Nw USA Vacation

Hi! Here are some pictures from our trip to the Northwest. For anyone on Facebook, this is going to be repetitive, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. 

Here we go! These two did great.

Here's me thinking I'm really amazing because I got him to sleep JUST SITTING on the plane on the way to Japan. But the joke was on us (and everyone else on the flight) because he was the exact opposite on the long flight from Japan to Seattle.

We survived the flight, despite Doren's solid attempts to shatter the airplane windows with his screaming, and arrived safely in Seattle. One of the very first observations I made being back in the US was when Tobin needed to use the bathroom. It was the first time in a long time that I felt anxious about him going into a restroom by himself. That sense of worry about my child around other people in public doesn't come to me in Korea, but it suddenly came rushing back. I feel like he's too old to come into the women's restroom and Marc was dealing with the luggage somewhere else. I let him go in but I didn't like it at all. Its been really nice not feeling that feeling while in Korea. 

The next thing I noticed happened while we were driving to my in-law's house. I was nodding off in the passenger seat when I woke up to really loud sirens behind us. All the cars moved over so quickly and three or four emergency vehicles blew past us. It was impressive! Korean ambulances always have their lights flashing, even if they're just driving around, but will turn the sirens on in an emergency. We've seen ambulances trying to get through traffic and its kind of a mess and doesn't seem to be taken too seriously. I hope we never need an ambulance, period, but definitely not in Korea.

It was a great feeling to be back in the US, but it wasn't as weird and wild as I thought it would be. It was just like seeing a good friend after a long separation and starting up where we left off, like we were never apart.

Yay! We're here! One of the first things we did is head to the beach to fly kites...

...and collect rocks and shells. The best part was seeing the boys running free all over the beach and getting dirty. Its been a while since they ran free, as in not on a playground. It was fabulous.

Feeling the vitamin D soaking into his bald head.

Snuggles with Grandma Carol

Getting to know Papa Joe

Cousin Addisan was so sweet to read to her students...ahem, cousins. We love her!

Tobin and adorable Summer

An added bonus to making this trip was to see Marc's grandma whose health has failed a great deal since the last time we saw her. Marc went to the States back in January and was able to see his Grandpa who died just four days later. Grandma Min died a few days ago, just two weeks after these pictures were taken. She was one special lady and I just loved her.

Family and friends took care of her around the clock in her own home.

I'm so glad Doren got to meet her. I know seeing him brightened her last few days.

We had a nice dinner together until we had to leave because Doren was screaming like a pterodactyl.

Jonah is afraid of dogs but really wants one. It was a big thrill to walk with Lucy.

Posing with the blossoms

More kite-flying and running free

I love that smile

Mexican food!

Playing with Great Uncle Nick

They have so much grass!

At a really good coffee shop in Port Townsend. Mama like.

At our old local playground in Portland

At OMSI in Portland. Toby used to play here as a wee tyke!

This is pretty accurate

Crawling free in the baby section

Our first trip back to Trader Joe's and I'm really THAT excited. Don't get me started on how much I love and miss that store.

With Uncle Aaron. Doren has perfected the stare-down.

omg, Waffle Window. The boys each got a banana, Nutella and whipped cream waffle. I was good and got the veggie one which was still so delicious. But then I also ate half of each of theirs because they couldn't handle it. Pssh

We love breakfast!

Now with more cousins in Portland. We are so lucky to have them!

Officially crawling like a boss

They have a whole backyard playground!

He LOVED the swing!

It was so great to have Easter here

So much fun!

Clowning around

Uncle Justin is so silly!

This may not have been exactly legal, but if anyone pulled us over we could just say we're from Korea and didn't know the rules about seat belts.

