Everland

On Tuesday, we headed over to Everland at midday. (Everland is a giant amusement park near Suwon.) I had never been before although Laura had been several times with her elementary students. The Hawkins accompanied us. Hayley and Kacy had an absolute blast. Kacy loved the rides and was very excited. With no nap and such non-stop fun, Kacy passed out dead asleep in the stroller on the way out of the park (around 7:00) and slept until the next morning. That is a sure sign that she was all worn out.

We started the rides with the "Dancing Plane" which went around and around. Kacy screamed and waved at mom on the ground. I think Kacy was better on some of these rides up in the air than Laura would be! :)

After that, we headed over to these cars which Kacy screamed on doing little loops and turns. You can also see Hayley in the background of this picture.

Kacy loved the Flying Elephants. There was a red button inside that she could push to make it go up. So like to go high. We rode this multiple times. At first she wanted Daddy to with her, but that really didn't work out because he didn't fit, so she decided it was okay to go by herself.

The Merry Go Round is always fun!

Sara was just sort of along for the ride. She did a great job trooping along and enduring some fairly imposing passersby with pictures. She just kind hung out, like her picture here.

Kacy wanted to ride the camel. We passed on that but it was interesting to check out.We did ride a pony which Kacy enjoyed very much!

Waiting for the ride to start...And Aesop's Village had some really fun places to play!

And Daddy even got to ride a couple adult rides. It was a fun day!

A Needed Update

Okay, sorry about the hiatus. We were doing really well but have been off the blog for awhile. Kacy had a cold and is getting much better. Sara is all congested now. The last 2-3 weeks have been much fun, but pretty crazy. Lots of travel for me to Suwon and back.

You can see some pics of some Saturday face painting of Kacy with Daddy.

I love my stool! I can be a hair dresser, a teacher, and a mommy all from one prop!
Happiness...
And many firsts. About 2 weeks ago, Sara rolled over for the first time. She has been on rice cereal for about 2 weeks and sleeping from about 9 PM to 8 AM. This is some of her first cereal bites.
Where did she go? Kind like a "where's waldo?" except for "Where's Sara?"

Sara: The Early Months

Hitting the Slopes

I did it. I went skiing. I wouldn't say that I am an accomplished skier, but I did accomplish some skiing. It was my 2nd adventure out to the slopes, my last one being a year ago during Lunar. I started on the beginner slope where they were teaching all the new beginners (including numerous small children). I made it down that a couple times with some success at turning and not crashing, so we (Kirk was with me and much more proficient with his snowboard) decided that it was time to progress to something more difficult. We went for the 5.5 km trail that started at Dragon Peak, the highest peak in the immediate area and at the resort. We enjoyed the scenic 20 minute ride to the top. Upon arrival, we had some awesome views of the mountains. And then we ventured over to the slopes. On the left was the advanced slopes...looked plenty scary to me. A large sign pointed to the intermediate on the right. All I could see was the top of a tree dead middle of the slope and what appeared to be a sheer drop off. First, I was hoping to aim my skis in the right direction to hit the intermediate and not “accidentally” veer to the "certain death" (aka advanced) slope. And as I looked at this beginning, I had to ask myself if I was committed to 5.5 km if it was all like this. I could still take the Gondola back down and move to something more simple. After a short internal pep talk, I strapped on the skis and headed past the point of no return. The first part of the hill was more of a sideways slide for me than any skiing. However, after making it down the treacherous beginning, the trail got significantly better as did I. I was able to get confidence in having some control...being able to slow down and turn—intentionally. I was quite glad that I challenged myself with something more difficult and I was able to carve some “S”s down some intermediate slopes with some degree of confidence before the day was out. Dragon Peak actually got a couple runs. It is a great feeling to learn some new skills. Lots of fun.

All of this occurred at Yongpyong Ski Resort where we spent several days over our Lunar break. They are making a bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics here. It is a nice place and it was great for us because it wasn't very busy. We rarely waited for any lifts.

Below are some pics from the event...

Sara hanging out.

Sara, literally, hanging out...too much sledding and snowman building excitement.Our (well, mostly Daddy's) snowman.The Price girls, with Kacy munching a snack.Our sledding hill: Daddy is in the distance testing it out and Kacy waits for her turn, probably after trying to chase Daddy. As you can see, it was some nice long rides (which also lead to nice long walks back).

KK Doughnut Run

We had our first KK doughnut run tonight. It was quite good. I have to say that they were a little slack on the hot doughnuts. We got some in line but the box we bought had already cooled. But we'll cut them a little slack because I know they were prepared for the onslaught customers.

Kacy continues to crack us up on regular occasions. She is a lot of fun. Tonight she is with Grandma for a sleepover, the 2nd such event.

Kacy loves circle time in the ELC (Early Learning Center) as shown below.

Be careful what you do Auntie Jo, because it will be dramatized for us at home!

Go Heels!

Despite a valiant attempt to tape the Dook/UNC game, it didn't happen. It appears that the rainy weather was just crummy enough to keep the satellite TV from working on campus. And then Itunes was kind of featuring it so I thought maybe it would be available for download. But no luck so far. So we watched highlights on ESPN.com, which are actually pretty good these days. Anyway, it always brightens my day when the Dookies get whooped up on!

And the featured video of the week, Lebron makes the highlights with downright amazing shooting...


And for lack of other excitement, some pictures...

...from our little overall photo shoot today!

Kacy waiting for popcorn expectantly...

Hot news!

We saw it! In person! We had not dared to even think of it, let alone hope it would actually happen during our contract. But I saw it with my own eyes. In Dunsan, Daejon, South Korea, opening February 8th...Fat in new forms. Delectable circles of warm goodness. Originating in Winston Salem, NC--Krispy Kreme. Words do not express...