Monday, June 17, 2013
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Too much Ducky Dynasty?
Maybe? I was watching CMT yesterday and Darius Rucker's Wagon Wheel was on. I had never seen it before. I caught all the Ducky Dynasty folks in it, but didn't think Jaemin ever paid that much attention. He wasn't in there when I saw it. It came on again later and Jaemin was half watching it. Jase is not in there very long and Jaemin yells out 'hey, that's Jase'. He saw Sy too, but he just calls him "happy happy". So he told me happy happy was in the video too.
Little Seoul Memories
There are little details from our trip that slowly fade in and out. Things I probably didn't write down because I was too tired and there was too much to remember at the time. But, now that we're home I have these little things I think of that just make me smile. Like how our big boys drank Coke out of real glass bottles for the first time in Seoul. You don't find that around here anymore and it made Brian and I smile when they brought them over. Like how we almost didn't have enough luggage to get our stuff home. I thought I was being so smart by packing every page very loosely and having 1 whole bag of things we'd be giving away. When you bring pillows home, though, the room diminishes quickly. Like when Cole and Chase shook hands for a picture at Trick Eye Museum. I have to smile every time I see that picture. It's not something they do often. I'm sure I'll think of other things as time passes more and more. This memory of our trip to Seoul, Korea is just something that although it did cost a small fortune (to us), we will never regret experiencing this together. I just put the photos in albums tonight and they've loved looking through them and they just smile the whole time. I know this trip will always bring back memories we will treasure. And just so we can always see the pictures, I found a photo frame (electronic) on clearance at Walmart and decided to buy it and only put on the pictures from this trip. There were 498, so that's plenty for it to run through and it will always make me smile. Notice how happy this trip made us....so much smiling.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Growing Up
We're all home and attempting to get back on our time zone schedules. Brian and I took and extra 2 days off work to do this and the last two days at work for difficult, but tolerable. But, you come home dog tired! The kids are having issues staying awake all day, but we keep reminding them that they need to so they can sleep at night and get their time clocks reset. Jaemin did really well adjusting to Korean time, but is having a more difficult time adjusting back to our time. He wants to get up REALLY early and he's in a great mood and ready to go!
Cole had an orthodontist appointment as soon as we got home, so he and Brian went to that and then went around for him to apply for jobs. He hasn't applied much since it's all online now, or the bulk of it anyways. He has a possibility at one place, but we keep reminding him he needs to continue to get out there unless that is a for sure. He knows someone there, isn't necessarily friends, but thinks it will work to work there. We'll see. Tonight, I got out the Discover Card I'd ordered him awhile back. I have it in my name since he's under age and can't, but they issued one in his name on my account. I got it all activated and then had him bring me his checkbook so we could sit together and set up the online portion of the credit card and link it to his account....yes, HIS checking account, not mine. It will send me the bill via email and him a text message that he needs to pay his bill and his limit is the lowest at $500, which is just enough to get gas, etc., but not get into massive trouble. Still a good learning tool for him to gain responsibility. I told him that as soon as it comes due, he should make sure there's enough in checking and pay it, but set it to pay at the last date possible, so he can retain his money for interest (even as low as it is) for as long as possible. I told him that if we owe him gas money for errands, I'll just transfer money directly to his checking account for him.
That should work....he's off and running in the land of young adulthood. Of course, he thinks he's much more grown up than he is. Yesterday morning he had gotten up early to go to a friend's to go hunting. I was dropping Jaemin at grandma's when I heard sirens. It was in the area he was in, so I called as soon as I dropped Jaemin off to make sure it wasn't him. He said he was fine and kind of scoffed at me for being a worrier. I told him he should be happier that I care than if I didn't care at all. I told him I still did it to Megan (my sister who's almost 30) from time to time if I think it could be her area, but it's only because I love them that I worry like that and I just need to know they're okay. I think he sort of got it then. He just said 'okay, I'm fine' and I let him go and went to work.
Hopefully, one day he realizes how precious kids are to their parents.
