Naomi - Month 11

It's hard to believe, but this little princess is going to be one in just one short month.

She got into her sister's sparkly powder

Future track star

She certainly does love her big sister

Scooby snacks!

This is what my kitchen generally looks like - if not worse

And if you have a banana in this house you'd better plan on sharing it, because she'll hunt you down

She's pretty sure there's something in this cabinet that she needs.

Raingutter Regatta

Tristan is officially a Cub Scout (yay homeschooling! The other Kindergarteners aren't eligible until June 14th)!  His first activity was the Raingutter Regatta, and ever since the boat kit arrived at our house, he has been so excited!  He and David looked up a plan to make the fastest boat around, and after they marked the boat and cut a piece off, Tristan got to work:

Sanding, 

and painting his boat. 

He even decorate the sail. 

There are currently two Tiger Cubs - Tristan and his good friend Joshua

Showing off their boats. 

Cheering on the other Scouts. 

They raced each other 3 times.

Tristan won the first, Joshua the second, and then Tristan narrowly edged out Joshua in the third and advanced to the finals.

Racing the big boys!

Checkin' out the other boats in the marina. 

Showing off their first and second place medals for the Tiger Den 

Having a little fun after the races.

Tristan had so much fun and is really looking forward to being a part of the Cub Scouts when they start up full time again in the fall.  In the mean time he has a camp out with his daddy to look forward to the end of June.

Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House)

David's Batallion arranged a trip to the Blue House today.  Cheong Wa Day, or Blue House, is the executive office and official residence of the President of the Republic of Korea, and is in Seoul, situated in front of Mt. Bugaksan.

One of our passes to get into the compound - they said if we didn't turn it it, we didn't leave. 

The Blue House complex was built upon the site of the royal garden of the Joseon Dynasty. 

In front of Cheong Wa Dae, the President's office. 

This building is where the President hosts parties.

He alone enters and exits te middle set of doors, and all the guests enter through the right set of doors, and exit through the left set.

We were a bit disappointed in our tour as it was all in Korean and even though we had Korean soldiers with us, none of them felt comfortable translating for us.  We weren't able to go into any of the buildings, but I guess we are at least able to say that we visited the grounds where the Korean President lives and works, and it was a beautiful venue.

Lotus Latern Festival

Adventure weekend number two!  We headed off to Seoul via train to go to the Lotus Lantern Festival, which is part of a month-long celebration of Budda's birthday.  They had beautiful lanterns and a lot of different activities for the kids to do.  We would've liked to stay for the parade that night, but we were all pretty beat and knew we had a potentially long train ride home.

The kids writing down their wishes to put on the cups they planted seeds in

Making little lotus flowers

I don't know what the sign says, but they are dressed in traditional Korean (royal, I believe) clothing.

There were these lanterns everywhere.

A Buddist Temple

More lanterns

According to Buddhist beliefs, the lighting of a lotus-shaped lantern symbolizes a devotion to performing good deeds and brings light to the dark parts of the world that are filled with agony. The lantern-lighting practice was developed throughout the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties and has been preserved through events such as the lotus lantern service (a Buddhist memorial service held nationwide) and the lotus lantern parade.

Beating on drums - and I didn't care about the noise! :)

"Temple" rubbings

First, they wet the paper,

Second, they beat it with a brush until the pattern in visible, and the paper pushed down into all the creavaces it is supposed to be in,

Then you dab it with an ink covered dauber to highlight the raised areas.

The finished product

Lanterns on skewers

Making traditional Korean dolls.

Lanterns at dusk - or at least in the shade.

This is a sign we saw on the subway - apparently there is a problem with raccoons smoking in Korea.

Our mode of transportation home.

They were all sold out of seats on the train for the remainder of the day, so we traveled between two cars in the portion where there was a bathroom.  Talk about hobos!  Despite the crowded quarters for about 45 minutes, we made it home no worse for wear.