Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

I will attempt to make you cupcakes for your anniversary.  Happy 4th anniversary Mom and Dad!

First Birthday Festival of a Friend

First birthdays are an important Korean event and what an honor it was to be invited to attend the dol party of "L".  We went to our first dol party in downtown Pyeongtaek, about 20 minutes away by car.  It snowed all day so we took it nice and easy and arrived there a bit late.  The buffet was fantastic with a huge menu and the feminine decorations were very fitting for the birthday girl.

Friends and babies.  

Favorite "oppa" that Elizabeth recognizes and plays with often.  They spent half an hour running circles around the tables while holding hands.  They had a blast!

Writing L well wishes to put on her birthday tree.  -S

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

We bought some things for Elizabeth with the intent of giving them as presents. We wrapped each item separately so that she had a lot of things to unwrap. By this, I mean like wrapping each book instead of stacking them up and wrapping them together. When Christmas day came, she got to open her presents and pose with all of her new things.  We've never seen her unwrap any presents before so were were pleasantly surprised when she knew how to rip them open.  

We also received many presents from friends and family from far away.  Thank you to Auntie Susie, Uncle David, Grandparents and 이모할머니 for thinking of Elizabeth.  Merry Christmas to you all. -T and S

Happy Holidays with Friends

We are incredibly thankful for the wonderful friends we have made.  They are friends, like family, that we can lean on and ask for help in times of need.  Friends to play with, eat with, and especially enjoy the holidays with.  At our Thanksgiving party, we planned this potluck Christmas party with gift exchange and it was a joyous evening with platefuls and platefuls of delicious food.  Thank you to Auntie Elizabeth for hosting and to Uncle Jin for cooking the steaks on the freezing balcony. -S

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

This is going to be Elizabeth's second Christmas, but the first that she is actively engaging in. This year, we bought a small tree, some lights and ornaments to help bring the feel of the holiday. Elizabeth had a hard time putting the ornaments up, so she just played with them. When it came time for the candy canes, she had no problems after learning that candy canes don't hang very well if they're held upside down. Plus, she didn't realized that they were edible or else she would've gone crazy wanting to eat one.

It also snowed today.  What a nice way to welcome the holidays.  -T

Preschool showcase

Since it is the end of the school year, the preschool that Elizabeth attends held a showcase to display the kid's artwork and a meet-and-greet with all the different subject teachers with a 20 min sample class from each teacher.  Elizabeth has been attending this school for about six months now and she goes for about five hours a day.  Since the whole program is in Korean, we were initially concerned about the language barrier but her teachers tell us that she's been catching on quickly.  At the showcase, we were amazed at her comprehension of the directions and the level of involvement.  

There are four grade levels at this preschool and the classes are divided up by year of birth.  The class that Elizabeth attends is for the birth year 2008.  Since she was born in March of 2009, some of her classmates are up to 15 months older than her.  The teachers initially tried to enroll her in the 2008 class, but she insisted on being with the bigger kids instead of with the babies.  Thus, she is the youngest kid in her classroom.  Elizabeth joyfully goes to school everyday and is able to experience the Korean culture and educational environment while receiving all the American benefits at home. 

Sample art class

Sample music class

Everyday they have two different specialty classes, besides homeroom.  Each specialty class is taught by an outside teacher who exclusively teaches that subject.  The various classes include arts, sports, music, English, and occasional irregular programs such as cooking and outdoor ed. -S    

Story time in their assigned seat

Elizabeth's favorite English class

Going Home...to Korea

I hated to admit it, but our vacation was over, which meant the trip back "home". This meant leaving the warmth of the water and the sun to return to the coldness of winter. Our first leg was back to Kuala Lumpur, where we had a shorter layover...of only about 4 hours.

During our layover, Elizabeth found a new ride. We went down the hallway this way and everybody stopped to watch and smile as this little girl was hanging off a suitcase having the time of her life.

When we arrived in Korea, Elizabeth saw the many orchids lining the arrival hall. Of course she had to pose for a picture.

Now for the final ride back home...the bus. It was cold outside and the bus was warm inside. Add to that an overnight flight and what you get is a family passed out on the bus. We woke up and we were at our stop. Home. -T

Hanging out

Club Med gives you many recreation and entertainment choices throughout the day.  There is never a dull moment, if you decide to join in all the activities.  The only problem is that most of them are not baby friendly, as in for kids under age four.  So we watched by the sidelines or took turns watching Elizabeth while one of us practiced golfing, archery, took a dip in the water or enjoyed the occasional massage.  We missed about half of the evening entertainment because she was sleeping so soundly in bed or we skipped them because the loud noise of the shows would scare her.  Elizabeth did enjoy the cirque du soleil-esque show, a magic show and the funny dating show.

Out on the practice putting green, we were surprised at how much fun Elizabeth was having and then we remembered putting is one of her physical education activities at school.

11/29 from the preschool blog

It's a HOLE IN ONE!

After all that putting around, we took a water break.  Elizabeth on the other hand, took an ice break.  She loves ice chips!  Yes, that is an Acquafina bottle water in our rented stroller. We took a 24 pack with us.  Please don't call us strange...that's just how we roll.

No more PAPARAZZI!

Top five things we did at Club Med Phuket.  1. Eat, 2. Sleep, 3. Swim, 4. Walk beach, 5. Lounge around.  Koreans are experts at "taking a break", or "resting" as they call it.  So, we too took a break and did some lounging around each day.  We drank fresh squeezed juices, iced coffees, local concoctions and sampled the fresh fruits and pastries. -S  

Fresh squeezed pineapple juice

Daddy helping with shoes

Kata Beach

Daddy makes funny sounds

Don't leave me here!