Cole had an orthodontist appointment as soon as we got home, so he and Brian went to that and then went around for him to apply for jobs. He hasn't applied much since it's all online now, or the bulk of it anyways. He has a possibility at one place, but we keep reminding him he needs to continue to get out there unless that is a for sure. He knows someone there, isn't necessarily friends, but thinks it will work to work there. We'll see. Tonight, I got out the Discover Card I'd ordered him awhile back. I have it in my name since he's under age and can't, but they issued one in his name on my account. I got it all activated and then had him bring me his checkbook so we could sit together and set up the online portion of the credit card and link it to his account....yes, HIS checking account, not mine. It will send me the bill via email and him a text message that he needs to pay his bill and his limit is the lowest at $500, which is just enough to get gas, etc., but not get into massive trouble. Still a good learning tool for him to gain responsibility. I told him that as soon as it comes due, he should make sure there's enough in checking and pay it, but set it to pay at the last date possible, so he can retain his money for interest (even as low as it is) for as long as possible. I told him that if we owe him gas money for errands, I'll just transfer money directly to his checking account for him.
That should work....he's off and running in the land of young adulthood. Of course, he thinks he's much more grown up than he is. Yesterday morning he had gotten up early to go to a friend's to go hunting. I was dropping Jaemin at grandma's when I heard sirens. It was in the area he was in, so I called as soon as I dropped Jaemin off to make sure it wasn't him. He said he was fine and kind of scoffed at me for being a worrier. I told him he should be happier that I care than if I didn't care at all. I told him I still did it to Megan (my sister who's almost 30) from time to time if I think it could be her area, but it's only because I love them that I worry like that and I just need to know they're okay. I think he sort of got it then. He just said 'okay, I'm fine' and I let him go and went to work.
Hopefully, one day he realizes how precious kids are to their parents.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Just walking around Seoul and Subways
The kids were so good at the subways. They started to look like locals, checking out their iPods the whole way, just listening for their stop and Kaelin even fell asleep like the locals.
Walking around Seoul with Jane and Val.
I was so hot and tired at this point, if we weren't going home the next day and I didn't have to worry about wet clothes, I would have definitely gotten in with these kids.
Day 11 was homecoming
We left Seoul at 8:30am on 6/3 and arrived home at 6pm on 6/3...including 2, 3 hour layovers. Long day, but so good to be home. I had Chelsi and Jaemin try on their hanboks and they were SO cute together!! May have to take a formal picture for their birthparents, together.
Incheon airport is really nice!!
Waiting for our plane.
Ready to be home.
New hanboks.
Days 9 and 10 (June 1st and June 2nd in Seoul)
We didn't really do much on the 1st. It was our down day again. It
was just last minute shopping at Namdaemun. I did buy a lot though, for
very reasonable prices. I came back with half of the money I brought
(not just to spend, but food, subway, everything). Kaelin did not want a
hanbok this time, so I got one for Jaemin and Chelsi. Jaemin's has
deer on it, so it's very manly. Chelsi's has a beautiful butterfly on
the back and is beautiful as well. I actually found a lady who sold
them for less than what I paid 4 years ago and I love them. We also
finished up the rest of what we wanted to bring home.
Then, came Sunday when I broke one of my celadon bowls. I just about cried. I knew we wouldn't have much time to go back to Insadong because we were spending the day with Jared, Jane, Val, Tim, Conner and Bailey. We had plans to go Seoul Tower and the Korean War Memorial. But, we got it all in. We managed to do what we had planned and then the moms got off a the subway a couple of stops early to walk to Insadong and back to the hotel (and Jane found the shop to get my replacement bowl....whew!). Tim and Brian took all of the kids a little further on the subway, back to the hotel to swim. We were all so exhausted by that night.
We walked from our drop off in Myeongdong to the Oreumi elevator....not too far. Then, the elevator (hard to explain) took us to the cable car platform. The cable car then took us to the bottom of the tower. There, we were able to see over Seoul, put our lock with all of the other (probably million) locks and go into the tower. You ride an express elevator to the top that takes maybe a few minutes to go all the way up, as smooth as butter! From the top, you can see the entire city if you walk around the circle and realize just how big and beautiful it is. We had lunch at Cold Stone Creamery after the tower...it was right there, hot and ice cream sounded REALLY good!
