McDonald Family Adventures

A Little behind

2009-04-25T10:44:00.002+09:00

As usual, I'm a couple of months behind. Please go back to some older posts to really catch up with us!!! I do apologize.

Mustache March

2009-03-31T23:54:00.004+09:00

In the military they like to have fun contests among the fellas. The purpose is to see who can go the longest! February was "Flat top February" and this month was "Mustache March". Shane went nuts growing his out and hated it the whole time. Here it is in all its glory!

CRUD

2009-03-21T23:20:00.001+09:00

For those of you not in the Air Force, we play CRUD! :-) It's a really fun, competitive game using two balls (on the pool table...get your mind out of the gutter!). It's impossible to explain in writing, so just enjoy the pictures. We had a tournament at the Officers' Club among some different groups of wives. Fun was had by all!!!

Hospital Stay

2009-03-16T23:09:00.003+09:00

Austin had another scare! He came down with a fever one day and ended up in the ICU that evening. Here are some pictures from this adventure. Uncle Sam came to visit (which was a little scary!)

Everland Video

2009-03-10T23:37:00.001+09:00

They do some crazy stuff!!!

Everland again!

2009-03-09T22:45:00.000+09:00

We ventured to Everland again!!! This time we went on a weekday and there were NO people there. We had such a good time and the weather was beautiful. Claire's favorite part of this place is the animal area. I got to ride the big coaster this time...WOW!!! It's the steepest drop on a wooden roller coaster IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!

Everland in March

2009-03-09T09:56:00.000+09:00

Later that same day...

2009-02-21T23:52:00.002+09:00

Claire found a new use for the Wii balance board later that same day!!!

Wii Fit as a Family

2009-02-20T23:50:00.000+09:00

Claire loves to do the Wii Fit with her daddy!

Austin in a box!

2009-02-16T23:33:00.000+09:00

Austin couldn't resist getting IN the Millenium Falcon box!

Millennium Falcon

2009-02-15T22:40:00.000+09:00

Shane got a HUGE surprise for his birthday this year...a 5,000 piece LEGO set! He was so excited (as was Austin). It took him FOUR days to put together!!!

Birthday Girl!

2009-02-14T22:16:00.001+09:00

I can't believe our little baby is four already! Where does the time go? We celebrated her birthday at our Community Center with a bunch of her buddies. She FINALLY gave up her pacifiers (although, she HATED that!) and told us that she is big now and not a baby. We had a fun time. We wanted to have a pool party just because it's February, but the pool was closed for new drains!!!

Claire's birthday slide show

2009-02-14T09:00:00.000+09:00

Runny Nose

2009-02-08T23:45:00.000+09:00

I'm not sure if this poster was supposed to encourage us to go sledding or not. The kids don't look like they're having fun and one of them has a runny nose. Only in the land of the not quite right!

Korean Folk Village

2009-02-08T22:09:00.000+09:00

Well, I'm very behind (what's new?). Here are some pictures from the Korean Folk Village. The kids LOVED it and we'll have to make it back when the weather gets a little nicer. They had a little place where you could dress up in the traditional Hanbok and get your picture taken. The kids enjoyed that (although they look so serious in the pictures!).

January Snow

2009-01-27T15:47:00.004+09:00

Well, it seems we are going to get snow about once a month! We had a little in November, a little more in December, and then a blizzard this month! The kids loved it. We've never lived where it snowed before, so it was exciting for us all! We went sledding down the hill behind our apartment and even built a snow'air'man!!! Enjoy the pictures!!!

Fun in the snow!

2009-01-26T16:14:00.001+09:00

Dr. Fish

2009-01-18T15:04:00.003+09:00

I took the kids to try out the Dr. Fish at Escape Salon in Songtan. They were squealing and laughing because it tickled so much! I included a video so you could get the full effect. It didn't hurt at all. You should try it!!!

COEX aquarium

2008-12-31T22:05:00.001+09:00

We ventured to the Coex Aquarium again. The ladies on the train were so interested in Claire's Leapster game. The kids love the shark!

Rockin' Christmas

2008-12-25T21:37:00.001+09:00

Everyone enjoyed Shane's Rock Band game. Austin loved the drums. Claire just enjoyed the box!!!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T21:21:00.002+09:00

The kids had a ball opening presents. Austin was so sweet to play Santa and make sure everyone had a gift before he got one for himself. KaCee loved her Wii Fit and Shane was thrilled to get Rock Band! The kids were both so appreciative of everything they got. (even the clothes!) They enjoyed seeing what everyone else got as well. It was a fun morning!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-24T21:19:00.002+09:00

I've never done the wordless Wednesday, but I like the idea! Um...I think I just defeated the purpose. Oh well!

