From Seoul, Korea to Frankfurt, Germany

We originally had TLF (Temp living at the on base hotel) booked for a week in Korea, but then we found out we can just stay in our apartment with loner furniture until the last day, so we chose to do just that.  Especially since we have Bailey now, life is easier to just stay in our own apartment.  We had our final inspection and turned in the keys the night before we left Korea.  It was bittersweet to say goodbye to 615 Hallasan, our home the past two years.  

Even though the apartment was really small, and significantly smaller then our home in Texas, it was perfect for us while we lived here.  I won't miss the broken master bedroom ceiling fan, or the weird toilet that never seemed to work in the master bath.  I also will be so excited for more space and especially for room to breath and spread out.  But, I will miss the convenience of living on base, and Kevin walking across the street for work.  I will miss all the kid's activities just a walk away.  I will miss the friends right across the hall, and I will miss the easy friendships we made.  Korea has been wonderful and I am so glad we had this opportunity. So we said good bye to our empty apartment and set off for a night at TLF in Korea and back to temp living for a while.

The next morning, we got up nice and early and packed our bags for our ride to the airport.  Kevin and all the kids took the base bus at 6:00 AM to the airport.  We didn't have as many bags as when we moved to Korea, but we still had a ton of bags.  I helped Kevin get the kids on the bus, and the luggage in the bus cargo.  I waved good bye, and off they went.

Unfortunately, the busses don't allow animals, so since we have Bailey I had to make other arrangements.  Our amazing friends, the Walkers were spending the day in Incheon and offered to wake up early and take Bailey and me to the airport.  About an hour after Kevin left, I was picked up by Brianne and Co. and off we went to the airport.

Kevin got to the airport without any problems.  All the kids helped carry all the luggage in, except for Monster who added himself as one of the bags.

The kids found some seats and waited the hour for me to join them.  Krista DeGuelle, our adopted Aunt and our previous neighbor in San Antonio, sent a package with airplane gifts for all the kids.  The opened their gifts and were busy little bees (Thanks to Krista) while they waited for me.

The Walkers and I arrived to the airport and they decided to park and come hang out with us for a while.  The kids were so happy to see their best little buds one last time.  They went and got donuts and smoothies and just played and talked while we waiting for our flight to check in.  The time came to get checked in and we had some rather sad goodbyes to say.  These were the hardest good bye of all Korea.  We will miss the Walkers!

It took us about two hours to check in.  Oh MY Goodness!  That was so stressful.  Our orders only allowed us one luggage per person, so we had issues with having too many bags.  Then, we were having issues getting Bailey on the plane.  Eventhough we came to the airport just a few days earlier to get her passed with customs, and even though we had all the required paperwork, the agent didn't seem to know what she was doing.  She kept leaving and going in a back room to check the paper with someone in the back.  In the end, they finally said we can take her, but then charged us a few hundred dollars to let her on the plane.  By this point, we were frustrated and the kids were a wiggling mess, so we paid the money and moved on to security.  Luckily we didn't have any further problems, and made it through security and to our gate without any hiccups.  We brought a pee pad, so the girls took Bailey into the handicap bathroom and she went on the pee pad without any issues, so that was super nice!

We made it onto the plane and found our seats.  Big Sis wanted Bailey under her feet, so she took charge of her.  I had the Monster and Little A by me.  We got out Aunt Krista's gifts once more, iPads, and some small toys and the kids made it though take off and into the sky.

We had an 11 hour flight to Germany and the kids did great.  I think travelling all over Asia has made them better travellers.  We kept them occupied and they really did wonderful.  We landed in Germany safe and sound and didn't have any problems as we walked through customs and onto German soil.  And here we are now, in Europe and ready for our next adventure to begin.  Willkomen German!

A Fond Farewell to Friends

We spent our last week in Korea spending as much time as possible with our amazing friends.  The kids loved going to the pool and seeing friends, and I loved it even more when we would go and I would see my friends.  If friends were at the pool we would spend up to four hour at the pool.  Here is Adreann Liddell, Corianne Shwarts and Holly Rust posing for this picture.  I love my friends. Monster also loves his friends, especially Rhett.  It was always hard to get him out of the pool when Rhett was there.  Friends make life so sweat.

