Little Bear

Today after Jackson went to school a group of us moms took the little kids to a place called Little Bear today. I LOVE this place! There were little houses for them to play in that each had a theme. One house had music stuff. Another house was all kitchen stuff for them to pay with. There was a ball pit and a HUGE play area with slides and a mini trampoline. One area was set up for reading and so on and so on. It was a 2-5 year old dreamland. Marley had such a wonderful time playing with her little friends and I got in some girl time. I think we will have to go back to Little Bear once a week!

First day of 4th grade

Here is by baby boy on his way to the first day of 4th grade. He said he had a really good day today at school and was excited that his desk is in the front row so he can see the board.

End of Summer

Here are some new pictures of the kids. We were at the golf course for the last day of golf camp for Jackson. It was really a wonderful deal and Jackson really seemed to love it.

Friday was also the day that we got to go and meet Jackson's teacher for 4th grade. I had already been informed that there are only two choices in teachers. One is rumored to be way too laid back and the other one has a reputation for being completely uptight. Wouldn't you know it, Jackson will be spending the next year with the tight ass! As sad as it sounds, I think I prefer her to the laid back one. On a different note, I was so excited to find out that he will be rotating to 6 different "specials" throughout the year. He will get music, art, p.e., computer, Korean culture (and language), and Chinese. I love the idea that he is going to be exposed to two different foreign languages! I think that this is going to be a hard year, but I think that Jackson is really going to learn a lot.

Mountains

Here is a picture of the view from one of the taxi stands on the base. I though everyone might want to see some of the cool scenery here.

Days drag on

Things have been pretty boring around here lately. We are getting ready for school to start on the 31st. Jackson seems to be excited about meeting new friends. Tomorrow he gets to start his first day at golf camp. I hope this will be as fun as we all expect it to be. On Friday we get to go to the school for an orientation and to meet his new teacher. Please, oh please, let him get the teacher we wanted because I so do not want to have to fight with this school. Some of the other mothers are taking the smaller children to a Chuck E Cheese type place on the first day of school, so this should be fun for Marley and I.

Watch out road.....

My friend Denise was nice enough to get up early this morning and come watch my children so that I could finally go get my Korean drivers license. I scored a 100 on the first part and got a 96 on the second part. Of course as soon as I got the license in my hand I threw the kids into our POS (piece of s**t) and we were off. We picked up Julie (Denise's daughter) and we all headed for the little resale shop on the other base. At first I was pretty nervous about driving here, but I am such a control freak that I feel much better driving than in the cabs. At least when I am driving my life is in my own hands. The initial experience was a little bit like Pole Position (that old race car game we used to play at Dave & Busters), but quickly felt just like driving in Austin traffic. The resale shop was pretty neat. They had consignment items and then they also had items that had been purchased all over Korea. Naturally I left there with a great Coach purse ($30) and a killer Kate Spade animal print bag ($15).

Cookie Monster

After Jason got off work on Saturday we all piled in the car and headed over to Seomun Market. This place is completely crazy. There are vendors EVERYWHERE with mountains of merchandise that practically spills over into the streets! We saw everything from clothing, to purses, to skin care products, to traditional Korean snacks (dried fish). I ended up buying a knock off Coach purse (not a great knock off, but not bad) for about $20. Jackson got some art supplies for less than a buck and we also got a HUGE bag of shelled almonds for like $5. As we were leaving the market (2 hours later and still not seeing everything) we happened upon the coolest vendor. This guys had a crowd around him so of course we were going to stop and see what was going on. Once we pushed our way to the front we realized it was a store full of all different cookies. Imagine it, barrels of all different kinds of cookies filling an entire store. SOLD! We grabbed a basket and started picking out a few out of every barrel so that we could take them home and try them all. Once we had all that we wanted, we handed them to the salesman who proceeded to sing to the crowd as he weighed and packaged them up for us. It was a really neat experience. To bad the cookies were not so great. They all looked so wonderful, but I really did not care for any of them.

Interesting

I need to take some better pictures, but I wanted to share this with you. In Korea all the sidewalks are done in either these cool brick patterns or the unpolished marble. The other thing that we have found fascinating is that all the major streets and highways are all landscaped.

10th Birthday

Monday was Jackson's 10th birthday. We all woke up early so that Jason could watch him open his presents before he had to leave for work and so that Mimi and Pops could watch on Skype. It was a pretty awesome for birthday this year. Jason and I decided to get him the new Rockband 2 for the Wii. Ok ok, I will admit it, I was desperate to get my hands on that drum set. As soon as the presents were finished the kids and I all went into Jackson's room and formed our band. Marley was on vocals, Jackson on guitar, and me on the drums. I have to say, this game was so much fun. The music was great and we all had a blast getting into it.

Girls Night Out

I had a wonderful day the other day at the fabric market again. This time I went with two other wives and Marley. Jackson had the opportunity to go with a group of other children to an aquarium in Busan (about an hour away) so it was a girl kind of day. Marley was so well-behaved the whole time we were in the market. I was most impressed. She did get tired of being a side show freak by the end of the day, but all in all she was really good. She called the fabrics "beautifuls" and begged me to make her a blankie out of almost everything. I am not saying I want to take her with me every time I go, but now I know that she will not make it a miserable trip when she does.

Friday night I was invited to "Girls Night Out" with a few of the women who live in my building. We ended up hanging out and talking until 1 am and I had a wonderful time.

We are pretty sure that we are going to be getting a car in a couple of days. A guy that Jason knows is getting ready to PCS (military move) out of Korea and he is going to sell us his car for $500. It is a pretty decent "hoopty" and I am so excited about getting some freedom back. I have been studying for my drivers test (I have not looked at this crap since I was 16). I am going to be really embarrassed if after 18 years of driving I do not pass it on the first try. Jason already has another car lined up to buy on the 1st of Sept so total freedom is right around the corner.

Clutter be gone

Yeah for me!!! Today was the day that they come to pick up all the borrowed furniture that we no longer had a use for. I am so glad to have my dining room and my spare room back! We had been waiting for them to take away the unwanted pieces and bring us another bookcase. Now we finally have all the books unpacked and I have about 3/4 of my craft stuff unpacked. I was going stir crazy without being able to make something. My house is really starting to take shape. It is slow going with Jason working every day, but we are getting there.