All Things Sweet

In preparation of Thanksgiving, Elizabeth is practice eating pumpkin pie. Yummy!

Elizabeth loves her kittens.  She carries them around and bullies them to no end. Good thing they are still kittens and don't know quite how to defend themselves yet.  She puts the kittens in boxes, carries them around in her backpack, and pushes them around in the doll stroller.  In the picture below, Q-Tip stayed in the doll stroller for a few minutes while she pushed it around the apartment, then he fell out after being smothered, dizzy from oxygen deprivation. -S

Grandpa's Visit

Elizabeth's grandfather (my dad) came out to Korea for a visit. It was a good opportunity for the two of them to spend some quality Granddad/Grandkid time. One thing that really amused Elizabeth was pictures and videos her granddad had on the camera. She kept giggling at a couple of the videos and asking to see them again and again. -T

Not all organics are created equally

After Elizabeth came home from school, I went to change her diaper and saw a few bumps on her legs.  So I examined the rest of her body and there appeared to be a few bumps on her arms as well, near the inner elbow.  I immediately called the school to see if they had seen any bumps on her throughout the day, but they said nothing about it.  So I asked them to text message me her snack and lunch menu so I could examine it.  Nothing on the menu appeared out of the ordinary: banana, milk, bean sprouts, eggs, tofu, ham, soup, and rice.  About an hour later, more bumps started popping up all over her body, so we took her to the emergency room. It was just after 4PM when we arrived at the hospital and the last appointment is 4:30PM, but since there were no open slots, we were directed to the emergency room.  According to the ER doctor, it takes about 6-12 hours to have an initial allergic reaction, so she asked us about any unusual foods, new detergents, soaps and such.  The only new food she had this morning was an organic yogurt shake we bought from E-Mart.  In a country where "organic" is the new trendy word and a government with low supervision in regulation, labels are not to be as trusted as back home.  We've learned our lesson, only buy organic from the US Commissary. -S

Going on a hike

Behind our apartment complex is a hill that people frequently use as a hiking spot. It has paths going in different directions and some have steps set into them. This morning, we decided to take Elizabeth for a walk up the hill. This was sort of a mini hike for her and I think she had a good time walking through the woods. She even played at the workout areas near the top. She started getting tired, so we cut it short and went home. -T

Sitting down for a break, but still exploring.

Hanging from a pull-up bar is fun. Too bad Elizabeth can't hold on for too long.

"Pick me up! I want to hang some more!"

Time for the parallel bars.

Not really sure what these are for, but she seems to like them.

"Oooo...a pine cone."

"Daddy, don't drop me, but don't stop either."

Now for the walk back home.

Mmm...I love my clams

Ever wondered what we did with all those clams we caught at the ocean?

We made clam chowder, clam pastas, rice noodles with clam juices, clam bakes, and put them in about 10 different types of Korean soups (tofu, seaweed, bean to mention the most common). -S

Nice Fall Day

The crisp Fall air is finally here (though it's still humid in my opinion).  We've been waiting for this all year it seems.  Being from Colorado, the whole family had a hard time adjusting to the heat and humidity this summer.  All three of us were glowing from sweating everyday and bath time was a twice daily ritual, especially for Elizabeth who would sweat while sleeping and then sweat while playing all day.  The A/C or the dehumidifier was almost always on, but with the cost of electricity being so high, it was not cost effective to run it on full power all day.  As a point of comparison, our apartment is half the size of our Denver condo, but our electric bill was six times what we used to pay in Denver this past Summer.  We're hoping that our bodies are now more acclimated and next Summer will be easier to bear.  

There was a long rain shower yesterday and the temperature has dropped drastically.  We took advantage of the cooler temperature by taking a few photos outside.  Look at how much Elizabeth has grown.  She is now 19 months old and smiles on command!

I always thought agility courses were for dogs, but they are very popular here in Korea for humans.  Here we are on one of two agility courses in our apartment complex. -S

Hello Kitty times two

Tim bought our first orchid plant from the neighborhood nursery four months ago and since then we have picked up a few more plants, potting soil, and pots from there.  Recently, their cat had kittens and so we went with our neighbors to go see how much they had grown and we came back with two of them.  Introducing the newest additions to our family, Loki (little orange kitten) and Q-Tip, names given by Tim. -S  

So many things to play with at the stationary store

One day, we took Elizabeth to a local stationary store to pick up some things. The main floor had your usual pens, pencils, paper, staplers, and flashlights. The bottom floor, however, had more craft related items and goodies for any little kid. Elizabeth walked through the aisles and had a good time touching anything and everything that interested her. -T

"Can I be a superhero? All I need is a cape."

She is looking at a pile of foam sticks. What she doesn't realize is that just to the right are a bunch of small firecrackers.

"I see pencils, but they're so high up."

Field Trip to the Mulhyanggi Arboretum (물향기수목원)

The direct translation of Mulhyanggi is the fragrance of water.  Today, Elizabeth went to the Mulhyanggi Arboretum with her preschool and they went for a walk around ponds and rivers, practiced stone skipping, viewed animal shaped bushes, and examined the insect hall for butterflies.  Here's our little cowgirl in the morning when we dropped her off at school. -S

Visit their website for more information.  http://mulhyanggi.gg.go.kr