Sara has no idea what birthdays are about, but she was her usual cheerful self.


The Price girls playing.

Sara has enjoyed playing with Kacy's dolls and stuffed animals lately.
Love the baby!
This is the night before Sara's first birthday. She has Kacy's bed covered with stuffed animals and dolls. She was loving it!


Kacy helps her little sister explore her new birthday toy--a cube with fun flaps/nursery rhymes on each side.
Then a pancake breakfast. Sara had a small pancake--the whole thing down the hatch.
And Sara loved her new books with different textures in them. She went back to them several times during the day.



Okay...so where's the cake? I'm ready!


Mmmmm...this is pretty good.

I love the chocolate frosting! More please?!?

I think I like this birthday thing!


Seriously, how about a little more?

Hanbok Day

This week is Korean culture week at TCIS. And today is specifically Hanbok Day. A Hanbok is a traditional Korean dress. They are used for fancy occasions--holidays, weddings, etc. A colleague loned us a hanbok for Sara. During Lunar holiday (and maybe other times but I'm not sure), the kids get dressed up and have a bowing ceremony. The parents or grandparents then give the kids a gift, frequently an envelope with money and some words of wisdom. Sara toured campus and received over $20 in gifts just for being cute in her hanbok. I think we will use it to kick off her college fund! :)


Kacy had a hanbok from a couple years ago that was way too big. Now, it fits perfectly and is none too big. Amazing how quickly they grow! Kacy loves to dance and "exercise". She is quite funny. She also takes good care of little Sara and loves to play with her and keep her entertained.

Kacy Eating Bulgogi

So the other day I attempted to make Bulgogi and Rice (not that hard in that you buy the meat already marinated at the store and just cook it). Anyway, Darren and I had already eaten when Kacy was dropped off after visiting with a friend. So, she walks in, sits down at the table and with no prompting at all begins to eat. I was shocked at what she did so I pulled out the camera to document. Here you go!

Turning 30

A colleague here talks about the "0" birthdays, referring to 20, 30, 40, 50, etc. Well, Darren hit one of the "o"'s this week the big 30~it was full of the usual excitement as birthdays always are. There is also the fact that we tried to go out to dinner with my family that is in Korea and we had to wait 1 hour and 15 minutes for our dinner...which all in all isn't that big of a deal except that we had four kids 5 and younger, which always makes dinner interesting. Here are some pictures. It really was as chaotic as it looks, but fun nonetheless. We did have another evening with some friends and no kids, although no pictures to show for that.

All the kids watch on as Uncle Darren/Daddy opens his gifts.

Seth, "What's on your head?"

We really are still at Outback when this picture is taken.

Lisa and myself in the midst of the chaos look somewhat relaxed.

Sara got a little nervous with all the candles and singing. Her birthday is next week.

Penang #2

Sorry for the hiatus from the blog. It has been a little hectic since the holiday.

So, Penang may be one of the most beautiful and relaxing places on earth. Here are a few more pictures/memories of our trip...

As previously stated, Kacy really enjoyed the food. Here is some dry Wonton Mee. She can really slurp it up. I see some TCK issues that are going to have to start working on.The Botanical Gardens(or what we more recently refer to as the Scary Monkey Gardens)...wow, we really did forget that there were crackers in the stroller and were attacked shortly after arrival. Fortunately Darren remembered to give the monkeys the crackers and get away. We definitely did see monkeys-a whole troop of them. And of course, the one with one eye followed us for the longest time. Oh yeah, we saw some beautiful flowers too.


Kacy and Sara both loved the pool. Kacy decided for the first time that she could put her face underwater and swim. By the time we were leaving she could swim across a narrow part of the pool (with mommy close by). I was amazed! We'll try to add some video later. She enjoyed her pink goggles and was quite brave.





My favorite days were the ones in which we started with breakfast outside, followed by pool time, an extended lunch by the pool, some more pool time, and then dinner with friends. What more could you ask for...pool and food--good food too!


And Sara loved the cookies we found.

She has acquired 1 tooth on the top recently with a 2nd just starting to poke a corner through. So nearly totaling 4 teeth. She will be excited to add more chewable food to her diet soon.

Penang

First, happy belated Chusok for those that wish to celebrate the Korean thanksgiving holiday. The actual holiday was last Tuesday, but we got the week off. In an effort to truly celebrate, we headed out of the country to the beach in Malaysia. Penang is an island off the northwest corner of Malaysia. It was a former British colony and it is one of the most diverse places I have visited in terms of an intertwining of cultures and ethnicities. The island is populated by Malays, Indians, and Chinese. As in much of SE Asia, the Chinese are the business people. Many Indians came during the British era and came as rubber tappers. Anyway, a neat place with awesome food that is ridiculously cheap. I will say that the taxis were a bit higher priced than necessary--more expensive than Korea and the gas and overall cost of living is significantly lower there. It is not government regulated--or at least enforced--so it has a gotten a bit out of hand. Regardless, a fun vacation.

Here is our two girls "anxious" to depart on the plane...well, at least one was an eager beaver.


We enjoyed some fun time by the pool. Sara loved the water...she has grown a ton and seems to be stretching out and getting much taller. I can easily tell this when I put her in my lap to give her a bottle these days.



Kacy loved the Penang Butterfly Farm. Yes, it sounds like a bit of a tourist trap and pretty much is, but she LOVED it. We managed to get some butterflies to land on her and even in her hair. It was quite fun and worth the little excursion.


Sara wanted to get in on the action but I'm not sure the butterflies are ready for her "gentle" caress.


Kacy ate all kinds of food. The locals were amazed at her ability to eat curry and other foods that contained spice. She is our little Asian girl. Sara found plenty to eat as well. She can sit down and eat for a VERY long time...the other day I thought she dumped the food off her tray because it was gone so fast. I never found a pile of tidbits so I must assume she just downed them. She is quite fun and enjoying her food immensely along with all the other explorations she embarks upon.


More Penang commentary later...