December snow

2008-12-22T21:12:00.003+09:00

This was the first snow of "winter". There was enough to play in and the kids had a ball!

Ice Skating

2008-12-21T23:45:00.001+09:00

Austin went ice skating for the first time at Lotte World. Claire couldn't go and was FURIOUS! It was fun at first, but then Austin got frustrated and angry. Shane couldn't take it. :-) They stayed on the ice for a good 30 minutes, though!

Lotte World Oddities

2008-12-21T23:36:00.001+09:00

I took a couple of pictures just for posterity's sake. Apparently, if you want a snack at Lotte World you just get you some fried squid. These stands were everywhere and people couldn't seem to get enough! The other thing I found fascinating was a ride called the Tornado. This car was part of the props for the ride. Texas license plates...interesting!

Disneyland of Korea

2008-12-21T23:17:00.002+09:00

We took a trip to Lotte World. It was pretty neat and, yet, very Korean! Where do I begin? It's an indoor/outdoor theme park complete with Sleeping Beauty's castle. They had two animal characters named Lorry and Lotty who resembled Micky and Minnie Mouse, but not quite! We couldn't ride most of the rides because the kids weren't big enough. Austin found a ride he could go on and he loved it. It did 360s...just around and around it went! Claire couldn't ride and, as you can see from the picture, was very bored about the whole thing. She did enjoy the hot air balloon ride around the top of the building.

Base Wide Christmas Party

2008-12-19T23:10:00.002+09:00

The base had a Christmas party for everyone. We stayed in the kids' room for most of the evening. Shane was working, so we were playing!

Billy Kim

2008-12-14T23:00:00.000+09:00

This has no accompanying pictures, but I wanted to talk about a neat event that we attended tonight. Church was held at the high school auditorium tonight. We had some guests come. First, some of the kids from the Suwon Baptist Church children's choir came and sang some Christmas songs in ENGLISH! They were great, but I did chuckle a little when they sang "Feliz Navidad" in English, er Spanish. Then we had the opportunity to hear an amazing speaker. His name is Billy Kim and is considered to be the Billy Graham of South Korea. He is the pastor at Suwon Baptist Church which has a membership around 20,000 people! He was a great speaker and motivator. I was very touched by his sermon to us. He has an amazing story to tell! Check him out:

http://febc.febc.net/2004new/english/html/greeting_01_02.html

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T22:49:00.003+09:00

We had the unaccompanied pilots over for Thanksgiving dinner. We ate around noon and then proceeded to play Guitar Hero for the next seven hours!!! I shouldn't say "we" because "we" didn't play. "We" watched!!! They really had fun and I think it was a nice break from their usual "Groundhog Day" experiences.

Lost Tooth

2008-11-24T22:43:00.001+09:00

I can't believe our little boy is growing up so fast!!! Aren't they supposed to lose their teeth around seven years old?! Well, Austin just couldn't wait. He lost his first tooth today! He lost it in Art class, so he brought home a green tooth!!! The teacher wrote a note that he should receive double since he lost it at school. I don't remember that being the rule, but so be it! He received a gold presidential dollar and a Sacajawea dollar. VERY EXCITING!!!

1st Snow

2008-11-20T22:39:00.000+09:00

We had our first, of many I'm sure, snow days! It wasn't much and it didn't stick, but it was exciting! We've never lived where it snows!!! This picture is taken from our balcony to the sidewalk below.

Sweet Box

2008-11-15T22:34:00.000+09:00

This is called a "sweet box". We ventured to Suwon to see the new 007 movie. We decided we'd try out this sweet box. It sounded fun! I grabbed my bag of caramel corn...yes, they sell caramel corn at the "sweet stand", and headed to the theater. I was very surprised at how comfy these little couches are. They are reserved seats in the back of the auditorium. I highly suggest it the next time you head to Suwon to catch a flick.

Seoul Tower

2008-11-03T15:53:00.001+09:00

We finally visited the Seoul Tower. For those of you who have been to the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio then you know what this one is like. I did find it very interesting to see just how close we are to the capital of North Korea! YIKES!!! We also ran into Goofy while we were there. As you can see, it's not quite right.

Wedding Crashers!

2008-11-03T15:47:00.001+09:00

While we were at the War Museum, there was a traditional Korean wedding going on. I'm an obnoxious American and just HAD to get some pictures! Of course, I did it for you!!!

