Jaemin had a rite of passage today. At least for this area. Jaemin and I got on the tube and tubed together while Brian drove the boat. He wanted it faster and faster. We only had to stop when his short, legs got stuck between the tube and the cover. We did great around the turns and everything. Helps that his mom is a seasoned tubing expert!
We didn't stay on the river long, but long enough to see a few trains pass through which totally thrill him. He jumped off the dock and swam a little. He did great for losing the nap today! All the kids were pretty tired. I'm not sure how many times Cole, Chase and Kaelin went up and down the river.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Lifelong lessons
are ones you have to learn the hard way. But, the test of character is that you actually learn from your experience to not experience it again.
Blessing #4 chose to try her hand, literally, at stealing. We walked in the door from Walmart and I handed her something to take in and she wouldn't take it. She was holding her side and I immediately had a flashback to being in the store and she was holding her side then. She does that sometimes, so I didn't think anything of it until this moment. She eventually showed me the candy under her shirt. And after a 5 minute prodding, she confessed she did, in fact, take it from the store. Disappointed doesn't begin to describe the feelings we both had. She's the child we had few fears for as she grows up. But, we have to remember that all of our kids are human and WILL make mistakes. I pray, though, it's not worse than this though. The life altering mistakes are my biggest fears.
So, I did what (I think) most parents would do and loaded her back into the car, took her back to the store and made her explain it to the manager. The manager was great. She got down to her level, explained that people go to jail for that everyday and they turn people in for that. She told her to learn from it and thanked her for being honest and coming back to confess. Then, she lipped 'thank you' to me and we left. Needless to say she is being punished at home, but I'm pretty sure going there and facing it was a lot of the punishment.
Blessing #4 chose to try her hand, literally, at stealing. We walked in the door from Walmart and I handed her something to take in and she wouldn't take it. She was holding her side and I immediately had a flashback to being in the store and she was holding her side then. She does that sometimes, so I didn't think anything of it until this moment. She eventually showed me the candy under her shirt. And after a 5 minute prodding, she confessed she did, in fact, take it from the store. Disappointed doesn't begin to describe the feelings we both had. She's the child we had few fears for as she grows up. But, we have to remember that all of our kids are human and WILL make mistakes. I pray, though, it's not worse than this though. The life altering mistakes are my biggest fears.
So, I did what (I think) most parents would do and loaded her back into the car, took her back to the store and made her explain it to the manager. The manager was great. She got down to her level, explained that people go to jail for that everyday and they turn people in for that. She told her to learn from it and thanked her for being honest and coming back to confess. Then, she lipped 'thank you' to me and we left. Needless to say she is being punished at home, but I'm pretty sure going there and facing it was a lot of the punishment.
Seoul depressed
Yes, I'm still trying to plan and budget our trip for 10 months from now. I realize I've been working on this off and on for 2 years now. There is SO much to think about and I've been sort of delving into our stay at Jeju and Gwangju and well, lets just say I gave up. It's impossible to figure everything out that will work for us. So, I went back to making my hotel list for Seoul. There's not much of anything for us and I can't find any prices for Gwangju, so I think we'll end up having to depend on a travel agent, which I was hoping not to do.
UUUGGGGHHH!!!!!
It really stinks finding something suitable for a family of 7! You have to keep in mind, if you're used to only staying in hotels in the US the rooms in Seoul are MUCH smaller unless they're serviced residence apartments, like we stayed at when we picked Jaemin up. However, one large enough, like Fraser Place Central, for us is over $450/night. Ouch! There's literally nothing else in comparison. Either they just can't fit us or it's the same price to get us in. It's also harder because you'll see a room that says 2 double beds, but you can only sleep 2 adults and 1 child max, according to their rules. I can't even find rooms big enough for 4 of us, hoping to get connecting rooms for the other 3 of us.
I found one alternative that we will go to if we have to and it looks nice enough, but it's up a very large hill on the side of Namsan and I think after a long day of walking that would be even harder on Brian and the kids. It's a 15 minute walk up the hill, is my understanding. But, it may be absolutely all we can afford.
Notice I'm trying to stay as close to the Namdaemun area as possible so we're not spending our entire stay on the subway.
UUUGGGGHHH!!!!!
It really stinks finding something suitable for a family of 7! You have to keep in mind, if you're used to only staying in hotels in the US the rooms in Seoul are MUCH smaller unless they're serviced residence apartments, like we stayed at when we picked Jaemin up. However, one large enough, like Fraser Place Central, for us is over $450/night. Ouch! There's literally nothing else in comparison. Either they just can't fit us or it's the same price to get us in. It's also harder because you'll see a room that says 2 double beds, but you can only sleep 2 adults and 1 child max, according to their rules. I can't even find rooms big enough for 4 of us, hoping to get connecting rooms for the other 3 of us.
I found one alternative that we will go to if we have to and it looks nice enough, but it's up a very large hill on the side of Namsan and I think after a long day of walking that would be even harder on Brian and the kids. It's a 15 minute walk up the hill, is my understanding. But, it may be absolutely all we can afford.
