Putting up the Tree

We put up the Christmas Tree today and the kids helped out. When we left the states, I packed a few decorations for the house, but we left our big tree and all the rest of the decorations back in storage. I am so glad I found this little tree at the thrift store here. We are ready to celebrate the season!

First Snow in Korea

Well, you can't really see it in the pictures, but it snowed last week for the first time this winter. It snowed for about 15 minutes and then turned into rain. Nothing stuck to the ground, but Katie was so excited to get a chance to dance in the snow. David was at school and was a little upset that he didn't get a chance to play in the snow. I assured him it would be back and would stay around for a while. The kids just look so cute in their winter gear that I had to take a few pictures to share.

All Bundled Up

It is getting very cold here in Seoul. We had ice yesterday morning on our car and it was even colder this morning at about 18 degrees and with the wind chill it feels about 10 degrees. So, after bundling up this morning to get David to school, I had to take a picture of our sweet kids. There is a chance of snow today and tomorrow so I may have to post a few more pictures soon.

Itaewon and Namdaemun Areas

I thought I would post a few pictures of Korea for you to enjoy. The first three are of an area called Itaewon. It has a strip of shops and lots of restaurants. I will try to get a picture of the shopping area on our next trip there, but for now, you get to see just how congested it really is here. These pictures are taken from a hill on base looking out toward Itaewon. The tower you see in the picture is Seoul Tower. We are going to take a trip sometime soon to the tower and we will make sure to take the camera. The last two pictures are of a shopping area called Namdeamun. It has been crazy busy every time I have been there. It was raining the day I took these so they aren't as good as I hoped, but you can get an idea of the shopping markets here. Some are indoor and some are outdoor and they sell everything you can imagine. Everyone wants you to buy from them so they are willing to bargain, but it helps to have someone with you that speaks Korean. I haven't really come across any amazing deals to tell about, but if I do, I will let you know.

1st Real Field Trip

David had his first real field trip to the Korean Folk Village. I went along as a chaperone and Katie stayed back on base at the child care facility. It took about an hour bus ride to get there, but we had a great time. We learned about how Korean's lived in the past. He had fun pushing the millstone, watching Korean folk dancing and seeing all the neat tools they used to use to make food. The last picture is of David and his friend standing on a bridge that had no railing (all too scary for mom, but I did stop to at least take this sweet picture). It was a little bittersweet for me going on my son's first field trip. He is getting too big too fast for me.

Monkeying around

Some pictures from our outing to the Seoul Grand Park Zoo. It is a huge zoo and we didn't even get to see all of it. The leaves are changing colors making it so beautiful and we couldn't ask for better weather. David and Katie really enjoyed it here. It has all the usual animals, but we did notice more than once that the zoos in the states have much better living conditions for their animals.

Getting Our Energy Out

David has been in Taekwondo for almost two months and is now a yellow belt. He enjoys it and says he wants to be a black belt before we leave here. Katie started a gymnastics class and is just so adorable. She thinks she is in "ballet" so we may have to try out a real ballet or dance class down the road. These have been enjoyable classes for them and they definitely get their energy out.

Fun Dressing Up

Here are some pictures of our munchkins on Halloween before heading out to trick-or-treat. David was so excited to go as on of his favorite movie characters Wall-E. Our cheerleader, Katie was excited that she got to put on some blush and eye-shadow. They both had a great time and got plenty of candy.