Lotte Castle Water Fountain

Our apartment complex has a big water fountain that people can walk through. It's not turned on all the time, but when it does come on, the kids notice. I came back from work and saw Sana out at the fountain with the kids. When I got there, Elizabeth was jumping around in a big puddle with one of her friends from school. I asked her if she wanted to go through the water and she said her version of "yes", so I took her hands and we walked through the fountain. There was a lot of water and we got drenched pretty quickly. Even though it was really warm outside, Elizabeth got cold because of the water, so I had to hold her and try to warm her up. I'm sure this was definitely an experience for her and I'm really sure she'll want to play in the fountain more in the future. -T

The aftermath. Father and daughter soaked by the fountain.

Fourth of July

Every year, Osan Air Base holds Fourth of July festivities for all the men and women away from home. There are cookouts to support the many different squadrons on base and lots of activities for kids. The base also puts on a pretty decent fireworks show to commemorate Independence Day. Aunt Rosa and Uncle James came over to have dinner and watch the fireworks. There were no hamburgers or hot dogs...we were eating Korean style. After dinner, we made our way over to base to see the explosive light show. We had a pretty good view, except for the barbed wire fence in the way. Even though Elizabeth was a little scared of the loud "booms", she couldn't help but look at the bright colors against the night sky with her hands over her ears. Vincent naturally slept the whole time as Sana covered his ears. Happy Birthday, America. -T

Shrimp is one of my favorite foods...actually, all types of seafood is my favorite.

Our Fourth of July dinner. Yum.

Elizabeth blew some bubbles as we waited for the fireworks to start.

We also ate some watermelon.

Ooooo, Aaahhhhh.

Noona sings Vincent a lullaby

Big sisters like Elizabeth are rare.  She loves her brother very much and wants to take care of him and shower him with her love.  Before bedtime, she sings Twinkle Twinkle to her little brother.  This is the song that Tim usually sings to her at bedtime.  -S

On Daddy's Watch

Time for Daddy to watch baby. Vincent likes to have company, even while he's sleeping. But it's hard to be productive if you're holding a sleeping baby for too long. After holding sleepy-head Vincent for awhile, I put him in his bouncer chair and worked on, what else, the blog. -T

Sesame Street comes to Osan Air Base

The USO does many great things for the military overseas and we are fortunate to be able to benefit from some of their services.  In connection with Sesame Street, they put on a short musical for the children at Osan Air Base.  Elizabeth doesn't know the Sesame Street characters well, because we don't watch American TV, but she is familiar with Elmo and Cookie Monster from some of her picture books.  She referred to the rest of the cast as just "monster this one" and "monster that one".  Since Tim was working on this particular day, I had to bring both children in the car by myself, but he met us at the gymnasium and watched the show with Elizabeth while I took Vincent out for a walk.  Afterwards, we went to Chile's for our first dinner out as a family.  It was quite an adventure, but we managed to get through it and everyone even finished their dinner, including Vincent who nursed for the first time in public today.  -S

When the show started, Mommy and Vincent went for a walk outside the gymnasium.

Rockin' in the Swing

Back in May, three special girlfriends threw us a surprise baby shower for Vincent.  Of the many gifts they showered us with, Vincent enjoys his swing the most.  The also gave us a jumperoo, which he won't be able to use for another few months, but we are so thankful for great friends.  We are almost through using the diaper cake too, it's a pity we had to take apart such a masterpiece.   

Two and a half weeks old Vincent and changing everyday.  -S

At the Playground

We decided to take the kids out to get some air and go for a walk. We ended up at the playground. Elizabeth really likes going to the playground so that she can burn off some of that toddler energy. She tends to ask to go when she gets picked up from school, but as it gets warmer, it's better to go more towards evening time when the sun is down and it's a bit cooler. When we got to the playground, there were a bunch of other kids running around as their parents sat and watched.  Nearly every day, Elizabeth plays with S, her favorite playground buddy.  Today, he brought out his push car and they pushed each other around the playground. -T

Future Photographer?

I had the Canon DSLR laying out, so naturally, Elizabeth wanted to check it out. She likes taking pictures using Sana's old Fuji point-and-shoot, but now there is a new camera to take pictures with. It's not really a new camera, since it's a Rebel XT and I've had it for a few years now, but for Elizabeth it was something she had never played with before. To be on safe side, I had her put the strap around her neck. Then, I showed her how to hold the camera in her small hands. She got used to it pretty quickly and started taking photos of me and the floor. Who knows? Maybe this will turn into a hobby for her when she gets older. -T

Somebody's Awake

Guess who finally decided to open his eyes? Yup. And not just the one that he's been opening, but both. I guess he figured it was time to open his eyes and start seeing the world around him. Or maybe he was just got bored of sleeping. -T

Father's Day

This was another special Father's Day because of the addition of little Vincent to the family. I feel very blessed to have two healthy kids to call my own and my precious wife to raise them with.

For Father's Day, Elizabeth and Mommy made oatmeal cookies. Not just any oatmeal cookies, but oatmeal with dried cranberries and chocolate chips. Mighty tasty I must say. I took some to work to share with my co-workers and they disappeared rather quickly.

Happy Father's Day

-T

Testing out my hand-me-downs to see if they still work...