Summer is Coming to an End

 After getting back from Korea, Regan got to look at some of her souvenirs more closely and see some gifts that she was given as she left. She's really excited about this flag.

 I bought these socks and then didn't think they would fit her. She managed to get her feet in them, so she can keep them ;)

 My other kids really missed me while I was gone :) It was constant "Can we play a game together?" or "Can we go out together?" "Or (you name it) together?" :) Needless to say, Monopoly was asked for multiple times by different kiddos, so we played several games of it.

 Including Star Wars Monopoly which is just a hair different than traditional Monopoly.

 Hudson wanted to Know what FaceTime was, so he called his dad (who was sitting at the other end of the table) He thought it was so funny.

 Look at that face

 Our sweet puppies.

 Katherine is getting her desk ready for Back to School! We cleaned and organized the schoolroom so that it's ready for the new year.

 Jonathan suggested sandwiches and chips for dinner and watching a show together while we ate dinner...I then look at all the kids plates....Hmmm...not exactly what I was expecting :)  The top one was Katherine, the bottom one Hudson. I think he's been watching too much Master Chef Junior ;)

 I took all the kids for eye exams before school starts. New prescriptions for 2 of the kids and then Lauren through us for a 2 week loop.  Long story as short as possible...the eye doctor spent an hour on her eyes and then said "I'm not qualified. She needs to go to the hospital."

 A hospital trip many days in a row, lots of hmm's, and interesting, and I see something different, and LOTS of tests later...they wanted to admit her for 4 days of injections to her eyes to "see if it helps" I still have no idea what they think is wrong because they won't really tell me anything....SO I decided to NOT admit her and get a second opinion somewhere else.

 She has lots of really cool pictures for her scrapbook and perfectly normal kid eyes (minus the reading glasses that she got)

 But when you have to spend 2 weeks of your summer in hospitals...you get some special ice cream treats!!

 And maybe a milkshake (since we can't get them where we live)

 In the cleaning up process, we came across this ancient camera. The kids thought it was funny. "Why do you need a camera? All computers have a camera!" Well, no. They didn't use to have one.

 Saying goodbye! They had a great time seeing each other one last time!

 We always find the flowers on our walks!

 This is what happens when I don't pay attention to my order and accidentally order 7 boxes of Frosted Flakes!  It's ok. It was a good price and we eat them all the time...I just don't normally buy them all at once :)

 Another walk (with these two skating)

 The walks are in the evenings because the heat index stays around 120 during the day.  In the late afternoon/evening it starts to drop around 100 and we think it feels so much cooler!

 Hudson got a new haircut!  He wanted a picture before the gel was gone and it got "all messed up" :)

 A friend was moving and gave us their oven!  It's almost a normal sized one!!! It's amazing. We've only had toaster ovens, so we were excited to try it out!

 The girls and I went to see Winter, Yoyo, and Xiao Jun and go to a water park to the afternoon.  They had just gotten back from a trip to Vietnam. Winter used her own money to buy me a gift. She is so sweet.

 WE ate out for lunch and had a new dish that I have NEVER seen here before.  I can't get much ice in a drink, but they will bring a plate of it out with the sweet and sour meat in the middles of it! :)

 Katherine, Yoyo, Regan, Lauren, Winter (outside the waterpark)

 Dinner was late (after 9:00 pm) and this hot dog was HUGE!

 We went to a restaurant run by a foreigner...the kids enjoyed a hamburger, lasagna, and...

 quesadillas :)

 We found a plant store nearby....I guess we will be visiting here often as the school year progresses ;)

 Katherine and her passion fruit plant

 swimming at a hotel with friends....no one was in the pool because the "sun was too big"

 Lauren and Chloe at lunch with a basketball player who was 2.0 meters tall. They were very excited about it and Lauren told him many times that her cousins were taller than him...not sure if they really are taller or not because I haven't done the math in my head...but she enjoyed bragging about her cousins, Brett and Josh.

KOREA

Korea her we come! I traveled with Regan to Korea with her taekwondo team. I had a great time. We had to travel in matching tops ;)

It's time to board!

After 4 hours, we arrived in Seoul, Korea!

It wasn't at all what I had in my mind for Korea. It seemed so flat. I pictured tons of mountains and cities throughout (which we saw later)

The buildings in Seoul all seemed very "boxy" Literally every building we say had the same box feeling and sharp lines. We hopped on the bus from the airport to drive to headquarters...

5.5 HRS later, we arrived!  Headquarters is in Muju County and is literally on top of a mountain.

We had a very nice room with TWO bathrooms!

After traveling all day, they had a practice at 9:30 at night so that they would be ready for the competition the next morning.

The line for breakfast was crazy long! I've never really pictured rice and kimchi for breakfast, but they did serve a bowl of milk, too, so that was nice.

I only took a picture of the sign because I thought it explained it so well...pure genius. It dries your umbrellas just like the air jets in bathrooms....no more dripping umbrellas or crazy plastic bags to put them in.

