Sunday, June 10, 2012

World Tours, Whales, and Wacky Children!

Hello everyone!  It has been two weeks since I have shared our adventures and I hope you are all doing well.  Our little family is doing GREAT.  We went on vacation, had lots of family time together, lots of swimming, and made tons of memories.  So week 13 and 14 of our adventures in Korea are combined in this post.  Man, I can't believe we have been here for 99 days already.  It has flown by!

Anyway, lets get started....

There is not much to tell in the day to day of it all this time.  Most of the time, we spent relaxing and hanging out with swimming thrown in.  BUT, for a few days we were very very busy.  Dave and I took the kids to Seoul on June 2nd and spent the afternoon at LotteWorld.  We then got up the next morning and took the KTX train to Yeosu, which is on the southern tip of the peninsula.  We went to the 2012 World Expo!  It was so much FUN and we got to learn so many things and meet so many people from all over the world.  We stayed there a day and a half and then took the train back to Seoul.  So after 423 pics and videos and visiting 88 countries, these are the ones I thought you might enjoy the most. 



Swimming



On The Way to Seoul
a pig with a stethoscope...?????

the Olympic bridge

 bags of what looked like cotton


Yongsan and LotteWorld

trying on new clothes at the PX

Dave needs a pink shirt.. don't ya think??

just weird.... alien musicians in the hotel lobby at Dragon Hill

sardines, anyone????

 I haven't seen a SIZZLER in years!

I do not pass up picture opportunities

on display in the castle at LotteWorld...sooooo very very wrong

tree swing...Mitchell is behind Dave

even daddy wants some cotton candy

aaawwww....in love

his kitty cat ears match his skinny jeans

just love him!

she is getting a little too big for this

parade time

Lotty and Larry are the mascots....I think Larry is actually the girl!

can you imagine their excitement?!?!?!?






even Dave had to pose!

princess galore!!!!

Mitchell was in HEAVEN

1965 Barbie - about $90.00

Train Ride
lots of rice fields

high rise apartment buildings are even in the smallest of towns

186 miles per hour..... the train that passed us had about 8 cars at 40ft each

playing "SPIT"

Korea has some strange architecture

more rice fields

hillside

we made it!

had to get one with the train

Our Hotel
the Elena Hotel

Just outside the hotel

notice there the buttons go from the 1st straight to the 6th floor

view from our room

the bathroom ....no division between shower and toilet
everything gets wet!

there is a club on the first floor of the building

Just a quick note about our hotel stay.  The room was very clean, but the mattresses were so hard that I might has well been sleeping on the floor.  The only towels supplied to the room were the size of hand towels and one scratchy piece of cloth meant as a wash rag that the whole family had to share.  They provided all shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hair gel, hair spray, body lotion, and toothpaste you could use, but certainly not enough towels.  They even had a brush and comb for your use.  When we got there, Dave and I were very nervous, but it all turned out ok.  We have definitely been spoiled by American Hotels!!!!!

Now back to the EXPO!


Expo Day 1
heading into the International Pavilion

street performers....very weird

Dave's was ok .....UNTIL.....

it jumped on Dave's back!

displayed on ceiling of International Pavilion

learning about a meditation bowl from Nepal

Dave's namesake David from Uganda

what Dave would be doing if we lived in Yemen

the man was very excited to cover my face

don't we make such an odd couple

ebony wood statues from Tanzania

carved from one piece of ebony wood

taken in the Seychelles

 Eritrea
had not heard of this country before
declared its independence in 1993

in the deserts of Algeria

one of the major industries of Algeria.... go figure

musicians from Cambodia

we have seen many older Koreans that have to walk like this

view of other pavilion

the "O" stage for the night time finale

look closely .... Darci is clicking her heels!

touch screens were everywhere
Darci was tracing the voyages of many of the explorers

fish mosaics from Italy ....over 1500 years old

got about $648 ....you could get this bottle of Italian Wine

writing wishes for the future in Argentina

wish wall

Mitchell's says Peace Please No War
Darci's is asking for Love and Peace

The Netherlands ... we learned about the origin of amber
it washes ashore out of the Baltic Sea which used to be
a forest of resin producing trees

piece of amber containing a lizard that is millions of years old
there are only 4 of these in the world according to the presenter

just beautiful... made out of amber

more amber jewelry


 chocolate carousel in Belgium

those are earrings on display in Belgium
all I can say is WHY!?!?!?

performance at the Kazakhstan pavilion

 Australia Pavilion

Malaysia Pavilion

mascot from the Philippines

the floor was really cool...Philippines pavilion

we had to visit the USA

while waiting for the final show, this lady REALLY REALLY wanted her daughter to touch Darci

then she started doing it on her own.  Darci was very patient.

we taught her to shake hands....isn't she precious!

And FINALLY.... the end of Day 1

I have somehow lost the file of the "O" Show Finale, but below is a link to it on my facebook page. It will open a new window.  Please take a look.  It is AMAZING!



EXPO Day 2
only on vacation can you eat cheesecake at Starbucks for breakfast

this is how infants are carried here....I would be afraid to drop the baby

making jewelry in Qatar

Darci got her henna tattoo from a lady in Qatar

really cool experience

we met a man from Oman

that's a giant squid in the bar below

the kids went to Machu Pichu, Peru

Singapore Pavilion

riding a bike through virtual Singapore... Darci hit a few pedestrians

Darci is a celebrity here too.  They wanted to take a picture with her!

Chinese Pavilion

  performance at the Chinese Pavilion

lunch in Belgium...pretty presentation

my guys!!!

Did you know that Vanuatu is the World's Happiest country?

in Ecuador

Darci bought her whistle from Luis in Ecuador

fans from Tonga

Mitchell bought his hat in Mongolia

 a wave made out of LEGOS in Denmark

 making wind power in Denmark
as he blew the lights in the buildings would light up

Spain's Pavilion

that is less than an ounce of olive oil for about $23
Spain must have some very special olives

one of the African markets
 Darci made a friend in Ghana

beautiful piece of art from the Central African Republic


a tree made out of rocks from Tajikistan

Darci got the hat in Pakistan
Mitchell was trying to lift Darci high enough to fit

of course, he had to do it too

Darci swimming in Sweden

that's some Pakistani caribou you have there Mitchell

480 days of leave to be with a new baby....Sweden
family pic with the mascots...Yeoni and Suni

fog rolling in

 a floating resort of the future

wanted their picture taken with Mitchell and Darci

great actors...don't you think?

Dave... you're not that fast dear!

beluga whales


Headed Home 
display in Yeosu

killing time... waiting on the train

Darci is quite the designer

and THE model!

Random
grape ice cream flavored oreos....disgusting

the craziest indoor fort..... ever!

Dave sure loves Darci to go to so much trouble

And Finally .... The BEST Entertainment EVER!

and no we DID NOT let him watch Risky Business
he saw it on Fairly Odd Parents, of all shows!
 

So that's it everyone.  And if you have read and watched all the way to the end, I truly appreciate it!  I hope you all have a wonderful week and until next time.....annyeonghi geyseyo!

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