Leaving Korea, Playground Fun!

Since having Archie, the Seoul airport has become a favorite stopover for us. They have two playgrounds. Archie enjoyed using up some energy before the plane ride. (Yes, he slept on the plane :) Mama and Daddy enjoyed a cream cheese bagel and some coffee. Enjoy the pictures!

Korea Day 2, Part 2

After our village exploration, we headed up a tall mountain in a cable car for a fantastic view of the Seoul skyline. SPECTACULAR!


As you can see in these pics, Archie was completely worn out from the day's adventures. He fell asleep while we were in the cable car line. Thankfully, our friends had a front-pack carrier with them since pushing the stroller wasn't so practical on the mountain.



At the top of the mountain was a really neat space needle and museum. We didn't tour the museum, but we had fun looking around the needle.


The Koreans have borrowed an interesting European sweetheart's tradition. A couple takes locks, fastens them together, fastens them to a fence and then throws away the key to symbolize their undying devotion.

After coming down from the mountain, we were hungry again. We feasted on some great burgers at Krazy Burger. We also enjoyed walking through this busy shopping district.

How did the day end? The ladies went home and put the babies to bed while Hunter and Eli went shopping for some cereal for us to bring back home. (It's hard to find good cereal around here.) Afterward, they bought us KRISPY KREME donuts (which even Thailand doesn't have). Can a day get any better?

Thanks so much Eli, Sang Ju and Selah! We miss you!

Mama's little helper: HILARIOUS!

While Daddy was shaving, Archie got busy! I don't think these pics need much explanation! JUST LAUGH! (This activity was baby-initiated - promise!)

Korea Day Two, Part 1

After our brief pizza post interlude, we're back to vacation mode! Day 2 in Korea was so jam-packed with fun it warrants two posts so stay tuned for more!

The day started out with worship at our friend's church (an English service) and a fantastic lunch at a Mexican restaurant (which we don't have where we live).

Next, we headed over to a rebuilt traditional Korean village for a cultural experience. First, the family pictures:

In the background are traditional cooking pots

This used to be a school. The horizontal slabs are actually doors that drop down. Pretty cool!

Archie had lots of fun playing with his friend, Selah. Looks like she's ready for a kiss!

Aren't they cute?

Wait, what happened? (This is actually my favorite pic 'cause it's so funny!)

I guess it traumatized Archie when Selah bolted away from him in the above pic! Haha!

Archie is such a typical boy! He is ALWAYS on the move. He runs quite fast for his age. (He is also a pretty good ball handler, but that's another post for another day.)


He is fascinated with stair climbing. He can actually crawl up ALL the stairs to our fourth floor apartment with me behind him for safety. Of course, it takes FOREVER!


On Lunar New Year's, Koreans attach their wishes to this tree.

Visitors to the village trying out traditional Korean games

Explanation of the village houses

After our visit to the village, we were in need of a snack. Sang Ju bought us some yummy chestnut cakes from this vendor.

I was told these French fries taste nothing like their American counterparts, but I didn't try them. Can you guess what was boiling in the pots behind them? Probably not, so I'll tell you - SILKWORMS. Want to try?

East Asia Pizza Kitchen!

Maybe I can open a restaurant. You've heard of California Pizza Kitchen, right? Yum...makes me hungry just thinking about it. Until tonight, the only way to get pizza of decent quality was to hop in the bus and travel all the way downtown to Pizza Hut. However, the generosity of some friends has revolutionized our future culinary experiences. One donated a Great Value pizza crust mix. Another donated some REAL pepperonis from America. I headed to the import store today to buy some shredded cheese, and I whipped up some pizza sauce from a can of tomato paste (about $0.14 USD) and some spices. The verdict: I can make pizza myself! Actually, I wasn't that thrilled with the crust so I've already been searching for some homemade crust recipes for next time. (It will be a bit of a bummer when the pepperoni runs out, though.) Can you guess what the next staple in the DeJ household will be?


Crazy baby! He passed up pizza for...

Homemade chicken salad rice. When you come over to visit, I'll let you choose between the two. Which will it be? Haha!

Oh, I had to take a break from posting vacation pics for some "normal life" stuff. I'll be back soon with Korea Day #2! Stay tuned!

Seoul Korea, Day 1

We had a fantastic time on our first trip to Seoul! This is largely thanks to our friends Eli, Sang Ju and their daughter Selah who let us stay with them and were wonderful tour guides! (Hunter and I were actually starting to experience some culture shock upon arrival because we found ourselves in a country with which we are unfamiliar and do not speak the language.) I have so many wonderful pictures I didn't know where to start so I decided to start with Day 1. (This is Day 1 of 2 in case you're wondering.)

After a brief nap to catch up on some sleep we missed during our all night plane ride from Thailand, they took us out for a great Korean lunch!

Here's a close-up of the food we ate. It features a pumpkin soup appetizer, seaweed for wrapping rice, a tofu soup (black bowl), delicious roasted beef, flat pieces of fish (on plate by beef), a large yummy pancake (not yet on table), smaller fish and vegetable pancakes (in front of beef) and many accompanying sauces and dishes including Korea's famous kim-chi. (Koreans eat kim-chi, which is generally a fermented, spicy cabbage or radish with every meal as far as I can tell.) Hunter and I think Koreans might hold the world record for dirtying the most dishes during a single meal. It's worth it, though!

Archie was ready to chow down!

Carefully note the table arrangements. Koreans like to sit on the floor while they eat around a coffee-height table. (Actually, due to the babies, after posing at this table we headed to a more Western style one so we could contain our kiddos in high chairs.)

This is one of the first streets I walked down. Isn't it pretty with all the flags?

This is a lovely lake in the middle of the city. Unfortunately, the day was a little overcast so the picture is a little dark.
When we got off the airport shuttle, we arrived at Hotel Lotte, where Eli met us in his car and drove us to his house. Here's the Lotte raccoon!

What did we eat for dinner that night? Pizza at home from a local pizza parlor! I had forgotten how good carry-out pizza tastes!

Thailand Pools!

When we get to Thailand, I can hardly wait to get in the pool! We typically spend the first day or so of a Bangkok trip at the hospital getting check-ups, teeth cleanings, immunizations, etc. so it was already a little dark when we headed out! The pool is on the roof of our hotel so there's a great view of the city in the background!

Archie's thinking about getting in. He's got to get his feet wet first, though. The water was a little cool-ish because it was night.
He liked the waterfall! Can you catch the water drops?

Chilling in the water with Mommy!

This next round of pics is of the pool at our hotel in Pattaya! There were plenty of kids for Archie to splash around with. Look! He's trying to swim!

Another fun "Chilling with Mommy" shot!

This is my favorite. Cuddling up in a warm fluffy towel after a long swim!