North Korean Defectors!

2008-11-03T15:40:00.000+09:00

They had a couple of North Korean military items...a submarine (which reminds me of Gilligan's Island) and one of their aircraft. Both items were taken from some North Koreans who came south for freedom!

Korean War Museum

2008-11-03T15:33:00.000+09:00

We went to visit the Korean War Museum. It was huge so we decided to do the outside stuff and then come back another time to do the inside.

Dancin' Men

2008-11-03T15:24:00.000+09:00

I couldn't resist taking a short video of the guys working the water ride at Everland. They were hilarious! They saw me shooting video and hammed it up.

Everland again!

2008-11-03T15:08:00.000+09:00

We went to Everland one last time to see the Halloween decorations. We rode the Safari Ride this time. The animals are so trained they do tricks for you! Claire was almost IN the parade, but she freaked out and wouldn't go. They go all out for their parades.

Trick or Treat

2008-11-03T14:30:00.000+09:00

We had fun trick-or-treating on Halloween! Austin was Captain Rex from The Clone Wars and Claire was a leaping lemur (think Zaboomafoo). We all met at the Bremer's house and went from there. I had to include a picture of our neighbor who went all out with his decorations!!!

You can call me Betty...or not!

2008-10-31T14:10:00.000+09:00

Okay, I never claimed to be Betty Crocker and here's why! I had to make cupcakes for Austin's class which turned out OKAY. Then Austin and Claire wanted to make a Halloween ginger bread house. There is the picture of what it was supposed to look like and as you can tell...ours is haunted!!! Please, no mean comments!!!

We have a winner!

2008-10-30T20:00:00.000+09:00

Here is the family all dressed up at Family Fun Night. Austin's school has Family Fun Night once a month and, of course, this month was a Halloween theme. Shane tied for first in the best movie costume competition. (he's the one dressed up as a Tie-Fighter Pilot)

Halloween Parade

2008-10-30T17:00:00.000+09:00

Here are some pictures from the Halloween parade at Austin's school. Claire got in on the fun and dressed up as well.

COEX aquarium

2008-10-27T15:22:00.000+09:00

COEX mall

2008-10-27T15:20:00.000+09:00

Okay, so last weekend we decided to take a trip to see the War Museum in Seoul. It took us two hours to drive 30 miles!!! While enjoying the stop and go traffic it started to POUR down rain. We decided to take a detour and visit the COEX mall. This is a HUGE mall located in the World Trade Center (Korean) and Olympic area. There is an aquarium in the mall along with some wonderful American restaurants. We ate at TGI Fridays and Cold Stone Creamery. Rumor has it there is an On the Border, but we didn't find it this trip!!! Anyway, it was a busy, busy day there. There were American Idol-like tryouts which we watched a bit. Don't know what they were singing, but they sounded pretty good! Enjoy our pics...

COEX aquarium

2008-10-27T15:11:00.000+09:00

They had a starfish tank where the kids could pick up the starfish. They really enjoyed that!!!

2008-10-27T15:09:00.000+09:00

They had a whole section where they had different household objects that had been turned into fish tanks. Claire thought this one was funny.

2008-10-27T15:06:00.000+09:00

The kids really liked the doctor fish. You stick your hand in the water and these fish literally EAT the dead skin off of you!!! This is popular at spas when getting a pedicure, but they got to experience it here. Claire kept telling me it tickled and Austin was cracking up.

2008-10-27T15:02:00.000+09:00

This is some famous Korean comic book writer. I had to get a shot of him since I would have been the only one who didn't that day!

The Land of the NOT QUITE RIGHT!

2008-10-24T22:42:00.002+09:00

Nothing says it better than being mooned by Spooky at his fun house!!! Only in Korea!

Happy Monkey Valley

2008-10-24T22:38:00.002+09:00

The theme park included an entire zoo (which Claire LOVED). The kids got to see all kinds of animals and even hold a few!

Everland

2008-10-24T22:32:00.002+09:00

We finally visited Everland last weekend. This is the Disneyland of South Korea, complete with his and her "mice". I took a ton of pictures, but can only include a couple!

FYI

2008-10-24T22:31:00.002+09:00

Just a couple of things... I tried Yakki Mandoo (Korean eggrolls) the other night. Around here they call it "yucky doo doo". Wow...tasty! Another BTW, Austin is getting his 6-year molars now!

Fancy Potty!

2008-10-24T22:24:00.002+09:00

We took a trip to E-mart and had to check out the toilets. I was so tempted to spend part of my afternoon figuring out all of the buttons!

