Week 32: Summer Favorites

It was nice to get back to a routine this week. Eric and I were busy at school every day and Kennedy and Cade were very excited to spend the week with Miss V again! It's hard to say that "summer favorites" was our theme for this week, though. It was more the end of summer for us.

Day 214: This is evidently what a "western house" looks like from the persepective of the Koreans. I'm always entertained by the stereotypes!

Day 215: Spent the day at school for our first all staff (and families) day. We had a great day, but we were so busy I forgot to take a picture until the end of the night!

Day 216: I refused to go to work or even open my laptop, so I spent the day reading the first novel I'm teaching this year. I spent much of my summer doing this!

Day 217: The kids were still asleep when we left for school Monday morning. Cade's sweet little feet were peeking out of his blankets. Yes, he insists on sleeping with a blanket even when it's 85F in his room!

Day 218: I was determined to get out the DSLR once this week. Stretching myself with my camera has been one of my favorite summer activities this year.

Day 219: One of the routines that we got back into this week was watching Lost with our friends from school.

Day 220: We also got back into the Costco trip routine. The first trip of the year is always pretty rough because there are so many people that go. The line of staff with their overflowing (or in my case, 2) grocery carts was the length of the store. We were quite a spectacle! The Koreans were taking our picture, as well!

My favorite photo of this week is the shot of the flower--probably because it's the only shot that I didn't take with my iPhone. It's different for me, but I think I like it!



To see others' photo projects, check out the links:

 www.styleberryblog.com

Olympia Waterfront

I have been trying to keep up with this. I even edited and uploaded a bunch of pictures the other day, but the reality is that we are so busy right now, that I really can't get to it as much as I'd like. I'm doing my best, though!

Tonight Kennedy and I experienced one of our crazier trips to Costco (no, there was no throwing up and I did not lose an iPod, iPhone, or anything else), but it was still a very long, very hot trip.

Speaking of hot, it has been really hot and while it is humid, it hasn't rained much. It's supposed to drop into the 80s this week, and I'm looking forward to that!

Tomorrow is our first full "work attire" day. We have new student orientations all day, including Kennedy's which is tomorrow afternoon, so we're all excited for that!

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The first Sunday that we were house sitting we drove down to Olympia to see some of Eric's family.

We attended a short anniversary party, and then we went with his mom down to the waterfront to explore.

We tried to get a few family photos...yes, I get in front of the camera every once in awhile, though I'm not always happy about it...

and the kids were not really up to cooperating!

The view of the harbor, the capitol, and the boats was nice, though.

Cade really didn't understand why we couldn't go on any of them. Poor guy.

Eric had some "when I am going to get a boat?" moments, too.

We also found a park where we could play for a little while

before the clouds rolled in, the wind picked up, and it was back to Western WA weather again!

It was a good day, though, and now I'm headed to bed because I am exhausted!

Down on the Farm

We had an awesome, albeit busy, week in Ohio, but after spending the night in four different beds in the course of seven days, we were excited to spend a week housesitting for friends of my Dad. They have a big house out in the country complete with dog, cats, and chickens with a beautiful view of the bay.

The kids really warmed up to the dog and became very involved in the chores of feeding him, taking him out, and taking him for walks. Eric and I, on the other hand, felt some relief at the end of the week that we don't have a dog of our own. He woke us up early every morning, not to mention having to structure our day around getting home to feed him.

Cade, especially, got into the routine of going out to feed the chickens and check for eggs.

As well as getting to the greenhouse to water and checking for peas, spinach, and lettuce.

Picking strawberries was his favorite task. There were so many that he could keep his mouth full and still put berries in the bowl!

And while they enjoyed doing chores outside, they really loved playing outside!

They played baseball in the yard...

ran around in the woods...

and loved swinging on the tire swing!!! They fit right in while in the country, but they seem to fit here in the city pretty well, too!

Week 31: Dog Days of Summer

Well, our dog days of summer are wrapping up quickly here in Seoul! Just a little over a week before school starts, but we're still having fun when we can. We've definitely been on the go in our first week back!

Day 207: We headed to our favorite restaurant in Seoul--Wang Thai. They always serve a dessert afterwards: coconut milk with tapioca. Yum!

Day 208: We walked to school on Saturday--this is the view above the school. I'm still astounded by the clear skies in Seoul we are finding upon our return.

Day 209: I finally got a look at Kennedy's new Legos. They sure are girly these days--she's a fashion designer!

Day 210: After my first day in my new room, I had most of the room put together. I still have a lot of books to put away though!

Day 211: I spent most of the day staring at my laptop working on my syllabus and unit planning.

Day 212: I took the day off from all types of work and let Kennedy have her friends over. This was at the end of their fashion show.

Day 213: We worked at school for most of the day and then went to our favorite school supply store. This shot of Seoul Tower is right over the markets in Namdaemun.

My favorite shot of this week is the one of the girls. They all had a great time playing together. We went outside for a little while and had a squirt gun fight, but it's just too hot to be outside. Eric was very creative coming up with stuff for them to do in our little apartment!

To see others' photo projects, check out the links:

 www.styleberryblog.com

Uncle Evan & Aunt Jen's Wedding

We managed to get right back into the swing of things here in Seoul. Eric and I have been busy working at school and at home getting ready for school to start. The kids are finally starting to get over their jet lag and both of them slept in until 8:00 this morning! The one thing we haven't adjusted to yet is the heat. It has been over 90 degrees every day for the last week with high humidity, as well.

Moving on to the wedding day....

Kennedy got her hair done in the hotel room along with the bride and her bridesmaids. She was very patient and sat very still. After the wedding she told me she never wanted to cut her hair again, so that I could curl it and put it up to make it beautiful...a few weeks later I was able to convince her to cut it because I don't know how to curl it, put it up, and make it beautiful!

Cade got dressed with Daddy in our hotel room...

and then we made it to the golf course for pictures...I snapped a few of the kids while the rest of the wedding party was off with the official photographer...

Cade was his normal I-don't-want-to-sit-here-for-pictures self...

while Kennedy was her normal tell-me-where-to-stand-and-take-my-picture self.

and of course, putting the boy in the penguin suit made him no less of a boy!

He was quite upset when the groomsmen told him he couldn't jump in puddles in his tux.

But, thankfully, he recovered and made it down the aisle shortly thereafter.

I even made it to the front row in time to snap a picture of their arrival, but then I sat back and enjoyed the ceremony, refusing to take a single picture.

After the ceremony, the wedding party rode out on golf carts to take more pictures.

The happy couple!