These are the 3 mascots of headquarters. In case you are wondering why such an old looking guy... to be a 9th degree black belt, you must be over 65 years old and you can only get it in Korea. Regan is a 2nd degree black belt...you can do it! ;)

The check-in building and dormitories

walking down to the competition venue

Still walking...the building in the picture is the Museum, the arena was a little bit further past it.

This is her team (well half of them are from her center and the other half from a partner center in another town)

We made it!!

The money was messing me up...I felt so strange paying 2 THOUSAND for water and getting a 500 hundred coin back as change. I literally had no idea how much I was spending half the time. Thankfully, the prices were fair :)

We LOVED that Korea LOVES cold cold COLD drinks! They freeze their waters before they sell them.

Lunch break! Walking back up to the cafeteria....lets just say we got at least 20,000 steps a day (mostly on an incline)

Cai Ming Zhen and Regan

Regan and her friend with 3 of the members from the Korean Army Taekwondo Demonstration group. They were a lot of fun to watch.  The guy on the left was steadying himself with Regan's arm because he was standing on his tiptoes so that he didn't look so much shorter than her.

She's about to be called to perform. She was so nervous, especially since she was competing with a pulled hamstring. She so wanted to be 100% better, but those things take a crazy long time to heal completely.

2nd place!!!!!!!

This is their center's team. He Wan Rong, Regan, Cai Ming Zhen, Wang Yang, He Jun De

the cafeteria

Korean Army Taekwondo Demonstration Team

check out the height!

Her 2 favorite countries :)

This was breakfast!!

We saw a rainbow :)

Here's a model of Headquarters (Taekwondowon) They own all the land pictured

So this moth/butterfly was REALLY BIG, but looking at the picture now, I think it looks a little small.

This is some Korean Robot/transformer and apparently he was awarded a 4th degree black belt??

World of Taekwondo

                                     

Dippin Dot Ice cream

They took us to a bug museum...the entire time we thought of Katherine. She would have loved it.

Regan's new favorite butterfly

Now THAT is a HUGE beetle/cockroach!!!

We were the only two that went through the plant part of the center because everyone else said it's too hot...they missed out.

Lunch

This soup was really good....oh! And Korean chopsticks are flat...who knew.

cold noodles...not my favorite

random things at the store...

Butter Caramel and Mayo Cheese?? I'll pass.

A tram will take you to the very top of Headquarters

felt like we were back in Tennessee :)

Regan, the Korean masters, and her coach

some boys from the Korean team

Having a little fun with the photos :)

Hmmm, again. No thanks.

I was really hoping to find a little caffeine on the third day....early morning, full days, and late nights were starting to catch up to me.  I decided that Pepsi Strong is way better than Pepsi. I'm not a huge Pepsi fan because I think it's too sweet, but I liked this one.

Grasshoppers everywhere!

The coach bought snacks and 3 pizzas to celebrate how well the team did! The party started at 9:00 at night.

Regan and I got up early the next morning to walk the grounds. The training area was pretty awesome!!

For practicing balance and kicks while going from one to the other, alone or fighting with someone else.

Doing the routines from an elevated platform...you have to be precise or you will fall off!

WE still aren't sure what these were for, but Regan now has a special pin and another medal from closing ceremonies. They only gave out three. It was presented in Korean and I don't think the English translation was quite right, but it's ok. Pretty cool stuff.

Tourism Day...Chicken Lunch (Yes, we are all eating on the floor)

The Korean master came with us and he got tired of how we were getting the meat off and came around and torn the bird apart...haha

One of the most ingenious ideas ever! Huge blocks of ice every few feet on the sidewalks to help cool you down

The team decided that everyone needed to dress up...I agreed...who doesn't like to get a fun picture made, right? I had no idea that they intended (and we did) walk around town wearing these outfits! How am I supposed to souvenir shop in this dress??? :)

in front of some ancient palace

There were churches all over...this was a cathedral near the walking street where we were.

These two ladies were so sweet. We bought a couple things from their shop.

Regan is trying to see how long it takes to leave her finger impressions in the ice.

It's good to cool your face down, too. :)  I love the look of the girl in the top left corner...she thought it was hilarious that we were not afraid of the cold.

The team drove swan boats around a lake.

Dinner...don't ask what anything is...I have no idea...it was tons of food. Most of it was delicious.

eggplant

tasted just like American meatloaf

A special tea to end the meal. It didn't taste bad, but I am pretty certain that this is what triggered my killer migraine. It smelled like I was drinking essential oils...I couldn't place all the smells of it.

Regan fell in live with this suitcase.

Not the best picture, but we were on a bus heading back to the airport. This is the statue entering the town of Muju.

The rest stop had a Dunkin Donuts.

We bought a small thing of munchkin...not nearly as sweet as the States, but very good!

Once we got to the airport, we were ready for lunch. Regan was so excited that they had a Taco Bell!!  It's been one of her favorites since she was itty bitty. It was a little different from the "normal" but such a nice treat after a week of Korean camp food :)

about to leave Korea

A Starbucks for the road

My seat ended up next to He Wan Rong...she always smiles like this in pictures because she wants to have bigger eyes...

but I love the natural smiles/laughs :)  We are back home!!!