One of our final times before we left, we made sure the kids told their friends that we were going to the pool and they had a small pool party.  They loved having fun in the sun one last time with all their best buds.  

We had a girls night right before Holly Rust and I left and we got together and went to my favorite cafe, CF Cafe.  We talked and laughed and just had a great time.  After CF Cafe, we decided to say Good Bye to Korea through Karaoke.  So we went out in search of a large Karaoke private room.  We went down one of the SED side streets and saw a sign that looked like a microphone and decided to try it out.  As we were walking down the walkway there were neon flashing lights that made it look as if it were a strip club.

We were a bit nervous as we reached the top of the stairs and came to a closed door.  We didn't know if we should walk in, knock or walk away.  Someone ended up opening the door and it was in fact a Karaoke place.  We rented a large room for an hour and had the best time just singing our hearts out.

The girls also had a final Young Women night with their friends.  They loved being able to say good bye and bake with their friends.  They sure have made some life long friends here in Korea.  It has been such a great place to live and we have loved calling it home for the last two years.  Kevin and I had one last final Minute to Win It Party with a few friends.  We had a blast playing games, talking trash, and just being with our favorite peeps.

Two nights before we left Korea, we finally found the most amazing restaurant.  We had a final farewell and amazing dinner with our neighbors and good friends, Jin and Will Chung and their family.  They not only treated us to the best Korean BBQ, but they taught us how to eat it correctly.

Kevin and I have had Korean BBQ a few times, but we always ate it wrong.  Jin shared with us that you are supposed to put the entire thing in your mouth because it hold the goodness of the person who made it. The sides that they put all around the table are unlimited free re-fills, which I never knew.  We also tried some amazing side dishes that I was always scared to try.  Will taught us how to use the sauce to make it taste even more amazing.  And we tried some excellent soup.  The food was so amazing.  The best part was that the restaurant had a play place, so when Little Monster and Little A were done eating, they just went to play.  We had a great dinner and a sad good bye to our great friends, the Chungs.

Golf Club to Pass the Time

All our stuff is gone, and the kids have nothing to do.  I found out that the base was offering golf club/ lessons for kids the last two weeks before we left.  I called and reserved them a spot.  The golf club included golf clubs for all the kids, and it was three hours Monday, Wednesday and Friday for two weeks.  We had absolutely nothing else, other then going to the pool, so the girls were excited about learning how to play golf.  The Rusts also joined in the lessons, so they were even more excited to have friends join them.  It was actually Holly that told me about the lessons, Thank you Holly!

All the kids had fun and the instructors really did an amazing job with all the kids.  They spent time at the driving range practicing their swings.  There were a few old men that would sit back and give the kids pointers.  I'm not sure if they were part of the lessons or not, but they helped the girls so much.  I think they were just avid golfers with nothing to do but love the sport.

The very last lesson was the day before we left.  We literally loaded a bus to the airport 17 hours after they were done with their last day.  Instead of a lesson on the last day, they had a golf tournament.  I brought Monster and came to watch the game.  They had the course all set up for the kids and we started on hole 10.

All the kids took their turn, and I was surprised at how well they all did.  Golf isn't a very exciting sport to watch, poor Monster kept asking if we could leave.  You can see M&M, Little A and Big Sis all ready to go.

After the tournament, we all went back to the club house for awards and food.  They fed everyone a hotdog and chips lunch with a nice cold soda.  They also gave the kids certificates of achievement and completion and a golfer towel.  All the girls were excited to learn the sport and asked if we can play in Germany.  After lunch, we put the golf clubs in their boxes, along with the certificates and towels, and went straight to the mail box to mail them to ourselves in Germany.

Karaoke, Korean Style

Karaoke is HUGE in Korea.  I am not one to sing in front of people, since I really can't carry a tune or hit the right notes all the time.  But one day, for date night, Kevin and I found a Karaoke booth in the local arcade.  The way Koreas do Karaoke is by going in a booth about the size of a telephone booth and singing their hearts out to a screen that shows the words and the most random music videos that have nothing to do with the song, or even matches the words or song at all.  As we walked in the arcade we passed by a booth that had a single Korean military guy, still in uniform, just belting it out to the tv screen in full passion.  The next booth also had a single guy in it doing the same.  We passed two more booths and those had two people singing together.  So, with all shame left at the first soldier in the first booth, we paid our 2 won and enjoyed singing horribly and loudly for the next hour.  It was a hoot!  

