Mariners Game & Gasworks Park

We stayed busy while we were housesitting. The day after Deception Pass, we went to a Mariners game and then to Gasworks Park in West Seattle. To be honest, there isn't much to say about this particular day. The weather was pretty nice. The Mariners lost. We tried to make the most of the day by going to the park as long as we were down in Seattle. We did kind of did a mini family photo shoot (of ourselves!). We were all tired by the end of the day!

Since I don't have much to say about this day in June, I'll tell you about our day yesterday here in Seoul. In August.

Today is Liberation Day in Korea--the day they celebrate their independence from Japan. So, we have the day off.

Remember our experience on Liberation Day last year? Well, we've been a little less adventurous this year. Today we're sitting at home, relaxing, and watching the rain POUR! It's the middle of the day, and it's dark right now!

Last night, however, Eric and I were determined to go out for our anniversary. We were all exhausted after the first full day of school, but we have the day off today, so we knew we could sleep in and have the day off to recover, if necessary!

Eric had already arranged to have a couple of the neighborhood teens come over and watch the kids. It was really sweet to see Kennedy and Cade watching the group traipsing across the parking lot to our apartment.

We had a 9th grade girl, an 8th grade girl, a 7th grade boy, and a 5th grade boy come over to hang out. They had plans to have a "Cars" themed evening, and they were all excited to get started!

Eric and I then took off and headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant. It is quite a trek to get there, so we've only been there twice before.

It takes almost an hour to get there via subway with two transfers, and it's a pretty busy area, so we try to avoid taking the kids. We thought it this would be a good opportunity to go.

We had a pretty easy trip there. It was a relatively cool evening (about 88F), and we had lots of opportunity to talk about the start of our school year.

We also had a nice dinner. By the time we were done, though, it was already past the time we had told the girls we would be back. Whoops!

So, we decided we would grab a taxi on the way home, since (in theory) it should be faster than the subway.

When we left the restaurant, we discovered that it was pouring down rain--gotta love monsoon season!

Now, you may not yet be aware, but the traffic in Seoul can become quite difficult. Especially when it's raining. And especially the night before a holiday. Thankfully, we had the combination.

It took us an hour to get from the restaurant to our door via taxi, as well. As you can imagine, it was not a cheap ride!!

We did have an interesting taxi driver, though. He knew enough English to be able to try to have a conversation with us, but we did not know enough Korean to understand much of what he was saying to us!

We made use of our translating apps to learn that he has a son and a daughter. We learned their ages and their professions, as well as where his brothers live in the States. He even shared their phone numbers with us!

He told Eric that he looked like a movie star, so I'm pretty sure they'll be best friends for life! It was the first time I've ever seen Eric tip a taxi driver--that guy sure had scored some points!

We finally made it home shortly after nine, and we were all exhausted!

Obviously, I didn't take any pictures of our adventures, but Eric was anxious to hear my version of the story. So, here's the story with a different set of pictures!

Monsoon Season

It is WET here in Seoul. The first 3 days we were here everyone was talking about how it had rained for 28 straight days up until the day we arrived. Then there was a day or two of clear skies. I think that we saw half of one of them, and since it has been overcast. The other funny thing about those first 3 days was that everyone carried around an umbrella with them wherever they went. It would be just barely sprinkling and the Koreans would put up there umbrellas. But even the Americans carried theirs everywhere. It even became a joke with our tour guide that if he didn't bring his umbrella, then it might start raining.
Yesterday, we learned why everyone brings an umbrella everywhere! After school, we took the kids down to one of the local markets for a couple of groceries. While we were in the store it started raining...I mean REALLY raining. We had yet to carry an umbrella with us, so of course we didn't have one. Eric ran the 1/2 mile up hill back to our apartment with Cade in his arms, and Kennedy did our best to walk up hill in soaking wet flip flops with bright blue bags on our heads (picture to come!). We were all soaked to the core, so we took showers and put on dry clothes. It continued to pour down all night with such a strong lightning storm that we heard electric appliances turned on in some houses! I can't complain too much because at least it stays warm while pouring down rain, but I think we'll start carrying our umbrellas! The typhoons are upon us!