Notice I'm trying to stay as close to the Namdaemun area as possible so we're not spending our entire stay on the subway.
Friday, July 6, 2012
New Addition to the Blog for Make a Wish
No, there's no update for Cole's wish, but I thought it would be a good time to add a link to donate to Make a Wish. It's great foundation and if you just Google wish stories, you'd be amazed by what some families go through and the joy a simple wish can bring to a very ill child or a child who has spent their life fighting or a child who had to live life differently because of whatever was handed to them to deal with. In the future, I'll add other great organizations, but thought my new area "Great Write Offs", as in tax write offs, would be great to start with Make a Wish.
Make someone's wish come true.
Make someone's wish come true.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Where do we stand on Korea?
We're there. We now have just enough to go. Now, we have to save to have enough for, at least, some emergencies in between and after now and then. Can't be totally irresponsible. I have received the last of my adapters. I apparently ordered the wrong ones from Kmart and luckily when I went to pick them up they had gone on clearance for $1. So, no biggie. They'll work in Korea, just not well because they're Type C and probably a little too skinny. I just picked up the other ones, Type F (I believe) from Westlakes Hardware and they're the right ones. We'll bring all of them with us so we're covered, since they're all very tiny. I still only have one converter, but am not sure I really need more than 1 since most things are made dual voltage nowadays. I've started my lists of carry-on items versus checked bag items. Kinda fun. The kids have NO idea how much planning and thinking is involved when there are 7 traveling to Korea for 2 weeks.
I even bought a bunch of scooter skirts for the girls to wear, on clearance at Kohls of course. It can be quite warm (HUMID) there in late May, early June, so I'm thinking comfort. Can't worry about shoes at this point, but they'll be limited anyways. Everything I buy myself, which isn't much, is with Korea in mind. I even found the last of the sandals I've been looking for for 2 years now. I finally found them on Amazon for $10. The ladies of the house are pretty much ready. Brian just needs some polo type shirts and maybe one or two more pairs of fairly nice shorts. Jean shorts and athletic pants don't go over well over there like the men of my house wear all the time here. I absolutely have to wait to buy the big boys' clothes. They're at those growth periods where they could shoot up inches at a time, so they'll be last minute on shoes, shirts and shorts. Jaemin...well I'll have to check his to be worn bin in his closet. I don't know if he even has summer clothes for next year. May have to raid the next 50% sale at Children's Place. Since he lost his diaper last summer we got another year out of most of last year's clothes, but that isn't going to happen next year. He'll definitely be in a size bigger.
While I'm SO excited that it's really getting close to being real, I'm still a little cautious since I know that all it takes is Cole unexpectedly needing his surgery or some large financial catastrophe and the dream is, at the very least, put on hold. But, for now I'm enjoying the fact that we're planning on it and it is probably going to finally, really happen after so many years of saving, planning and budgeting.
I even bought a bunch of scooter skirts for the girls to wear, on clearance at Kohls of course. It can be quite warm (HUMID) there in late May, early June, so I'm thinking comfort. Can't worry about shoes at this point, but they'll be limited anyways. Everything I buy myself, which isn't much, is with Korea in mind. I even found the last of the sandals I've been looking for for 2 years now. I finally found them on Amazon for $10. The ladies of the house are pretty much ready. Brian just needs some polo type shirts and maybe one or two more pairs of fairly nice shorts. Jean shorts and athletic pants don't go over well over there like the men of my house wear all the time here. I absolutely have to wait to buy the big boys' clothes. They're at those growth periods where they could shoot up inches at a time, so they'll be last minute on shoes, shirts and shorts. Jaemin...well I'll have to check his to be worn bin in his closet. I don't know if he even has summer clothes for next year. May have to raid the next 50% sale at Children's Place. Since he lost his diaper last summer we got another year out of most of last year's clothes, but that isn't going to happen next year. He'll definitely be in a size bigger.
While I'm SO excited that it's really getting close to being real, I'm still a little cautious since I know that all it takes is Cole unexpectedly needing his surgery or some large financial catastrophe and the dream is, at the very least, put on hold. But, for now I'm enjoying the fact that we're planning on it and it is probably going to finally, really happen after so many years of saving, planning and budgeting.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Look what I found.....yes I have birthdays
Brian had taken these when I came home from work on my birthday this week. I love pictures with Jaemin.
I was laughing because Jaemin had blown my candle out for me. He just couldn't wait and before I was even ready he had it out! The one below, I think was actually the relight, that he blew out again.
More pictures from today
The others were off my phone. These are off my camera. You can definitely tell the beginning of the game from the end for Chelsi. She was VERY grumpy at the beginning before she adjusted to the heat and gave in to have fun. And was much happier at the 2nd half.
Our view from our really great, FREE, seats. No zoom.....actually, I think I had the lens the other direction, so the players were much closer than it looks. The foul balls were caught right next to us.
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