Staycation 2011 - Day 1

We had a wonderful day today.
For the first half of the day we split up into the boy party and the girl party.

This was unintentional, but it worked out so well that we are
thinking of making it more of a tradition.

The boys went to Vietnamese noodles for lunch followed by a trip to Cabelas.  The girls party went to chick-fil-let and then the movie theater to see Winnie the Pooh.  Isabelle loved it.  While I felt it was cute, I must admit that I almost fell asleep about 4 times!  Pooh bear isn't the most exciting character, and when you combine that with very little sleep the night before, a cool air conditioner, and a dark room, it was torturous trying to stay awake!  I persevered to the end and then the girl party adjourned to the ice cream store.

 

After the delicious ice cream we went clothes shopping.

Having a girl is so great!  I think I am going to LOVE her teenage years!

(Keep your fingers crossed for me!)

We met the boys at home and Soungsik decided it would be fun for us to go boating.

So off to Silver Lake we went.  

First we had to make it thru rush hour traffic, construction, and a bike race.

As a side note, bike riders have incredibly nice legs!

My husband got a little mad that I was oogling other mens legs!

By about 6:30 we finally got to the lake!

 

Isabelle had a little cat nap on the way up.

Doesn't she look so peaceful?

William's favorite thing was throwing rocks, and other items, into any water source he could find.

 

The kids really enjoyed being on the boat.

 

 

And I really enjoyed the scenery.

Today Isabelle got to drive the boat.

If you have seen her drive her black Cadillac,

the boat driving wasn't any better!

She loved spinning the boat around in circles!

This is her and Soungsik having a discussion on which way to steer the boat next.

 

 My husband would like me to point out what nice legs he also has!

So our "boat" might only be an inflatable fishing boat,

but we still had tons of fun!

"Man is that he might have joy"...

followed by a little fatigue.

I'm off to bed to prepare for another adventurous day tomorrow!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

August 1st hit us like a boulder this year.  It happened to fall on a Monday which is almost never a good thing.  I had predetermined to start Isabelle in school on this day and I was not going to give in and postpone it for any reason.  The thought had crossed my mind to just take another month off, due to fabulous weather and fun, but in life you have to set priorities and stick with them.  So come heck or high water we were going to start on the 1st.  Of course in life obstacles seem to get thrown into your lovely organized plans.  Last week Soungsik informed me that he needed me again at the taekwondo centers.  I have been adamant about not going back to work, but the writing was pretty clear on the walls, he genuinely needed me.  So now my mornings are filled with with school, cleaning, laundry, chasing William, piano practice, cooking and home paperwork and my evenings are filled with trying to get the taekwondo centers back to some kind of organized levels, coming home to play with the kids for a bit, getting them ready for bed, exercising, more food, and finally a little "me" time.  It's not all bad though.  School with Isabelle is much more time consuming and labor intensive than it has been in years past, but this year she is really enjoying the challenges, hopefully this excitement will continue throughout the year!  It's exciting for me to see how much her understanding has grown. William, fortunately, is mostly content to play on his own.  He may be a little neglected now, but have no fears I will smother him with more attention than he can stand very soon.  Going back to work hasn't been as bad as I was thinking it would be either.  Since it's only for a few hours a few nights a week I don't feel guilty about leaving the kids with a sitter.  I get to talk to real live adults again, that's always nice.  I will also be able to keep tabs on how business is going, which should put my mind at ease. 

I may not have time for T.V. or friends or reading (weep, weep), but life is still good and I am just happy that I have found time for the very highest priorities.  That sounds bad, my friends are a priority too, but sadly they are on the back burner right now.  Maybe we can do movies and lunch in a few months!

Happy Birthday 2 William!!!

William is officially 2 today!

Oh the excitement - I LOVE 2 year olds.  They are my favorite!

 We had such a fun day.

I didn't really know how fun a summer birthday could be.  

William is the only one in our family with a summer birthday,

so the whole idea of being outside for a party was a novelty.

The kids blew many bubbles.

Or attempted many times to blow bubbles.

Wesley was very curious about them.

 The only way I could get William away from the bubbles way to 

bribe him with cake and ice cream.

The kids had a blast jumping on the new trampoline.

It was a present from Soungsik and I for Williams birthday,

but in truth we have wanted one for a long time and it

was a great way to kill 2 birds with one giant stone.

 

 

 The manufacturer recommends only 1 child at a time.

Yeah right, like that's ever going to happen.

8 isn't that much more than 1 anyways!

Here are the girls playing 

"Break the Aunt Erica" game!

None of them actually weigh enough to break anything.

You must have yummy food at a party.

(If you don't guests probably won't show up :))

Here's the boy table.

Nice hat Jee Hoon!

And the girl table.

 

Wait a minute.