1st set of stitches

2008-10-24T22:13:00.006+09:00

Well, it's been a couple of weeks now. Claire took a spill at what was probably a really fun birthday party. She split her little chin open and we got to spend the afternoon in the ER! She wouldn't calm down so they brought in the big guns (ie. the Anesthesiologist) to make her "happy" and make her "happy" he did! The juice didn't kick in until right AFTER the doc stitched her up, but that is when the real fun started. She was the epitome of the "drunk girl" at the party. She was really woozy and slurring her words. She was saying hi to everyone who walked by. And forget going to the bathroom. She was nuts! She got naked just to pee!!! Anyway, by the time we got her home she just passed out on the couch and didn't come to until the morning. Shane, unfortunately, was in the states and missed out on all the fun!
Needless to say, The DAY she got those stitches out, she busted her chin open again! This time they decided to glue it shut. That lasted about 5 days and then it opened AGAIN!!! I had them leave it alone and we put medicine on it and now it's fine!

DIVA

2008-10-22T13:36:00.003+09:00

Where do I start? Well, first of all, I'm back! I know, my blogging skills are tragic. I'll do a couple of entries to get caught up...
I had to include these pictures of Claire. I promise I'm not trying to raise her this way, it's coming naturally!!!

Seoul

2008-09-17T14:08:00.000+09:00

I forgot to include some photos I took on the way to Seoul.

Hard Rock Seoul

2008-09-17T14:00:00.000+09:00

We finally ventured way off base. We took a drive up to Seoul for dinner. It was a long drive with stop-n-go traffic the whole way!!! That city is very populated (I know, that's an understatement). It was really neat and we are planning to go back soon. We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. You know I search them out!!! It was really cool because it was underground. As you can see from the pictures, it was very comfy with some cool private rooms. Even the bathroom was cool. Each stall had its own room with a sink. The kids enjoyed having some yummy American food. It was in Itaewon. There were tons of shops (American) and looked like a fun place to hang out!

Bongo

2008-09-13T01:07:00.001+09:00

I just had to take a couple of pictures of the Bongo! This is the truck the squadron uses to get around. I think all of the squadrons have them, but ours is the prettiest! (can you say that about a Bongo?) I couldn't forget to take a picture of Oscar's house. Oscar's the squadron's mascot (a black cat). Shane says he only likes people in flight suits, so we can't get too close! The LEGO Star Destroyer was a little project Shane had planned for Austin and him to work on together. Three days later, there it is!!!

First day of school!

2008-09-13T01:02:00.000+09:00

Austin started Kindergarten last week!!! He doesn't seem too excited, but he's about to burst with joy! He's still a little out of sorts from just arriving four days earlier. Claire is in preschool two days a week and seems to enjoy it. It's not Kirsten Carlin, but she's having fun!

Our first trip off base

2008-09-13T00:55:00.000+09:00

We hadn't gotten over our jet lag and we were off and running! After a day of in processing, we decided to go off base to Songtan. It's a crazy shopping area. We didn't venture far, but we did stop and get some Baskin Robbins! Claire was so excited to be going to Korea finally. She had just seen the base and didn't like the fact that we weren't in Korea yet! "This isn't Korea, it's just a base!"

Welcome Home!

2008-09-13T00:49:00.001+09:00

We were exhausted after traveling all day and then taking a two hour bus ride from the airport to the base. I was so excited to finally see where we would be living for the next couple of years. Shane had planned a great welcome home and the kids were ecstatic to see their stuff and their Daddy!!! Even Mickey was glad to see us!

Finally traveling to South Korea

2008-09-13T00:38:00.000+09:00

Wednesday morning we were ready to go! Austin, Claire, and I arrived at Sacramento Airport ready to travel! The lady at the United counter was extremely helpful. She asked if I was traveling on orders (since it was one way). When I told her I was, she didn't charge me for any extra baggage AND upgraded us to Economy Plus at NO CHARGE! The ride to San Fran was uneventful,but then the fun began. The elevator that was to take us directly to the international flights was broken, so we had to take a different one that took us to the security checkpoint again! (we were supposed to be able to avoid having to go through security again). Once we got on the flight and settled in, we were fine. We had the entire middle row to ourselves, so we could spread out. The flight was 12 1/2 hours. The kids napped when they were supposed to and enjoyed the company of a young girl in front of us. She was on her way to teach English in Seoul. I packed two backpacks full of stuff for them to do and they didn't open them once! Apparently, they can watch the same episodes of Disney Channel shows about 5 times without getting tired of it! We were so excited to finally land, get through customs, and see Shane!!!

