Grandaddy and Moving

Our last week in Seoul, my dad flew out to help keep our kids company while we packed up our house to move back to the USA.  We had a fun time seeing some of the sights in Seoul with him as a sort of "last hurrah" and goodbye.  

Here are some of our pictures from the week:

We went to Gyeongbokgung, the largest palace in Seoul, and watched the changing of the guard.
Our children were photographed (a lot) by the Chinese tourists there while Dad towered above everyone and got a good view.  Marc and Emmalyn didn't know what to think of all these strangers giving them so much attention!

We spent a lot of time packing and going through all of our stuff to see what would make the cut into one of our 11 bags and what we needed to sell or give away.  Dad had some quality time with the grandchildren and we appreciated his help!

What a mess!  Dad was patient with us while we slowly packed...

Marc and Emmalyn shared their favorite lunchtime meal with Grandaddy.. Kimbap!

Jarrod took Dad out for a night of Screen Golf! 

As we drove around Seoul, we all packed into our small car.. Jarrod and Dad up front, and me with the three kids in the back..

Finally... all our bags were packed!

And it's off to the airport!

We were a sight... so glad that Dad was there to help push all our stuff through the airport!!

Only 14 hours between us and the USA.  Hooray for a direct flight to Virginia from Seoul!

Yeah!  We made it!  Safe and Sound... and TIRED.. finally to Grandaddy's and Grandmomma's house!

Avengers in Seoul!

They have been filming Avengers 2 in Seoul the past week.. and Jarrod went with some friends to catch the action as the Black Widow (stunt double?) rode Captain America's motorcycle through Gangnam.

Looking forward to seeing our city on the big screen!.. oh, and the movie, too!

Hawaii Vacation 2013

I have been waiting to do a post about our Hawaii trip this summer before I start back with life in Korea.. but was overwhelmed by the amount of pictures I have - and realized that if I wanted to really be thorough about it - I would probably need to write 10 posts.  So - here is the abbreviated version.

Hawaii was definitely a highlight of the summer.. of the year.. of our marriage.. really, of my life. ;)   Ok, there are some things I can think of that were better... like getting married, having babies, graduating high school.. and college... and grad school.., but THIS was probably the best vacation I have been on. Ever.

Why?  Because I can't think of any thing about it that was bad or went wrong... it was relaxing, refreshing, great family memories, and full of new experiences, learning about our nation's history, and sunshine.  This kind of vacation doesn't come around very often (our wallets couldn't handle it!) but we were so glad to be able to celebrate our 5 years of marriage/30th Birthdays/3rd baby "babymoon" in Oahu.

So the details: 

We arrived on Oahu early in the morning on June 8 and left late in the evening on June 18th.  Our rental condo at Beach Villas at Ko Olina was fantastic and let us check in as soon as we arrived (instead of the normal 4 o'clock) which was really nice since we were traveling with jet-lagged kids, and they let us check out late (instead of the normal 10am) so that we just went straight to the airport in the evening and Emmalyn could have one last afternoon nap there.  We highly recommend our condo for families with young kids!

 (click pictures to enlarge!)

 We spent a lot of time - at least some part of every day- at the (semi-salt water) pools and at the beach lagoons just outside our resort gates.

 One day we took a tour around the island, hitting up Turtle Bay at the North Shore, and back down the   Eastern "rainy" coast.  We are glad to have seen that side of the island, but were thankful for our relentless sunny days on the Western side of Oahu.

After our tour of the island, we headed to the airport to pick up Jarrod's parents to enjoy the rest our Hawaiian vacation.

We went to the Dole Plantation, Pearl Harbor, and Waikiki:

We were able to visit with some of our friends, Nick and Naomi, from our small group in Korea that moved to Oahu.  Nick works as a helicopter mechanic and test pilot, so one day we went up to Wheeler  Army Airbase to get a tour of the Blackhawks that he works on.  It was great to see them both at the base and at our resort!

We celebrated Jarrod's actual 30th birthday (and my 30th to come..) with a gift from Jarrod's parents: a Luau at Paradise Cove.

Jarrod's parents went the night before us so that they could babysit for us. We were thankful!

Our beach villa was next to the Disney Resort, so - of course - we headed over there to check it out and meet some of Marc's favorite characters. :)

 Did I already say that we went swimming?
A lot?

 And snorkling??  Jarrod got us all to go out with him!.. He even took Marc in a floaty with his goggles so that he could look down into the water. :)

 And then.. just like that.. it was time to leave. 

So long, sweet Hawaii...

...until next time???    ;)