life with the lieutenant

• On Monday, the cherry blossoms finally moved north. How nice it is to walk down the street instead of driving 3-4 hours round trip to Seoul!!!

The crowds are much more manageable up here too.

One of the biggest downsides to Korea is that the air quality is not always the greatest. But I'm starting to think that it's making me appreciate these clear, blue-sky, sunny days even more.

PLEASE FREEZE TIME RIGHT HERE THANKS!

We lucked out to find two playgrounds connected by a little sidewalk. Plenty of wildflowers (weeds) to pick and space to run around.

• I made a leftovers quiche for dinner that night (leftover veggies, bacon, CREAM CHEESE OMG) and knew the kids wouldn't try it (visible broccoli and all) so they got some beefed up smoothies. Ignorance is bliss, right? "It's PURPLE, YOU GUYS! SO YUMMY!"

I'd eat this every day if I could.

• Tuesday brought (much-needed) rain and preschool! But first, a puzzle.

This easily qualifies as worst picture ever taken, but there was no traffic, so I stopped at the top of the hill to snap a picture of this cherry blossom canopy near our house.

• After naps, the kids were asking for playdoh.... I opened it all up and then had to leave the area. I can't watch stuff like that.

Notice my newly mopped floors. It feels like a matter of minutes before it's back to being littered with crumbs, and smudges, and dried fruit all over the place.

• Wednesday morning play time

• Steve had an appointment at the hospital in Seoul (nothing serious!), so we decided to tag along. We had lunch at the PX and then dropped Steve off. We headed to the glorious commissary. I have never gotten the chance to browse leisurely AND with a freezer bag, so we really loaded up.

Depriving them of this makes the times I do give it to them VERY EFFECTIVE. I looked at every single thing on those shelves and even got myself some pretty purple flowers.

• After car naps, we arrived home and hit the playground.

• Our neighbor friends joined us and we had a little picnic of snacks right in the rock pit. Steve arrived home soon after and then the sitter came over! 
• Steve and I headed over to the beef and leaf (ajumma was disappointed over the lack of "da baybeez!") and then to a dessert cafe.

Steve's slice was so PRETTY!

• Thursday was preschool and Bible study. It was also a day of good news! Steve got hard orders for him to ETS from the Army. (!!!!) We also found out that we will be stopping off in Hawaii on our way back to the States, courtesy of the Army! All the yays!!!!

Even the heavens were smiling!

• Friday was full of the most beautiful weather. We met a friend at a kids cafe for lunch and then met our neighbors at the sandbox playground. I didn't take many pictures, but if I had, you'd see my neighbor's and my children running between the sand box and the playground barefoot and getting weird looks from the Koreans. Instead, look at the clear air.

• Steve got off work early (!!!) and met us at the playground bearing water and jackets (the wind started picking up and making it chilly!). Then we walked to Jerrys (previously mentioned delicious dessert cafe) for macaroons.

• We also got a SELFIE STICK!!!!

Dirty Sam and Molly are not impressed at all.

yumyumyumyumomgyum

• Friday night we watched The Interview. Was semi-humorous but as soon as it ended, we cleared our browser history and decided we shouldn't watch NK stuff (even semi-humorous NK stuff) before bed anymore.
• Saturday morning and we decided to go check out a botanical garden. I know that sounds boring, but the kids had a blast. Wide-open grassy spaces to run, water fountains, some ice cream, and fish in a pond. Simple joys.

So sunny!

The big rock outside of this "palace gate" said this was the European garden.

No joke!

Chess set! We were too busy running to the next fountain to stop and play.

Kids thought this place was a race track full of weird, naked spectators.

"We were bribed with ice cream to take this picture!"

Gotta deliver on the bribes so they stay effective.

"Steve! They made a statue of us!"

Monster truck ramp

• This dock that walked out into the middle of the pond (the pond was maybe 2 feet deep) had NO SIDES. And my kids are not the most coordinated children to trip over walk the earth. They will trip over their own feet while they're standing still. It takes a special skill set. So while I wasn't worried about anyone drowning, I was worried that someone would be riding home with some really stinky wet clothes. I told them the sign (written in Korean) mandated that kids had to hold their parents' hands AT ALL TIMES. Worked most of the time.

So. much. running.

I think this was Sam's favorite part- an endless field full of dead grass (that he would pick up to make "snow').

What flowers

Y'all go on without me. I'm gonna sit right here and play.

Too cool for school

Waving to her adoring fans

Poor Steve- always dishing out rides

Can't pass up some rock throwing

Sam's turn

Waterfall and sideless dock

"I'm just going to take a break."

So much selfie stick fail

• After the gardens, we came home and had lunch, then went down to the sandbox playground to meet our neighbors. The weather was GLORIOUS and we laid on a blanket under a tree while we watched the dads chase the kids and keep them in order. I could stand to relive that day again.

The view from the blanket- life is GOOD.

• Since no naps were taken, the kids were dirty, hungry, and tired. We brought them home, did baths, fed them dinner, and put them to bed. Then Steve and I had a fancy meat and cheese dinner by ourselves. (Ooh la la! Thanks, Yongsan, for carrying cheese more exotic than mild cheddar.)
• Sunday has been lazy so far. We went to church and our neighbors were on the playground when we got home, so we rushed to change and go play. I think it started raining five minutes after we got down there, so we came back up. Lunch, laundry, and Steve and Sam went to post to get haircuts, run errands, and do man stuff. Molly and I stayed home and played dolls, puzzles, magna tiles, and snuggled. Rainy weather makes me super lazy. Homemade pizza and movies are on today's rainy agenda and maybe I will find the motivation to fold some clothes!