Tree climbin'

Ok, below is a picture of dark, leafy greens. I had to take it just so I could stare at it longer. The American grocery store on the Army post does its best, poor thing, but we never have anything like this. There is a little box with a small pile of sad, wilted kale and its definitely not organic. I can count on one hand the number of organic products we have available. And Korean markets aren't much better with the greens. I also saw a large section of an aisle devoted entirely to plant milks. I expected to see the almond, rice and soy varieties, but I am so out of the loop because they also had cashew, seven grain and oat milk! What??! Oat milk? Anyway, my point is, walking around these fabulous grocery stores reminded me how much variety and abundance there is in American stores. I admit I'm a little jealous. I feel like it would be a lot easier to make healthier, more interesting meals if I had all these options! And it would be really nice to have the choice of organic produce.

It's so gorgeous. I can't even.

Another thing on our bucket list: Chipotle. So easy! So healthy! Check!

At the rental house with my side of the family. Nonny!

Breakfast at the kids' table

Great Uncle Rick

Its always a party with Molls

Cousin Lindy. Its so fascinating to look at her because there is such a strong resemblance to my late Grandma Dori. I love this picture! The ruby lips!

Love this lady

More staring

My sister's cute kiddies

Playing with Auntie Lisa

Cry me a river, Jonah

On our last morning we woke the boys up at 4:30am to head to the airport for what was hand's down our most excruciating travel experience so far. I'm so glad that day is over! The vacation, though, was wonderful. We packed in as many people and experiences as we could in the time we had. It was a nice break from Korea, but it was also nice to get back home. Home is wherever we are!

Spring Break USA

Now that Doren is almost sleeping through the night and taking really good naps during the day, its time to throw a huge wrench in his progress, take an international trip and completely mess him up with a seventeen-hour time difference. Am I right, parents?? In a few days we will be making our first trip back to the States since May/June of 2013! This will be Doren's first flight and first visit to the land of his citizenship. Here we come USA! [I started writing this blog a week ago and since then the little elf has reverted back to waking up three or four times each night, so nevermind. Meh.]

The elf himself

This is by far the longest I've been away from home, as in the USA. I've gotten so used to not being able to read or understand anything out in town here that I think its going to feel very strange and wonderful to finally know what's going on. I can't wait to see familiar places and faces!

One of the benefits of working for a military installation is that they let you fly for free - you just pay a small tax. But, and it can be a very large but, is that you can fly space-available only. You basically put your name on a list, show up really early in the morning and hope you get a seat, and in our case four or five seats. If there are too many people in a higher category than you, you get booted and have to wait until the next flight which is a few DAYS (not hours) later. It's almost impossible to fly space-a in the summer because so many people want to go home or need the planes to move back. So we are using Tobin's spring break (plus some extra time) to see friends and family in the US. The plane takes us as far as Seattle which works out really well because Marc's parents and more friends and family live in that area. So we'll spend some time with his family on the Washington peninsula. Then we'll head down to Portland, where we lived for five years, and see more family and friends including my family who is flying up to see us. Sadly, we won't be going to San Diego but it will be nice not to have to get on another plane and just stay in one region, hopefully relax as much as possible and enjoy being in familiar surroundings.

I keep thinking I need to gather everything we may possibly need on our trip in advance and order things on Amazon to be prepared for our trip and then I remember I'm going to America and I can just walk into any old Target and buy it in person! EEEEEE! I can even try on clothes and shoes if I want to! (Korea doesn't have my size.) Oh the things I will do! The places we will go! The food we will eat!

I feel like I need to apologize in advance to all the people we won't get to see. We have so many friends in the Northwest but there's no way we can see everyone without constantly being on the move, which is not something I want to deal with with the boys. I would really love to see everyone we know, but we just can't do it. I'm sorry, friends. We love you!

