendly...at all. I had to leave the stroller at the entrance and then let her walk or carry her. Not fun. She and Ava loved it, but it was a pretty small aquarium and only took us a half hour to walk through. Ava's favorite part was the gift shop, where she got a penguin in an igloo carrier. The FUN part was that the aquarium is in a mall...a HUGE 'western' mall and we had 1.5 hours to kill before we had to meet up with our ride. They have a McDonald's, TGIFs, and several other American restaurants! It was so perfect because we have a trip planned to Seoul this weekend and I KNOW we'll be going back to get a taste of some of our favorite American foods.:)
Today was Dan's birthday! He's been having a rough time at work with the new job and, I guess, today kind of sucked. To top it off, while I was doing laundry, the hose that connects to the faucet in the wall came loose. Water was spraying all over the laundry room and Dan was unable to get it back on. They put some kind of adapter from our American hose to their Korean faucet and it just wasn't working. Hopefully, the dude that charged us $110 to hook it up will come tomorrow morning to fix it...he didn't do it right, so he had better NOT charge us to fix it!!!
That's it for now...we're leaving tomorrow (probably afternoon now) for Yongsan (Seoul) until Monday morning. I'm pretty excited to be able to walk around and see things...and SHOP!!:) There's a shopping district right outside of Yongsan that is supposedly really nice and it has an Outback, McDonald's, Cold Stone Creamery, etc....I shouldn't have had that second piece of birthday cake! Hopefully, I'll walk it off.
Some pictures from the past few weeks:
Libby on playground at Camp Casey. She LOVES the swings. Her face is red because it is HOT here. We left shortly after this picture...
I should have cropped this so you could see it more closely, but when the Korean children go on field trips here...they all wear the EXACT same outfit with identical backpacks. It's too adorable!
I LOVE this idea! Do you know how, in America, when you go to an aquarium, all the children stand in the same spot and won't move...so your child has NO chance of seeing the shark, etc? Here...in this big tank, there is a people mover RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE GLASS. It doesn't go fast, but it doesn't give the children a chance to stand in one spot. Another thing I noticed...when they have the field trip kids entering the aquarium, we had to wait like 15 minutes after the group in front of us, so hopefully, we weren't all crowded in the same spot. It seemed to work! It didn't seem too crowded at all.
Ok...I need to get more bold about taking these kinds of pictures, because the uniforms the young workers have to wear are hilarious! The girls who sell things in the stores are super funny. I don't know if it's to get your attention or what, but these girls were too cute. They were at the entrance. I don't know what their exact job was, but they got me my stroller back. That's another picture I wish I'd taken...at the entrance, there's a spot for everyone to leave their big bags and all the children's backpacks....they were all lined up so neatly, and of course, all matched. Super cute!
I have no clue why Abby's group (from her camp) are taking a picture with the Korean kids' group, but this is how I found them. They all seemed excited to be taking their picture with a bunch of American kids. The Korean man taking THEIR picture was so giddy...kinda weird, kinda funny. (Is Abby giving her counselor bunny ears?)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)