Freddie's Archery Family Date

This is M&M here and I am going to share my experience at the Archery Cafe. It was a day where we wanted to have an adventure but had nothing to do. Dad had gone to the Archery Cafe the day before with some guys for some fun. Dad and Mom decided that we where going to take an adventure to the cafe. We all piled into the car then we set off to make a memory on one of my favorite sports, Archery.

We got to the street where the cafe was and got out of the car. We went into the cafe then got settled in the waiting room. We had gotten there at around 1:45 and the cafe had lessons at 2:00. So we waited for the teacher while getting all the gear on.

The teacher got there and we got our bows. We learned the rules and got ready to shoot. The instructor got out a little bow and gave it to Monster. It turned out that Monster was also able to do it and he had fun shooting arrows at the target.

The rest of us shot 10 arrows each and got them after everyone was done shooting. I was doing really good and hitting the target.  I had a great time shooting because I got a strait bulls eye. My arrow landed right on the dot in the middle of the target that was a real bullseye. It was so amazing!!!! Big Sis was getting disappointed because she had not gotten into the yellow part of the target that was a bulls-eye. She was determined and on our last round of shooting, she shot a bulls eye.

Mom was nailing it by shooting in the red and yellow. She was having a great time.

It was cool watching Little A shoot a bow-and-arrow for the first time.  She shot some arrows so high they were off the target.  She would just laugh and ask for help to get them down.

Monster was having the time of his life, every time he shot an arrow and it landed somewhere, he would yell, " Mommy, Look!!!"  So cute!!

The Instructor took over helping Monster, so daddy could shoot too.  They were so good with Monster and would help lift him up when his arrows were too high from him.  They gave him all kinds of encouragement in Korean, I know Monster didn't understand the words, but he definitely understood the meaning and let them help him the entire time.  This is pretty big, because he usually won't let anyone even talk to him. While Monster was in the watch of super amazing Koreans, daddy took to the target just a few spots down.  He was so much better at it than everyone.  He was super amazing.

We had such a fun experience at the Archery Cafe and we were happy to make another memory in Korea.

Kids Cafe: Bang Bang Town

Most of this summer has been filled with summer camps and swim lessons, so I promised the kids we would do something fun today and try out a new kids cafe!  We planned a play date at the cafe with our friends, the Campbells!  We met up at Bang Bang Town ready for an hour of extreme fun!

We chose a bad day to come to Bang Bang Town, because the Korean kids are out of school right now (which we didn't know), so there were a lot more kids then we were expecting.  The Cafe is also extremely small and there's not a lot for kids to do and keep them entertained.

I was worried that Big Sis wouldn't be allowed to play due to her age and being too old, so I had her bring some card games, just in case.  This ended up being a very good thing, because the four older girls spent about half the time playing card games together.  They all complained that there were too many kids and it was over crowded.

Monster and the Campbell's two youngest kids loved Bang Bang Town!  There was a designated trampoline and slide area just for little kids!  Monster loved going up the rainbow stairs!

He also loved all the balls that were in the kid trampoline area!  He would pick them up and chuck them at my head and then laugh!  He would then throw them at all the Campbells and then all the Koreans within throwing distance. He also loved the little slide!  He would go up and slide down and then take a ball up and try to throw it while sliding down.

Monster also got the hang of jumping.  He hasn't ever jumped on a trampoline with two feet and made air until today!  He was doing a marvelous job jumping and he was loving every second of it!

Little A did not enjoy the kids cafe for the first half hour.  She saw how much fun Monster and the little Campbells were having, so she wanted to join in the fun.  She came into the little kids trampoline area and was immediately told that she was too big and was given the two handed Korean X, and gestured to get out.  She sulked the rest of the time, and was sad she didn't have anyone to play with.  I sat and played with her for a while and she ended up enjoying her time with magnets.

Another item in the cafe that caught all the kids' attention was the candy machine!  For 500 won you can get a small mentos candies.  I had some spare 500 won coins in my wallet, so I let each of the kids play the game for the candy.

When we had about ten minutes left, a lot of the Korean kids left, so the kids went into the big kid trampoline area.  The had a blast jumping, racing, and sliding down the trampoline slides.  They were sad when our names were called and we had to leave.

I'm not sure if I would return to Bang Bang Town.  It was super small and didn't provide any variety for my older kids.  I would come with just the littles, but Little A would defiantly need a friend to come along.  In the end, all the kids had a good time!  I am super glad we brought games, and even more glad that I had a ton of 500 won coins, because the candy machine was a big hit with all the kids.

Kids Cafe: Dada Nori (Again)

Hi this is M&M here and I am going to tell you about my time at the Kids Cafe Dada Nori.

There was no school today, so Mom took us to a Kids Cafe called Dada Nori. We had so much fun! There was so many things to do there. Big Sis, Little A, and Monster quickly split up to have fun while mom was putting our stuff in the locker. We went with a few neighbors who also have daughter that are Little A's friends.

Monster went off to build something with the building blocks. Big sis went off to the ball canons while I went of to the building blocks. I quickly lost track off time while I built Monster a house! It was amazing.

After that me and Big Sis had races on the roller slide. We had so much fun sliding down the slide. Big sis and I even had races to see who could get up first but we weren't so successful. After all it was a roller slide.

Big Sis and I also had fun playing with the little blocks that look like a sand box and some huge dominos. We made a trail and made the dominos all fall.

Monster had lots of fun on the slide. He even found a Merri-go-round that he loved until it started to go too fast for his liking. He was yelling " NO LIKE, NO LIKE!"

After he got off, he ran to the Bumper cars. He raced away with Little A and her friends at his tail. You had to try to hit the targets on each of the other cars. The cars also had a system where it played music every time you turned. It got quit annoying after a couple runs.

