The "Hawaii" of Korea.

We left Monday afternoon in this aircraft...





Our seats...

And about an hour later we landed on Jeju Island...



The locals love to tell you it's like Hawaii in Korea. I'm not ready to substantiate that claim, but a free trip to a lovely island sans kids is surely very close to Paradise.

The Yongmeori Coast likened to a small version of the Grand Canyon, it was lovely.

Yum, an afternoon snack of sea cucumber and other various shell fish fresh from the sea, was surely hard to pass up. But believe it or not, I didn't eat any.


Couldn't pass up taking this picture. Apparently the jumping picture is an international photo sensation. I thought a few people I know would appreciate the global nature of the phenomenon.

Tomorrow is our last day in Jeju. A trip away always make you appreciate the hard work that goes into creating the joy and happiness that is our family. We'll enjoy our trip, but we are sure glad that normally we have more than just two subjects to photograph.

One sister sings, the other dances.

They make the perfect duo, go figure.

We try to encourage Jane as much as possible to sing along Karaoke style to her Barbie tunes online. With a bit more practice we'll have a real number ready to perform at the next talent show.

P.S. So much for posting one picture a day in May. I think I mostly liked that it rhymed. But seriously, every day since I wrote that down, I have tried to take a picture and dreamed of posting them. I have no idea where the plan fell apart.

P.P.S. The dresses showcased in the video are part of the Spring 2009 sewing Bonanza. I can tell I'm not done yet. That is both exciting and frightening all at the same time. Is it possible to sew too much? (Please don't really answer that question.)

The week before May...

Has been sunny and bright. Here are a few reasons why:

We successfully constructed another award winning Pinewood Derby car. Not quite the first place of last year, but second isn't bad considering we felt like we built it with hands tied behind our back, you know since we live in Korea and don't have Home Depot and all. Congrats to Henry and Darin. Job well done boys!


We got to babysit this cute dog Isabel. Not exactly my idea of fun, but a valuable lesson passed on from my own mother. My mother insisted that we would never own a dog, but she was always willing to babysit cute small dogs belonging to other people. It really is a brilliant idea. However, babysitting Isabel only confirmed to me all the more that indeed, "We will never own a dog." She followed me all around the house as if she was my own little toddler. At least she didn't whine or say "mom", but seriously, I don't need anymore shadows.


We had glorious weather for three days straight. My days consisted of offering to take the girls outside to each and every playground on base, where I would quickly find the direction the sun was shining and lay myself directly in it's cancer inducing rays. The vitamin D has never been so appreciate by any living soul. And my girls thought that all that laying down was part of the game, in every instance, talk about brilliant!

As a side note, one time this week when we were walking to a park, Ruby spotted a beautiful full azalea shrub. As we passed it she said to me, "Mom, when I die, will you lay me out here in these flowers?" I was so confused at first because I had no idea what the correct answer to that question was. But then a quick scan through the memory helped me recall that all of her favorite princesses at one time or another temporarily die and get laid out on a pile of beautiful flowers. I quickly reassured her that should she ever fall into an enchanted death, we would indeed find that particular patch of azalea to lay her in. She seemed completely satisfied.



A while back, somewhere after the green polka dot dress, but before the yellow one. Around the pajama bottoms but before a baby blanket, Ruby suggested that she needed a caterpillar shirt. Music to my ears! Late one night this week a caterpillar creation was constructed. And I do believe it is the exact shade of happiness and joy. I did that on purpose.

Darin always blames me for asking leading questions which result in statements like "Ruby wanted a caterpillar shirt". I swear, as God is my witness, that no such leading questions are ever asked. These girls are marrow from my bones, and requesting a caterpillar shirt is akin to any child requesting a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. Fabric creations are now part of our daily colloquium.

Flip flops arrived in the mail. Hot Dog, was that a great day!

Much spontaneous crafting has occurred this week. And short of the laundry getting folded, or having fresh flowers on the kitchen table, nothing tickles me as much as walking past one of the children only to find them engaged in a creative pursuit:

Henry's new church clothes also arrived in the mail this week. I feel like he is growing right before my eyes. Have you ever seen such a fine young man?

and the matching yellow dress was lovingly made this week too. So a pair of spotted dresses, tied with bows, perfect for the first Sunday in May.

But capturing a posed picture of four children, not so perfect, this first Sunday in May.

And finally, here is what we woke up to on Sunday afternoon...

Kids being kids.

P.S. My sister Rachel has mentioned posting one picture a day in May. Maybe I should too?!

A Jane and Ruby Update...

because, they are growing up entirely too fast.  There, I have officially admitted it.  What if I forget what it was like when they were four?  I will now unabashedly post a bunch of pictures of them over the past few days.  

 

A birthday box arrived three months late.  But it was almost better to have it arrive at the end of April just when we were needing a bit of princess cheer for a day.  The dress-up dresses glittered up our house so profoundly that Darin banned them from future wear (well, he didn't actually ban them, but he wishes he could.  And they desperately want to wear them to church one Sunday, and I'm trying to figure out how I can let that happen, and still stay happily married...).  

 

And then one night this week after a bath, I was too tired to get out the blow dryer so that everyone could have dry hair to sleep on.  Somehow I thought it would be quicker to just throw sponge rollers in.  I also must have forgotten that it wasn't 1985 that night.  But whatever, you only have twin 4-year-old daughters once.  Know what I mean?  

 

The result, the next morning.  Not quite the coif we had all three dreamed of (Jane's fell out sometime during the night), but sponge rollers never really made all your dreams come true.  Some lessons we're still trying to learn, even when we are 31.  