One of these things doesn't look like the others,

one of these things doesn't belong.

William had a haul - literally - with his presents.

All of his toys had a transportation theme.

This was not planned.

Everyone just really knows William well!

Here's a train from his Noona (Big Sister).

 

Some kids just know how to go after it and get the job done.

Here's a Toy Story car from Jee Hoon.

He bought this with his own money,

what a sweet cousin!

He got some pool toy boats from Nathaniel & Jenny's family.

Those will be put to good use in the tub tomorrow morning!

 

William was getting frustrated with us because every time

he would open a present, we would take it away from him so that he could open the next one.

Leave it to Daniel & Erica's family to bring in the heavy machinery.

 

It makes noise and moves.

William loved it.

Wesley had to check it out too.

 

Grandma & Grandpa got William the all important

Tonka dump truck

A boy just wouldn't be a boy without one.

Well in our family anyways!

And a birthday wouldn't be a birthday without a cake.

Aren't I getting just slightly creative in my old age?

 

I wonder what his wish was?

It's exciting to think of the year ahead of us.

Soon he'll be talking and we'll know what's 

going on inside that head of his.

 William, we are so blessed to have you in our lives!

Happy Birthday big guy!

We love you!

Christmas In July

The kids had Christmas early this year!

Actually our friend Doo Il ordered a Cadillac 

Power Wheels for the kids (Thank you, thank you).

It finally arrived last night.

We had to let the battery charge all night. 

It also needed to be assembled.

 

The kids were a big help with that!

After the assembly was complete and after Isabelle had asked us 

4,000 times if the battery was charged, it was ready to roll.

Soungsik gave a brief tutorial to the excited driver. 

Possibly too brief, because she ran into our neighbors shrub twice.

And she may or may not have run into Grandma's flower bed and the neighbors flower bed, 

and she may or may not have broken 2 sprinklers!

 

Have no fear, after those minor mishaps she got the hang of it!

Of course toys are funner when you share with friends.

 

Many of our little neighbors came to drive too.

I quickly decided that no matter how much I love my neighbors,

it would probably be best if we didn't all live by each other when 

our kids turn 16 at the same time!

 

What little yuppies with their puppy!

The kids had a blast with this today and I am sure they will for many years to come.

I do have to admit that I have a small amount of 

black Cadillac SUV envy because of my children!

Some kids get all the fun!

BOOK REVIEW: THE LAST BATTLE

Title: The Last Battle

Book 7 in the Narnia Series

Author: C.S. Lewis

Number of Pages: 211

Number of Stars I'm Giving: 5

I really loved this book! I think this may even be my favorite book of the series.

I was beginning to lose hope after "Prince Caspian" & "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader".  This book brought me back to being a Narnia fan.  The story in this book moved fast and was interesting from the first few pages.  The ending is not at all what you would expect, and also unlike all of the other books.  This book really makes you think about life, God, and the afterlife.  I think people that don't believe in God would hate this book.  It takes on the unpopular topic of there only being 1 true God.  

This book brought together the lives of all of the previous heroes and heroins.

The ending should have been heartbreaking, but it was really happy.

I knew I didn't like Susan during the rest of the series and now I know why!

Jill and Eustace had matured and this was the 1st book where the little

Earthlings didn't bother me to a certain extent.

I think this was a book written well ahead of its time.

If you are reading this series and get stuck in the middle on some of the more boring books, don't give up.

Or, at the very least, just skip to the last one.  It's entirely worth your time.

 

FYI: This book was awarded the Carnegie Medal.

Extra FYI: C.S. Lewis was friends with J.R. Tolken.

They were even in a writer's club together - who knew?

I'm sure a lot of people knew that, but I didn't.

Learn something new every day!

Cell Phone Envy

We received a package from Doo Il today.

Among other things it had a memory card 

with pictures from his cell phone.

I have cell phone envy.

His phone takes better pictures and videos than my camera :(.

Thankfully he was kind enough to share what he got with us.

It was a nice surprise and a great way to remember the fun we had over the last couple of months.

 

Doo Il is the new president of Isabelle's fan club, I think!

They miss each other like crazy.

The Korean picnic.

A pair of hooligans.

TKD stuff.

Soungsik loved taking his friend to work with him.

This is one tough cookie.

A cookie with NO FEAR!

My hard working, good looking hubby.

Doo Il enjoys a good prank.

 

William and I enjoying the great outdoors.

I am a bit of a tough cookie too.

Out to lunch.  

I can't get over what cute kids these are.

And they are great friends to boot!

Taking in the views in Vegas.

The Grand Canyon.

Zions.

 Even though his camera is better,

it still doesn't make you look tanner or skinnier.

For shame.

 

Out by the buffaloes.

 

Thank you Doo Il.

Not many people are as cool and thoughtful as he is.