I decided to show Talia a true Korea past time and took her to the arcade and the Karaoke booth.  Bri came with us and we sang our hearts out on full blast.  We had so much fun that we vowed we we go back one more time before Talia had to go back home.  So the night before Talia had to leave, we run to the arcade and enjoy our last Karaoke night together.  We even had a disco ball in our booth that would light up and spin.  We had so much fun picking old 80s songs and just sounding absolutely horrible.  It was the best time ever and the best way to end Talia's trip with a bang.

We figured out that at the end of the song, the computer gives you a grade on how well it thought you sounded.  I'm not sure in it graded you on correct words, rhythm, loudness or just plain energy, but when we found out that it scored us, our volume level increased about 200 %.  We sounded so awful!  It was the best.  I wish I would have had the guts to try Karaoke sooner while living in Korea, I would have gone every week.  For our second to last song, we totally scored a 100%, we were so excited.  Sadly we ended the night and our singing trio with only an 81%.

Yeosu Beach

Hello! It's Big Sis and I am going to tell you all about Yeosu Beach. It was an early morning in the little AirB&B and so after packing up and getting into the chaotic cars, we drove off to the rail park. The original plan was to ride the bikes then go to the beach which was literally right next to the bikes so we all thought that was a great idea. When we went to get the tickets, we realized that there was a long wait and that the price was really expensive (I'm not even going to say that price!) After the adults had a short 20 second conversation, we decided that it was best if we went straight to the beach and just ditched the bike idea. The vote was unanimous among the kids that they just wanted to go swimming. Since it was already really hot, the Walkers (the family that was with us) said that they were going to get ice creams and so we went with them. One of the littles from their family found little Korean hair clips that were windmills. Mom thought that they were so cute so all of the kids got one. After getting the clips in, we all ate our ice cream while walking to the docks to get a picture. I could hear the moms laughing behind us and saying "They are all so Korean now!"I guess we are officially part Korean now because it is like the one thing that Korean are always wearing, little cute funny hair clips. 

We got down to the docks and after we took a couple pictures, we were off to the beach. The view was really pretty. There were these huge cement jacks looking things.  They were pretty neat.

After walking to the beach, we quickly realized that since the sand was slightly black that it was super duper hot. It burned so bad so we hurried under the umbrellas. After putting on sunscreen, we hurried into the water. It was so cool to the touch, but after just jumping in, it felt glorious because it was so hot and the sky was clear. The moms started to walk off and after about 5 minutes, they returned with a HUGE flamingo water float and two water tubes. We all went crazy over them. Since I didn't have anything else to do, I thought "Why not push the little around on the flamingo?" Quinn is only 6 and can't swim very well so I volunteered to push her around the beach on the flamingo. She loved it. Little A and her friend Brynlee sat on the side and just jumped off of the floaty whenever they wanted to and just swam back to shore. M&M and her Best Friend Claire both claimed a tube and just floated around in the deeper parts. 

To swim around with Quinn, I just held unto the wing and frog kicked around the water. Since the water was a little murky, I didn't go more the 40 or so feet away from the shore, but Quinn just loved the ride in general. I managed to photobomb a few photo's along with the 2 older! LOL!

The Korean lifeguards were a sight to see.  They were covered head to toe.  It is so much different then America.  Even the people swimming were covered and in wet suits or even just normal long sleeve and pants.  The life guards had hats, glasses, scarfs, long sleeves, gloves, pants and socks and shoes.  I saw one life guard cover their ankle with their hand when a tiny bit of skin was showing.  They must really be afraid of the sun.

Monster, Talia, and the parents all just sat under the shade of the umbrella and just sat there watching us.

After eating and playing more in the water for another hour, mom told us it was time to go home. The bathroom was really small and really gross so we decided to just make a changing room between the cars. After the kids went in two at a time and changed (that took like 20 minutes) we finally were back on the road.

This weekend was so much fun and I know for a fact that I really loved helping Quinn more then I would have enjoyed my time alone in the water. I loved this adventure that we went on and I am excited for what new travel await us in our new chapter to our book of life, our time in Germany!