life with the lieutenant

• Steve put a pass in (again) for us to stay in Seoul on Saturday night. It didn't get approved until Friday evening. By the time I went to book a room, the hotel on post was completely full. BECAUSE OF COURSE. I called and asked to be put on the waiting list and we packed a suitcase on Saturday morning in hopes that we would be able to stay the night.

• In the meantime, we drove to Seoul and visited the National War Museum. We have driven by it dozens of times, and Sam has always asked to go see the airplanes and "hewuhtoptuhs" so we finally went. The child was on cloud nine. Running from airplane to tank to airplane to boat yelling, "Come on, you guys! I gotta show you sumfin COOL!"

Pano from the top of the ship

• Molly was not as enthused. Cold, her knees hurt (or so she says- this is my children's standard excuse for anything they don't want to do), and cold.

• We finally made it inside to thaw out and it was just as great as the outside. Plus warm, so maybe a bit better!

 

I wish they still made cars like this! So much class!

• And then a little target practice...

• We wandered all over the museum learning about Korea at war. While this might not seem very kid-friendly, Sam and Molly are pro-military everything. They love planes, helicopters, soldiers, tanks, etc, etc. They don't quite understand bad guys or shooting, but thought the museum was very entertaining. Even more entertaining was this 3D movie about jets taking out an enemy target. I was sweating bullets the entire time even though I was fairly certain the good guys would come out on top. Sam and Molly remained unfazed.

Can you spot my kinfolk?

• I posted a video to instagram, but in case you didn't see it, Steve pushed a double parked car out of our way.

• After the museum, we went to the PX. While we were there, we got a call from the hotel! A room opened up! Yeehaw!

Nothing says "young and hip" or "romantic weekend getaway" like toting baby wipes on top of your suitcase.

• After a sushi dinner, we headed back to the hotel for an early bedtime.

• Snug as a bug, right? Wrong.  Despite skipping naps and going nonstop all day long, the kids were not about to go to sleep at the early hour that Steve and I had hoped for. Around nine, we were seriously talking up bedtime. "This needs to happen NOW. Get in bed NOW. Go to sleep NOW." Molly was devastated. She wanted to go home and sleep in HER crib! With HER doggy! Not here! This was puzzling to say the least... We've stayed here before. They've always loved it. She refused to sleep in her bed with Sam. Eventually she came over and passed out almost immediately on my arm. Sam decided our bed looked irresistible too. The room was so warm that I was beginning to sweat. Co-sleeping is not our thing. I find it miserable. I imagined that this is what life in a FEMA camp must be like. I reminded myself that many mothers find themselves in much worse situations than this. At least there's this comfortable, sweat-soaked bed... Steve finally convinced Sam that they should go sleep on the other bed. I managed to wiggle my arm out from underneath Molly and settled in for what I thought would be the most glorious night of sleep....
• Around midnight I woke up so hot and sweaty. Steve said he was sweaty too. And pushed to the very edge of the bed since Sam decided to sleep horizontally. Even when the thermostat was set on cool, it was still pumping out heat. I begged Steve to crack the window. Bring some of that 20-degree cool relief into this inferno. He did and we all slept happily ever after.... until 6:45 when Sam decided he needed to have an in-depth conversation with Steve. Oh well. Thank goodness for coffee.
• We got ready for church and loaded the kids into the car. We parked near one of the gates that has a train station just outside. We get on the train and ride to Myeongdong. Eventually we find the cathedral, frozen hands and all, with three minutes to spare.

•  Mass was a quick 45 minutes (!!!) and we were back out into the cold.

This was taken after mass and does the actual church no justice at all.

• After mass, we walked back to the train station and went to the hotel, where the breakfast we had been bribing them with all morning was waiting.

• On our way back to the hotel, Sam's foot got caught in the car door as I was closing it. This resulted in much crying and wailing and gnashing of teeth. The promise of bacon and a donut proved to be enough to soothe him though (and his foot is fine).
• After breakfast, we went upstairs to grab our suitcase and check out of the hotel. The hotel has a big fancy revolving door in the front. The kids love it. As we are walking towards the door, Molly seems to have no idea that she is not six inches wide and just walks straight into the door as it's revolving. She gets smushed in between the door and the wall. As Steve hulks the door in the opposite direction, I yank Molly out. We finally make it into the car. I tell Steve that we need to get out of here before someone meets their maker. (Molly is fine.)
• The rest of Sunday was spent napping and napping and watching kids movies. Because it's hard to injure yourself doing those activities. Amen.
• Monday was spent half-watching the SuperBowl (we don't get any commercials, yawn), so we ran some errands and then spent the rest of the day hanging out at home. It was quiet and peaceful and perfect. We need more three-day weekends just like it.