As with any trip with kids, my biggest concern is surviving the flight and then dealing with the effects of jet-lag on both ends of the trip. It was tough with two kids (I'm looking at you, Jonah Holt) and now we have three. I feel so bad for these boys (and Marc and I) who are going to be exhausted, yet restless, and probably really crabby for several days after we get there. Its a long flight, long car rides, a different bed every few days, and few, if any, naps for Jonah who still really needs them. Doren is going to be "fun" on the flight. He's loud like a pterodactyl. Its a wonder my eardrums haven't exploded. And he's right at the age when he likes to be put down so he can move around on the floor, but that isn't going to happen on an airplane, pal. I have a feeling I will be worn out before we take off. Help. The flight departs from an Air Force base in Korea, then lands in Japan for refueling and picking up more passengers. Marc, who has already taken this flight, says that during that time everyone on the plane is held in an "awful" room that's too small for the number of people for two to three hours with only a vending machine to feed us. Then from there its about an eight hour flight to Seattle where we will get the rental car and drive another two-ish hours to Marc's parent's house. Help. Waaaaa!! This is going to be rough, but I'm sure well worth the blood tears, sweat tears, and tears. USA or bust!

IKEA Korea and the Scary Fire Alarm Incident

Two years ago when we came to Korea, I Googled "Ikea Korea" thinking there must be a store somewhere in this modern nation. Alas, no, but there was talk of building one some time in the next few years. Would it ever really happen? And while we're still living here? I was doubtful. Well...the rumors were true and almost twenty-three months to the date that we arrived in SoKo, the world's largest Ikea opened about 45 minutes away on December 18. Hooray!

We knew it would be crowded so we figured we'd be smart and wait to go in the Spring and maybe on an American holiday during the week when Marc doesn't have to work. But my parents are visiting us again (yea!) so we very spontaneously decided that just Marc and me and the Babes would check it out and leave the big boys with my folks. Hooray again!

The line to get into the parking lot was ridiculous so we just parked farther away and walked. As we got closer we could see a Disneyland-size line just to get in to the store. What the? Oh, well. It was worth it - even in the cold.

Back o' the line. Can you see all the tiny heads in the distance?

Waiting two years + only one portable kid + gleeful excitement = These Faces

The mob at the very beginning of the showroom

Crowded is an understatement. I could barely see the store for all the people. One thing I found pretty amusing is that in the US people usually just walk by the model room cubicles or look at them standing from the edge. Maybe one or two people will go in to look at an item or sit on the couch. Here, each cubicle was FULL of people sitting on the couch, lying in the bed, opening all the cupboards, picking up every single thing, touching the curtains, etc. There was no more room, but they kept packing in. The reason, I suppose, is that unless they've been to an Ikea in another country, they've never seen this stuff before. The simple, clean lines of the Ikea style are pretty much the exact opposite of the bulky, heavy, ornate Korean furnishings I've seen. But I think Ikea will be a hit with the clever, space-saving designs since the typical apartment is so small.

We didn't have the older boys with us, so fortunately we didn't have to wait in the line for Småland, but I peeked in and it looks like somewhere I'd like to play.

This is about one-third of Småland. Its equally as large on both sides of this picture and looks way cooler than any other Småland I've seen. Of course, this is Korea so I would expect the kid area to be exceptionally cool.

 

Once we made it through the showroom, we hit up the restaurant for some Swedish meatballs.

Part of the line to get in

More line. What were we thinking? Oh yeah, its Ikea and we love it.

While we were waiting in line, I needed to step aside to feed Doren. I went to a chair against the wall while Marc continued to wait. A few minutes later, fire alarm lights started to flash and an emergency alert noise began to sound. I glanced around and no one seemed too concerned. But the lights and the noise continued. When it changed to an air raid siren I decided it was time to find Marc so we would be together in case this got real. Then a computerized voice came over the intercom. Something about a fire on the third and fourth floors. We were on the fourth (highest) floor. I figured if a fire was going to start anywhere it would probably be in the kitchen, right where we were, but I didn't see any smoke and there was no screaming. I continued trying to read the faces around me (since I can't understand what anyone is saying) and at a certain point, when the siren still hadn't stopped, some of the faces turned serious and I saw people getting up from their tables, leaving their bags and walking out. We didn't want to freak out because it was probably nothing, but when the sirens still didn't stop, something snapped and a little bit of anxiety set in because it could be real. Marc just left the food trolley in the line and we walked toward the nearest exit. Its one thing to think about exiting a building, but with the sheer number of I-don't-know-how-many hundreds of people, I was pretty concerned. If this was real, there was going to be a massive stampede to the exits and people were going to get hurt. The stairwells would be FULL of people, as in no gaps between us. Marc reminded me that, this being a new building, there was probably a glitch in the complicated fire alarm system. Still, we didn't know for sure and it was getting kind of intense. People were just leaving their bags and food and grabbing their kids. I was only holding Doren and when I saw the mob of people heading for the stairwell I pictured him getting pulled out of my arms, so we stopped to put him back in the Ergo so he would at least be attached to me. Then, just before we entered the fray, finally, a voice (in English!) came over the intercom that it was a false alarm! By this time, I'm sure some people were already outside.