 

(Love the look on Jane's face in the background here. )

There have been some late nights of spring sewing going on around here.  The green dress is number 1 of 2 that are going to be polka dotted and tied with a bow.  The second one is sitting cut out on the ironing board waiting for it's turn to come to life.  Ruby has claimed the green one and is now on day 3 of wearing it.  Somehow I don't mind.  It makes the lost sleep worth it when a dress is so loved that it is passes the test so thoroughly that it's worn repeatedly.  I have now hid it in the dirty basket.  I mean it's cute, but really, was it four days in a row cute?

Here it was on day 1 being modeled with the long sleeve shirt underneath.  

Here it was being modeled without the shirt, if that's more comfortable for you while you play the Wii.  

Here is Jane modeling the leg warmers lovingly sent from cousin Lisa.  We have a tube sock for leg warmers exchange thing going on right now.  I send her tube socks, I get back in return adorable leg warmers, you should try it.  Today was day one of leg warmers.  They were the perfect touch for this brisk April afternoon.  As I explained to Jane, if your legs are warm, you don't need a jacket, and that was all she needed to hear to be convinced of her love of the leg warmers.  Thanks cousin!

And now after all these photos, I think I'm seeing spots everywhere I look.  Perhaps that's why the other polka dotted bowed dress can't quite find a seamstress excited to bring it to life.  Do we really need more polka dots in our life?!  

Probably not, but we ALWAYS need more dresses.  And that's a Jane and Ruby update.  

Good night.  

Day 3: Goodbye to Gjeongju and all its beauty.

The last day we decided to return to Bowmun resort. When we went the first time and rented the bikes, the children wondered why we hadn't rented the mini ATVs. So we decided that it would be wise to end the vacation as the Best Parents In The World, and go back for the ATVs. We went first thing in the morning. We were probably the first customers of the day, which in Korea is a big deal. The guy gave each of the kids a vehicle and we had one solid hour of fun driving around the courtyard of the lake. The crowds were thin in the morning so the kids could feel wild and free on their ATVs. And I thoroughly enjoyed a country that didn't have liability laws and issues that would have then prohibited my children from having the kind of fun that they did. Who lets 4 year-olds drive motorized vehicles? Seriously, is was some good times for the Earnest children.












But when the hour of motorized fun was up, the Korean Duck boats were calling my name! Hearkening back to the Boston Duck Tour of summer 2007, we laid down our 9000 Won per boat and peddles around the lake.

The duck boats. A personal trip high light.

And when the crowds began to swarm, and we had had all the fun that was going to be had at Bowman Resort, it was time to say good bye to Gjeongju and all of it's Cherry Blossom beauty and head back to Osan.

The trip would not be complete without one last stop at yet another beautiful Korea rest stop. This time with the most ingenious playground I have ever encountered. Enlarge the photo to see the playground surrounded by adult size exercise equipment stations. You will see me in the photo on the elliptical machine. I dare say that if all playgrounds throughout my 9.5 years of child rearing were this ingenious, I would be much skinnier! It was hard to pull myself away from such a delightful setup. But I was getting tired of being an American tourist in Korea, and the cacoon like comfort of Osan Air Base was sounding like a welcome sight after our little foray in the country.

To our first sucessful spring break in Korea. I saw a new side of the country going down to Gjeongju. I'm very pleased we went.

And now it's time to get back to the present. Spring break, checked off the list...

Day 2: Vacation Recap Resumed

Day two in Gyeongju was mostly spent meeting Buddha. There are two very famous temples in Gyeongju. The first one was Bulguksa. Our guide book told us that the park like setting that we would pass through to reach the "shrine" was of such beauty that it "would make Van Gogh swoon."

Here are Jane and Ruby at the bottom of the park as we began to make our way up into the temple.

Here we passed by silk worms stewing for lunch. George said he would try one. I forbade him.

It is hard to capture all the hiking and walking that is involved to reach Buhdda. But I suppose it's all symbolic really. The weather was ideal, so spending all day long hiking in parks and up beautiful staircases wasn't a hard sell in my opinion.

Here is the family after hiking to the very highest point of the temple. The guide book also told us that these buildings are so beautiful that they find themselves on the Unesco World Cultural Heritage List. I'm not sure what that list is, but the buildings are definitely beautiful.

Petting the golden pig for good luck on the long decent back down to the car.

The next stop was to Seokguram Grotto, also on Unesco World Cultural Heritage List. Here Buddha was constructed in the mid-8th century into a cave at the very top of a mountain. To imagine the tremendous task required to build such a shrine in the mid-8th century had me prepared to respect this site as a reverent place for those of the Buddhist religion. And watching an old lady walk the full mile up the steep mountain road bent completely in-half due to severe osteoporosis, just to visit this Buddha, certainly made an impression on the children.

Hank and Darin with the entrance to the grotto behind them.

Resting on our way back down the mountain. Jane and Ruby were very interested in meeting Buddha. When they talk about our trip still to this day, it often involves a lot of discussion about Buddha living in mountains. I think it's sweet.




And our final stop on Tuesday was to the Korean coastline. Although the water was freezing and the approach full of rocks, our kids were unphased as they went straight for the water. The girls even requested to be clothed in bathing suites. If we were going to be at the beach, we were going to DO the beach.

Baseball, water, and sand castle building.

Oh boy do we have a soft spot for an afternoon spent at the beach.

So that was day two. Beautiful weather, hiking to visit Buddha, and ending at the beach.