MEMORIAL DAY

The weather here in Korea has been beautiful lately but finding the time to get out and enjoy it as a family has been a challenge.  Our Saturdays fill up quickly with baseball, T ball, church activities, kids birthdays and who knows what else.  Sooo... with today being Memorial Day and having absolutly nothing on our calendar for the day we decided to pack a lunch, load the bikes, and head to the river.  We picked a spot called Ttukseom Hanang Park.  We mainly chose this spot because of this giant rock wall we saw on the online pictures.

However, upon arriving we found out that in order to scale this awesome wall you must have your own climbing equiptment.   Boooo!  Oh well, they still got to free climb on the lower part anyway.

It looks like they managed to have a little bit of fun even if they couldn't be dare devils.  ;)  Next we headed over to this ocean themed playground.  This was a playground that even my older boys could enjoy!

Pretty much everywhere you go in Seoul, they have an area with a bunch of exercise machines.  Some of the machines are quite interesting!

The next part of our day was the part I was super excited for.  Ducky Boats!!  Aren't they cute?

We had to split up because they only allowed 3 per boat.  I'm glad I had Tristen for a partner.  It sure made peddling a lot easier!

Being out on the river was actually really relaxing.  There was a nice cool breeze which I fully enjoyed, especially knowing that the dreaded Korea summer heat is almost upon us.  Our final adventure of the day was bike ride. Here are a few pics from the ride.

On the way back to the car I spotted this GORGEOUS Rose Garden.  The boys headed back to car while I took a stroll.  I got a chance to practice my cell phone photography skills.  ;)

All in all the day was a success!  I love Spring!

Pororo and Fish Fun!

Last weekend was a long one for us.  Justin had a 4 day weekend and the boys had a 3 day weekend.  Since the two older boys were in school on Friday and D was home with Justin and I, we decided to make the day all about this guy.

After getting the boys off to school we walked a few blocks to a cute little cafe called "Angel in us Coffee" and had a breakfast that any 3 year old would be crazy about!!

Waffles topped with sugar and berries, caramel bread, and hot chocolate!  What more could a three year old ask for?!  Or a grown woman for that matter???  ;)

Justin couldn't wait to dig in!  Ignore the look of disgust on his face...he really was excited.  :)

OK, so after pumping our already hyper kid full of sugar we hopped on the subway and set off to a place that would help him burn off some of that extra energy.  One thing I've discovered since arriving in Korea is these cool kids cafes that are AWESOME for toddlers and young children.  They have them everywhere here, and while they are kind of pricey, they are so fun!  The one we chose is called Porroro Park.  Just a little FYI, Pororo is this adorable little cartoon penguin that Korean kids are crazy about.

Meet Pororo!  He's the little guy, front and center.

 Nap Time!!

 Bounce Time!!

 Taking a break in the ball pit.  I have to say, I remember ball  pits being a lot deeper when I was a kid.

 Lots of places to run, jump, climb, explore, slide...

 Dylan loved the giant sandbox!

 My little monkey in a cage!

 And of course, the train!

I'm pretty sure he didn't have any fun at all!  At least that is what he told me when it was time to leave and the tears started.  "We had lots of fun, but it's time to go" I say.  His reply "No, we can't go!  I didn't have fun!"  I love his attempt to manipulate me. :)  We got home just in time to have a quick nap before big brothers got home from school.  On Monday everyone was off for MLK so we decided to head off to Gangnam district to visit the Coex Aquarium and had a great time!

My favorite thing was all the aquariums made from random objects

 Like this traffic light aquarium...

or this vending machine aquarium..

 How about a mailbox aquarium???

 Or a lamp post aquarium??

 Tristen needed to make a phone call.

 Kind of reminds me of Nemo's trip back to the ocean.

 Heres a few more interesting ones....

Ok, so this next one you will either find really cool or really gross, maybe a little of both.  Here in Korea they have something called "Dr. Fish".  What is Dr. Fish, you ask??  Well they are these tiny little fish that nibble your dead skin off.  Yep... They actually have cafes here called Dr. Fish cafes where you go and have a cup of coffee, maybe a some lunch, oh and put your feet in a tank of fish and let them nibble away.  Here at the aquarium you just got to dip your fingers.  Too bad, my feet could have used some nibbling as well.

 Feels pretty cool!

 See all those tiny, hungry little fishies!!

I've decided I need to visit one of the cafes soon and get my heels nibbled on a bit.

After the kids had were done "feeding" the fish we explored the rest of the aquarium.

Maybe if he loses his day job he can get a job as a tour guide!

Tristen asked if we could get one for a pet??  Ummm...NO!!!! 

 THIS was sooo great!!  So, Dylan insisted on bringing in his stuffed Tiger and for some reason this adorable baby sea lion was obsessed with it.  Everywhere Dylan would move the tiger, the baby sea lion would follow!  Up, down, side to side!  We spent quite a while here entertaining the sea lion and ourselves! 

Eventually we had to say goodbye and continue on.  Thanks baby sea lion for making our day!!

 These little guys were fun.  They are some kind of eel that stick up out of the sand and dance.  Seriously!  There was music playing and they were just dancing away.  OK, so maybe they would have been doing it regardless of the music but it sure made it seem like they were dancing to the music!

 Karson called these "Plastic Surgery Fish".. Hahaha!  

 We LOVED the underwater walkway!

All in all the aquarium was a success!  It can be a struggle to find an activities that all 3 of my boys will enjoy but they all had a great time and so did Justin and I!