Big Sis and I ALSO did a few runs and we were chasing each other's tails until our time was up.

Monster, Little A , and her friends all ran to the train to get a ride. They were shouting at us to go on, but Big Sis and I didn't want to because it was super slow and looked boring.

We went to the trampoline instead. Mom had fun just chilling with her friends. We stayed there for about 2 hours until returning home. We had lots of fun and can't wait to go again.

Kids Cafe: Dada Nori

I went with a few friends to explore a new kids cafe today.

We went to check out Dada Nori.  The best part about this cafe is that there is a parking lot.  Parking in Korea can sometimes be stressful and overwhelming.  It's the only reason why I sometimes hesitate to go out and explore.  But luckily, Dada Nori is in the same building as a grocery store, so it has a nice big parking lot.

This Kids Cafe has a lot to offer for little ones.  Little Monster loved the little car section with ride on cars and also bumper cars.  The only annoying thing about the bumper cars was the extra 1,000 won per person.  Little Monster was still a tad too small for the bumper cars, so I opted out for this time, but a few of the kids we came with went on them and loved them.

There is a pretty big play area in this cafe.  A gigantic tree sits in the middle and all around the tree is sections for different pretend play.

There were large lego blocks, a wood block "sand pit" area,

a kitchen and pretend area

and an area with large shapes and blocks.

Off to one side of the room was a good sized play place with slides and climbing areas.

There was also a large ball pit, which Little Monster went crazy over all the balls.

He also loved the trampoline.

Off to the other side of the wall were small live animals in cages- such as mice, hamsters and such.  Little Monster kept running to that wall and would point and laugh and get so excited about all the animals.

In the back corner of the room was a large train.  Every hour the workers would announce that the train would be taking rides, so all the kids in the cafe would run to the train and line up for a ride.  It went in a little circle.  The train was so cute and all the kids had so much fun riding it.

There were a few more activities in the cafe.  It really is a great cafe that has a lot to offer.  I know that Little Monster had a great time and he never ran out of fun things to keep him occupied.  If the Monster is having a good time, then this mama is having a great time!

Kids Cafe: La Cartata

We planned to go to a kids cafe today called Bang Bang!  There was a group of us in four cars that drove in search of Bang Bang.  We finally found the parking garage and walked around and around the buildings trying to find the cafe.  We finally found it and rode the teeny tiny elevator to the top floor, only to find that Bang Bang didn't open until 1 pm, which was 3 hours away.  I was determined to make it to a kids cafe today, so I told everyone that I had heard of a cafe called La Cartata and was going to try to find it.  Everyone else was on the same page and we all piled in our cars in search of La Cartata.

The only way to get around in Korea is by using the app: Waze.  However, since all the building are these 6 plus story buildings crammed all in the same location, I had no idea exactly where La Cartata was, just that Waze had declared, "You have arrived".  There was no parking whatsoever,  so we drove around the general location until I found a super-small-up-a-curb-in-a-field spot.  I pulled a Kevin and backed up the car like a boss.

We were surrounded by super tall buildings in all directions, and weren't sure where to go.  Luckily, where we parked, we had a perfect view of the huge building that had a picture of cartoon cars all over the top floor windows and La Cartata written in English and Korean.

We got to the building and rode the super small elevator to the top floor. Here we are all squished in an elevator!

 When the doors opened and the kids saw the cafe, they all started screaming with excitement!  They were so excited they ran past the benches to take shoes off and were trying to run into the Kids Cafe. Luckily, they heeded our calls and we were able to pull their shoes off while they wiggled around trying to get out of our grasps.  Once the shoes were off, the kids were gone.

La Cartata is AMAZING!!  There is an indoor track with at least 40 battery operated ride-on cars.  They even had a hand full of ride-on remote control cars for the kids that can't reach the peddles.  In front of the track were buckets of helmets and pads for the kids.  Each kid grabbed a helmet and hopped in their own car.  Big Sis had her knees in her chest and looked like she was in a clown car, but she still rode around the track a few times.  M&M and Little A were in car heaven.

Little Monster found his car and I used the remote control to take him around the track.  He must have thought he was driving because he was making car noises, turning the wheel, laughing and shouting.  After Big Sis realized her car was going ridiculously slow due to her weight, she took over the remote and drove the Monster around.

After Little A had her share of driving her car around, she went exploring the rest of the Kids Cafe.  She found a slide that shot her into a huge ball pit. Big Sis and M&M also found the ball pit and slide.  They enjoyed the turning wheel and spun around and around.

There was an overlook above the track where Little A decided to explore.  She found a small play kitchen and food.  There were cute paintings on the wall, and a huge assortment of play food.

I was able to convince Little Monster to take a break from his car and go exploring.  He found the Korean "sand/wood cubes" pit!  He and Little A enjoyed playing with the wood cubes. We were lucky to have such amazing friends join us.  Here is Little A with one of her best friends, Ella.

We also found a trampoline jump room.  There were flashing lights and colorful trampolines.  The trampoline was set up like the one at Big Jump, where there was an incline to the trampoline to make it a slide at one end.  The room was surrounded with padding and of course, in Korean fashion, there was a music video playing and music blaring.

Little Monster also found a Music area with a piano, drums, and an assortment of musical instruments.  I was impressed by the variety of toys and the like-new and well-cared-for condition they were in.

The kids wouldn't let us leave until they rode the cars one last time.  I told them three times around the track and then we needed to go.  They all raced around the track and Big Sis drove Little Monster.  They all left exclaiming that this was their new favorite place in Korea, and of course, asked if we could go back tomorrow.