Marc had another good point that since the Sewol Ferry tragedy earlier this year, people here are probably more likely than before not to wait around and take chances. I was actually really surprised at how quickly they responded.

So all of that for a false alarm. Its amazing how, when faced with a possible emergency, the amount of thoughts that flow through the brain. Is this for real? Are we overreacting? Are we going to make it out? Am I going to be trampled in a stampede of hundreds of people? My baby!?? Is this really happening to us? Am I going to die in Ikea? etc, etc. It got scary there for a few minutes.

When it was confirmed again that it was nothing, we wandered back and found our food tray and continued on our merry way. It kind of felt like a parallel universe thing where in one life we're getting pulled down a stairwell with a mob of panicked people because there really is a fire - OR - that fire never started and we're just a family enjoying a few hours at a new Ikea. Fortunately, it was the latter and I thoroughly enjoyed my meatballs.

An abandoned food trolley.

It just wouldn't be a proper Korean cafe without little sides of kimchi and sundries.

Thank you for coming, Sweden!

The whole restaurant

Moving along...

Coming down the moving sidewalk to the warehouse.

We made out with just a few essentials. I was on the last of my dish brush stash that I brought from the US so we bought more of those, a few packs of napkins and a couple of bins for toy organizing. The prices are definitely higher than in the US but not too bad. Despite the crowds and the scary alarm, its so great having this here. Now, if they can build an entire Ikea here is it too much to ask for a Trader Joe's??

Yellow Brick Trip

I'm a procrastinator. The following blog is about something we did five weeks ago but I'm still going to write about it just to have it for our memories.

Last month we decided it was time for another sleepover in Seoul to get a much-needed dose of urban civilization. We usually stay at the Army Lodge because that's the easy thing to do, but we like to make things more difficult on ourselves, soooo...we used our miles to stay at a hostel for free.  A hostel, like for single 20-somethings? Correct. You get what you pay for, right? Ha ha ha ho ho ho! Ohh (drying the tears), you sure do. No, it was fine...just a little tight.

We picked a place called Yellow Brick right in the heart of Insadong, a fun, trendy area of Seoul. Unlike the Army Lodge, it was nice to just walk out the door and be in the thick of things rather than having to drive across the post, walk to the metro, take the metro, etc. We took the train up this time so we could be car-free.

Train ride up to Seoul. And Baby Bingsu's first trip back since being born there!

The hostel was really simple and minimalist. Like most hostels, its typically for young single travelers, but it worked for us because they had a few family rooms with four beds.
 

Lockers instead of a closet for our stuff.

Time to get cozy! Really cozy!

The bathroom: a typical Korean wet bathroom and not much bigger than an airplane lavatory. The bathroom is the shower and the shower is the bathroom.

As you can see, it was tight. And with two crazy boys (and a baby that we couldn't put down anywhere) it got pretty hectic in there. This is one of those experiences that we'll be able to laugh about in years to come (right?), but at the time it was just a means to spend more time in Seoul for really cheap. That doesn't mean I want to do it again, though!!
There is a common kitchen in the basement of the building. Breakfast is provided and includes bread, peanut butter, jelly, juice and eggs that you make yourself.

Breakie. Toasted pb&j, tangerines, and fried eggs.