After the tower we went to the subway to get a little closer to the Korean War Memorial. We pretty much stayed outside since all of the boys were interested in the tanks, planes, missiles, etc. I brought Kaelin, Chelsi and Bailey inside for a minute. You walk outside a long walkway full of names of SK soldiers who died in action and plaque listing each country by numbers who died. SK was in the hundreds of thousands and then the US about 30,000+. It's a very quiet peaceful area inside to remember what happened and is technically still going on because of North Korea's constant actions. The artwork and creativity in Seoul is amazing and beautiful. I've seen some of the prettiest places there that I've ever seen in my life and I have traveled enough to say that now.
We really enjoyed spending the day with our friends and Brian had a guy to talk Cardinals all day with him. I was a little disappointed it took me until the last day to realize that our hotel had a shuttle that left at 10:30 and had drop offs at certain areas, so we could have had a free ride every single day. We took that shuttle to the Myeongdong drop off to walk to the tower and it was perfectly convenient.
Walking to and in Namdaemun with Chase and Kaelin.
Waiting for the Oreumi Elevator to the Cable Car Station at Seoul Tower.
Views from elevator.
Onto the cable car.
From the bottom of the tower.
The locks.....we added our family's lock as well.
The view from the tower top is amazing!
Jaemin and I in front of the locks.
Then, came Sunday when I broke one of my celadon bowls. I just about cried. I knew we wouldn't have much time to go back to Insadong because we were spending the day with Jared, Jane, Val, Tim, Conner and Bailey. We had plans to go Seoul Tower and the Korean War Memorial. But, we got it all in. We managed to do what we had planned and then the moms got off a the subway a couple of stops early to walk to Insadong and back to the hotel (and Jane found the shop to get my replacement bowl....whew!). Tim and Brian took all of the kids a little further on the subway, back to the hotel to swim. We were all so exhausted by that night.
We walked from our drop off in Myeongdong to the Oreumi elevator....not too far. Then, the elevator (hard to explain) took us to the cable car platform. The cable car then took us to the bottom of the tower. There, we were able to see over Seoul, put our lock with all of the other (probably million) locks and go into the tower. You ride an express elevator to the top that takes maybe a few minutes to go all the way up, as smooth as butter! From the top, you can see the entire city if you walk around the circle and realize just how big and beautiful it is. We had lunch at Cold Stone Creamery after the tower...it was right there, hot and ice cream sounded REALLY good!
After the tower we went to the subway to get a little closer to the Korean War Memorial. We pretty much stayed outside since all of the boys were interested in the tanks, planes, missiles, etc. I brought Kaelin, Chelsi and Bailey inside for a minute. You walk outside a long walkway full of names of SK soldiers who died in action and plaque listing each country by numbers who died. SK was in the hundreds of thousands and then the US about 30,000+. It's a very quiet peaceful area inside to remember what happened and is technically still going on because of North Korea's constant actions. The artwork and creativity in Seoul is amazing and beautiful. I've seen some of the prettiest places there that I've ever seen in my life and I have traveled enough to say that now.
We really enjoyed spending the day with our friends and Brian had a guy to talk Cardinals all day with him. I was a little disappointed it took me until the last day to realize that our hotel had a shuttle that left at 10:30 and had drop offs at certain areas, so we could have had a free ride every single day. We took that shuttle to the Myeongdong drop off to walk to the tower and it was perfectly convenient.
Walking to and in Namdaemun with Chase and Kaelin.
Waiting for the Oreumi Elevator to the Cable Car Station at Seoul Tower.
Old friends meet again.
Views from elevator.
Onto the cable car.
The sword is real and really big!
Waiting to go up in the tower.
More waiting to go up in the tower.
Our lock!
The view from the tower top is amazing!
That close to North Korea.
That far away from Chicago where we flew out.
Jaemin and I in front of the locks.
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