A slight delay

2008-09-13T00:33:00.000+09:00

After we got out of the hospital on Wednesday afternoon we were exhausted (well, I was exhausted). Shane called Friday morning and said that he had arranged a flight for us the following Wednesday and we needed to get back to Cali. to catch it! I did about two weeks worth of preparation in about two days! We went back to Sacramento on Monday evening. I went straight to the ER with ANOTHER gall bladder attack! Jaime Hanshaw came in and stayed with me all night. They wanted to do surgery and take it out immediately, but I decided to make it to Korea instead (since my plane was leaving the NEXT morning). It was crazy, but I feel much better now.

hospital stay

2008-09-13T00:29:00.000+09:00

Austin's birthday was fun, but then for mine we decided to spend about four days in the hospital! I took Austin in to the ER on a Sunday night and we ended up being admitted. He got walking pneumonia that got exacerbated into, basically, an asthma attack. He's not had asthma before, so it was a little strange! Here he is being pampered by the staff at Wilford Hall. They brought him his own Game Cube so he wouldn't have to go to the playroom! He didn't really want to go because they were treating him like royalty!

Austin's birthday

2008-09-13T00:24:00.000+09:00

Well, Austin is now six years old!!! Man, it goes by fast. anyway, we spent his birthday in San Antonio waiting for my passport. He got some neat presents and really loved his Wall-E birthday cake. He's getting so big!

The Wiggles

2008-09-13T00:19:00.000+09:00

Hi again! I've figured out I need to blog a little each day to catch y'all up! I'm already a month behind!!! For Austin's birthday (on the 5th of August), we went to see the Wiggles live in concert. I thought Austin wouldn't be that interested, but he LOVED it. We were close enough that they came right up to us and shook hands. It was really fun. Claire, of course, loved it as well. I'm actually not sure who had more fun the kids or I? Nana went along for the ride and it was an experience to say the least!!!

Road trip to North Carolina

2008-09-04T20:47:00.000+09:00

It's been a while since I've blogged for you! I'll take a few minutes to give you the highlights from our road trip to North Carolina. We loaded up two large SUVs with three adults, two teenagers, and four children! We made stops in Waco, Shreveport, Meridian, and Atlanta before our final destination ~ Durham. After my niece's wedding, we headed south along the East coast. We stopped in Myrtle Beach, Savannah, and Jacksonville, FL before heading West again. We had a little side trip to the ER for me!!! I had a gall bladder attack (which is NO fun at all) and spent the night at NAS JAX. It's a good thing I lived there before and knew where I was going!!! After that mini adventure, we stopped in Mobile, Biloxi, and New Orleans. New Orleans was still not back to normal after three years! It was a little sad. We made it to Houston and had to stay one more night in a hotel before making it back to San Antonio. Let's just say that Austin is a connoisseur of fine Holiday Inn Expresses! I wish I had more time to go into more detail. We all had a great time!

California to Texas road trip

2008-08-02T11:12:00.000+09:00

Roadtrip from Cali

2008-08-02T07:47:00.000+09:00

We started our roadtrip right after Memorial Day. Austin said farewell to his teacher, Ms. Lanum, and we were off! Our first stop was Anaheim and Disneyland. We met up with my sister and her kids. If you are planning a trip to a Disney park PLEASE visit RideMax first. It's a great website that will plan your whole day and give you insider tips about the parks and rides. We waited in line ONE time all day and didn't miss a thing! I HIGHLY suggest it. After Disneyland we headed south to Legoland. I hadn't been there since 2000. It has really grown! I had a great time and so did the kids. Austin is officially a Lego officianado (sp?). Our next stop was my sister's house in Phoenix. We rested a day and then we were off again. We stopped in Albuquerque to spend some time with Shane's family. We got to see his parents, grandparents, and a few aunts and uncles. We always enjoy our stay in Albuquerque! It was a LONG drive from Albuquerque to San Antonio, but we managed it. Did I mention that the kids are GREAT passengers on long road trips? They really are. We didn't hear, "Are we there yet?" one time! It was a great relief to get on I10 and see that the posted speed limit is 80 mph!!! Yeehaw! We went to Lake McQueeney for the day to say goodbye to everyone. I could LIVE there!!! Shane was in San Antonio with us for a couple of days before he had to go back to Cali and meet the movers. It was a whirlwind trip, but we are now in San Antonio and Shane is in Korea!