Checking out the decor

Marc frying eggs and someone else doing their dishes.

It was cute, clean, minimalist.

Brick pets outside the hostel

Marc likes the narrow alleyways...

...so we usually end up exploring several of them. We just passed someone's front door!

Hot steaming dumplings in the morning.

After wandering around Insadong we made our way to my favorite area in Seoul, Samcheongdong, where I bought my backpack last year. It's so lovely in fall.

Thai Noodle Box for lunch. Jonah tried some crispy pink sweet potato rolls.

Looking over Samcheondong shortly after purchasing our selfie stick.

 We found a trail head at the end of the street and checked it out...

We think its hilarious when Toby overextends his legs into the splits on these ubiquitous exercise machines. Cute little butt.

Trending now- Upside down hat.

We opted for the Childlike Forest

Koreans are really serious about keeping their shoes clean. At the end of almost every trail are these high-pressure air blowers to clean their shoes before getting back in the car, because that's the other thing - they're really serious about keeping their cars clean.

On the same street as our hostel I saw a sign for Thai massage, specifically a foot massage, which sounded really great after walking around carrying a baby all day. I ran inside to see if they had any appointments and they did, in one hour. So we took the boys back to the hostel, got them settled I and headed over to my spontaneous massage!! Yippee! The spa was gorgeous. Very dark and warm-incense-smelling and zen-y. I had to change into a pajama outfit even though I was just getting a foot massage...and later found out why. The therapist led me to a room with a floor mat. I have never experienced a Thai massage before and it was intense! She worked (and I mean worked) my feet and legs for 40 minutes. When I thought it was over she still had more to do. Thai massage therapists use their whole body to work on you. So she sat me up, wrapped one of her legs around my shoulder, bent me forward, then twisted another leg somewhere. She basically contorted me into all sorts of complicated stretchy positions while using her own body as resistance. I'm not as flexible as I used to be so a few times I worried I would be injured. "Uh! (gasp) lady, I can't...(gasp)! Uncle!Uncle!" But she knew just how far to go. I was as loose as a goose after that. Whew! And that was just the foot massage!


~~~~~~~~~~~

Aaaaand back to the chaos in the tiny hostel room...It was dinner time so we headed back out to restaurant alley. And by that, I really mean narrow little alleyways with one restaurant after another jam-packed with people. They come alive in the evenings when Koreans like to do their social eating and drinking. The restaurants are all open-air but it doesn't feel cold because every table has a fire in the middle and there are so many people!

I'm not sure why, but whenever I see Buddhist monks I feel like I've gone back in time.

My guys at an open-air barbeque restaurant.

Waiting for the hot coals in our barrel table.

This would never be allowed in the US - coals on fire in the middle of a very small table, crammed around a bunch of other people...in an alley...with no firetruck access. But that's how it works! And kids learn quickly what to touch and what not to touch. 

Trays of used-up coals just laying around in the street.

Trying to get Doren to fall asleep so I could eat dinner with both hands. Success!

After our dinner of Korean BBQ I really wanted to check out this other place. Its a soup restaurant where all they make is one kind of broth and homemade noodles. As full as I was, this was our last opportunity and I cannot resist fresh noodles, so we went there for dinner, Part 2. It was amazing watching these women and the process of making the soup.

This gal is washing out the equipment right in the alley - another thing that would never be allowed in the US but is totally normal here.

Scrubbing outside because there isn't enough space inside. Plus there is a hose and gutter. What more do you need??

Making the noodles by hand. Bless you, good woman.

Ahh, the final product. The bowl is much larger than it looks here. Its a full meal by itself. Handmade noodles with broth and a sprinkling of dried seaweed on top. You add as much chili paste as you want for flavoring. I want more now!! Its so simple and satisfying.

We spent our second night at the hostel, had more toasted pb&j and fried eggs and packed our stuff. We let the boys play at a school playground down the street and then headed back to the train station to go home.

Thanks for more memories, Seoul!