Happy Birthday Jack... 9 today!!!!

Just another Tuesday morning... I think not.

Crazy hair and PJ's that are too small...
let's open presents Molly!

Jack was pretty happy with his DS game...
then the REALLY BIG surprise...

Now for a pancake breakfast of champions...

...and off to school for more cupcakes and celebrations with his class.

Then after school, Jack got to ride his bike with 2 other buddies who also had their bikes at school- mud and muck sprayed up the back of him like a real off roadie.

Back home for more presents...

Thanks everyone for the pressies: books, DVD's, beanies, art supplies, puzzles.

Then we went to VIP's for dinner, where the Korean girls sang Jack happy birthday in Korean. Molly loved it!

Here is Jack in the wacky birthday cake hat.

Let it snow... and a sneak peek of the Potters.

We had another generous dump of snow on Wednesday night. It was 'wet' snow, so it was sticky... making for some pretty tree scapes.

This pic was taken just outside of our apartment on our way to school Thursday morning.
The weather has been a bit milder with most days above zero. You can see we are still bundled up against the elements.

Jack's birthday is on Tuesday and we have been working on a Harry Potter themed party. He is having 3 close friends over for the day to travel to Hogwarts and practise their spells, charms and Quidditch.
Jack couldn't resist trying on his outfit tonight as we finally got all the pieces together.

What do you think... does he look like Harry?
Molly couldn't resist the glasses either.

... and Molly lost another tooth. 2 days after the first one, out pops another. Two visits from the tooth fairy in one week- sheeesh!

Molly in PE class

Here is a little snippet into energetic Molly's PE class.
She is so lucky to have such a great little class.

Molly lost a tooth

Our girl lost her first tooth this week.
After announcing on Monday that it was "seriously wobbly"... it progressed to falling out (literally onto the pavement) on the way to school on Wednesday morning.
We brushed it off, wrapped it up so she could of course pass it around Kindergarten.

Of course she was quite chuffed that now she would have her own personal tooth fairy, and that she is the first one in her Kindergarten class to lose a tooth.

Oh my... where did my little baby girl go?

Day trip to Daechung Lake

Last Sunday, on a bitterly cold day, we decided to go for a 'Sunday drive'. The car would be warm and we needed to escape our apartment for a while.
We used Gloria our GPS and found a lake to visit.
We didn't really know where we were going...
but it turned into a delightful day of discovery.

Love this sign!

Our first view of the lake- so pretty with the snow.

Does it look cold?   We found a fortress and so climbed the hill to take a look.

But first- a snow angel.

Not a good option in the Korean winter... but a nice view from the loo nevertheless.

There is something pretty amazing about a natural spring that is freezing as it comes to the surface.

This fortress was moved to it's current position when they excavated for the lake.
Nice view hey!

This may have been the coldest place that our children chose to play in.
Again- nice view though.

These carvings ward off the evil spirits.

Inside these simple homes, the kitchen area contained these massive cast iron ovens. The heat from these would heat the floor of the bedrooms which were on the other side of this wall. The floors are raised so hot water can be piped underneath the floors to insulate the water and to heat the floor.

Near the fortress was an art gallery which has some interesting and impressive sculptures.

It was a fun day of unexpected finds.

Happy New Year

We have arrived back from our Summer holiday to Thailand- felling warm and rejuvenated.
We had a great holiday staying at Khao Lak which is one hour North of Phuket on the Andaman Sea.This was the view from out of our plane window the day we left Korea- lots of snow and had to de-ice on the tarmac before leaving.

This was the view when we got to our resort...
spot the difference?

The kids could not get enough of the pool and waterslide.

Then there was the amazing day we went snorkelling.
The Similan Islands are amazing- such powdery white snow and blue water- great visibility through the water. It took us an hour to get out to the island on a speedboat. We stopped at 3 different places for snorkelling and lunch.

The food was fantastic- as it always is in Thailand and we enjoyed New Year's Eve together very much.

We rode motorbikes

and got completely drenched when the skies opened... but it was fun to see some of Thailand on a bike.

This was a family foot and leg massage... Molly could not stop giggling the whole time.
You have got to love a $9 massage!