Too Funny

I know the picture is hard to see, but look closely.  My friend and I decided to step outside and watch the typhoon we are having here (nothing more than wind and rain) when we saw this old Korean man.  He is asleep at the children's park right outside my home.  He has a lit cigarette in his hand and his wet weather pants around his ankles.  He did not even seem to notice to two American women on the balcony above him laughing and taking pictures.  I swear this stuff only happens in Korea.  Most of the time when this crap happens you are never lucky enough to get a picture.  This time we got the picture, but it is blurry from the storm.  Just found this too funny not to share.

July 4th

The 4th of July was different this year.  The base had a small little carnival with games for the kids to play, but Marley spent most of her time in the bouncy house.  Jackson decided to try his luck on the mechanical bull.  He did pretty good until Jason told the guys to give him a "real" ride.  That evening we watched the fireworks from our patio.  This was awesome because Marley was able to watch the "pretties in the sky" instead of being so scared of the loud noises.  We had a great day together as a family, but we are all ready to get back to 4th of July in Texas!

Sand Festival

This weekend we headed down to the beach in Busan for the sand festival.  The kids really enjoyed getting to put their feet in the ocean and collecting shells.  All along one stretch of the beach they were having a sand castle contest where the most elaborate sand carvings were on display.  After about an hour on the beach we were all starting to turn red so we headed to the Aquarium to cool off.  We had a great time but we were sooooooo tired when we got on the bus to head back home.

Field Day

Friday was Field Day at Jackson's school.  We all had a great time, but I swear it felt like I was back in the Texas heat! 

Next

Jason is finally home and we hope that it will be a while before he has to leave again.  The whole point of coming to Korea was so that we could all be together and him leaving for a month and a half kind of defeats that purpose.  Oh well, what are you gonna do.  That is life in the Army.  The kids are getting eager for summer to start.  School is almost out and the pools are open.  We have not had the best weather here lately and we are all getting cabin fever from too much time indoors.  I think Bridget and I may take Marley and Alex swimming at the indoor pool today.  I do not envy the lifeguard who has to see me in a bathing suit.  I have been working out, but I still have a LONG way to go.  That is why we are taking the kids to the pool while everyone else is at work! 

Adventure

For the last three weeks Jason has been up closer to the DMZ doing training and is scheduled to be there for a little while longer. The other day he called me and said that he was getting a 24 hour break and asked if I would travel up there, without the children, to spend that time with him. Of course I said yes, but in the back of my mind I was freaking out. I have never left the kids over night with anyone other than family and certainly not when I would be so far away. I quickly hoisted up my big girl panties and got to working out the details for my trip. Thanks to some very wonderful friends here (this is why I love military wives!) I knew that my children were in good hands. I took the train from Daegu to Seoul, which only took two hours. Then I got to wonder around the Seoul Train station until I found the Metro line (which I finally found outside and down two long flights of stairs). How exciting, my very first subway ride!!!! After another hour or so, and a quick cab ride, I was finally at my destination. Jason met me at the gate and took me to the hotel to drop off my heavy backpack before we went shopping. As soon as I opened the door to the room it was very clear that there was something wrong with the air conditioning. Being my mother’s daughter, I dropped my backpack and marched back to the front desk to deal with this situation. Apparently my visit happened to fall one week before they turn on the a.c. to the building, but she was happy to give me a box fan for the evening. Oh joy.  I took a deep breath, and the box fan, and headed back to the room determined to not let this ruin my evening (once I put the fan in front of the open window the room cooled off). Next Jason took me out to show me around the post that he was stationed at the first time he was in Korea and then we were off to shop. Jason ended up getting a beautiful suede jacket for $100 and the guy altered it on the spot! After dinner I told Jason that I wanted him to take me into one of the "juicy bars" so that I could see for myself what they are like. Sure enough, as soon as we walked in the scantily clad girls came running over asking us to buy them drinks. We did not stay for long and headed to get drinks in a normal bar, but I was glad for the experience of the "juicy bar" just so that I could say that I have been to one. After lunch, and one last time around the PX, I was back on the train for my long trip back home. Jason and I had a great time spending quality time just the two of us and we are determined to do things like this more often.

Philly Cheesesteak

They opened a new restaurant here in Daegu right near the base and I think I am in love!  It is the perfect location.  It is in walking distance and it is right across the street from the DVD store.  I have never had a Philly cheesesteak before and I am completely hooked.  There are so few places to get American food over here and they are all kind of far away.  I am so happy to have something so close.