Pancakes!

We gave Garrett his 1st pancake on Sunday, August 17th- Yum! He ate some of it and mushed a lot of it in his fingers. He's getting very good at picking up food and putting it in his mouth. He prefers to eat independently and does not want us to feed him with a spoon. His favorite foods are cheerios, avocado, banana, peas, softened raisins, teething biscuits, crackers of any kind, yogurt, egg yolks and toast. He's definitely a "carb-lover." We'll try meat in a few weeks. He screams when you're eating something in front of him and not giving him any. He was full-up crying tonight when Joe was eating a chocolate chip cookie and not giving him any. I love that he loves to eat!

COEX Mall Aquarium

Our latest Korean adventure was a trip to the Aquarium at the COEX Mall on Saturday, August 16th with our friends - Melissa, Zane and Gabriela Miagany. It was so crowded! We couldn't even walk 6 inches without being bumped into. My blond haired, blue-eyed children got touched and OOH'ed and AHH'ed over a lot. We rode the subway and it was fairly easy even with 5 kids in tow. It only took 30 minutes to get there from Post. The 1st part of the Aquarium was just a bunch of fish tanks in random and various containers - stoplight, phone booth, sink, toilet, refrigerator, soft drink machine, gumball machine, etc. These fish were not unique, mostly goldfish. Then the 2nd half was better. They had a hands-on portion that the kids enjoyed. The kids loved the threadfish, the fish that had large brains coming out of their heads (Carson's words), the large shark and turtle area, the otters, the crocodile with eggs, the penguins and the eels. There were also random animals like gerbils, chipmunks, hedgehogs, lizards, and iguanas. Only in Korea. :) The COEX Mall was very cool and seemed to have lots of fun restaurants and shops. We didn't shop because we were on a mission to feed the kids in the food court and get back. All together the trip took 5 hours.

Rolling Ball Museum

On Wednesday the kids and I went to a Korean cuisine class called "Seoul Secrets." We learned about Korean foods, manners and customs. Then we ventured to the R.O.K. Army cafeteria. Not quite what we had in mind for our 1st Korean food experience. The food was interesting. We tried pork bulgogi, white radish kimchi, a scrambled egg dish, rice with black bean paste, crunchy black beans with honey and peanuts, and fish (with bones, parts and all) in a red sauce. Carson did great and tried everything! Jessica only ate the pork bulgogi and wouldn't even try the rice because it looked "purple." After lunch we walked across the street to the Korean War Memorial Museum. What a gigantic museum. We only saw some of the airplanes outside the museum then we went to the "Rolling Ball Museum" in the basement. Carson and Jessica played for hours. Garrett even joined in the fun by climbing on the wooden structures and trying to eat the balls and blocks.

Gate 19 Playground

Later on Tuesday we went off post to a fun playground. Jessica is sitting in a gigantic rubber apple. Carson found his favorite apparatus, the monkey bar rings. No matter how hard I try I just can't keep him away from those things. One part of the park had a space theme. Carson and Jess are in a spinning replica of Earth.

Seoul Tower

The kids and I went off post on Tuesday to find a party store for Jessica's 5th Birthday. On our way we got a perfect view of Seoul Tower. We walked for 30 minutes in the heat and humidity and when we arrived it was closed. :( Garrett's 7-month smile is full of teeth (6 now)! He's such a trooper now that he feels better and his teeth are through.

My 1st Posting

Here we are in Seoul, South Korea! Carson and Jess are standing on our apartment balcony. You can see Seoul with trees and moutains in the background. We are in our apartment now and we have ALL of our stuff. Our shipment arrived a lot earlier than they thought, which was great! We're living in a 3-bedroom apartment in Burke Towers on Yongsan Army Garrison.

Seoul is a gigantic city, and we're excited to start exploring soon. We have found some good restaurants in Itaewon. We ate Kebab sandwiches at a restaurant called "Istanbul." It was delicious, but not quite like our favorite Kebab restaurant in Germany. The kids and I went to a Pita Pizza place. It was full of Americans, go figure. We loved it. Then we had 40 cent ice cream cones at McDonald's, how can you pass that up? Last night we ate yummy Italian food at Sortino's. Good, but not Gianni's!

Raingutter Regatta

Carson had his Cub Scouts "Raingutter Regatta" on Saturday afternoon. His blue Pirate Ship even had cannons on deck. Carson was upset when Jessica asked why there was poop on the deck of his ship. Those are the cannons, Jess! His balsa wood ship was pretty speedy and won a few races. We learned the Cub Scouts' motto: "Do your best!"