Disneyland Adventure

Jade and I got really lucky and had an opportunity to spend some time with the Nielsen family in Disneyland! Lance had to work, so just us girls ventured up to Anaheim all on our own. This was quite an accomplishment for me because I had to drive Lance's car...which has a manual transmission.

I was really nervous about driving a stick, so before I left I asked Lance for advice about freeway driving. He told me not to worry about shifting on the freeway because there would be no reason to have to down shift unless for some reason the freeway became a parking lot. Well guess what. Border patrol happened to be out and about on this day and everyone on the freeway had to stop briefly for them while they checked how suspicious you looked or something.

Despite that unexpected event, we made it safe and sound! We were so spoiled. We got to stay at the Disneyland Resort and ate lots of free food. Jade's favorite ride was "It's a Small World". She clapped her hands and danced throughout the ride. She also enjoyed a couple rides in the Bug's Life area and the Little Mermaid ride. She wasn't too happy on the Peter Pan ride, but it was probably because she was tired.

On one of the days, I really wanted to go swimming with Jade. I got her all ready in her swim diaper, her swimming suit, filled up her belly, and then she fell asleep! I really wanted to go to the pool, so I carefully loaded her into her stroller and went to the pool anyway. I found a shady spot to park the stroller in, then lounged next to my sleeping baby and read a book until she was done with her nap. Then we did some swimming and it was a lot of fun. :)

outside Jade's 1st Disney ride
Little Mermaid

1st time at Disneyland

is this not the cutest sight ever?

on It's a Small World

I forgot Jade's hoodie in the hotel,
so she had to wear Grandma's!

highlights from China

While we were in Korea, Lance zipped over to China and spent about a week there. Here are some highlights from his trip.

• visiting friends from the circus and church
• having the staff at a favorite restaurant of ours recognize him and give him a free loaf of bread
• jumping the fence to watch the circus TWICE and without getting caught (naughty Lance)
• watching the circus
• eating super cheap food (the same amount of food that would have cost me at least $5 here only cost him $1)
• going to church at the Guangzhou Branch and playing Santa for their Christmas Party (he was staying at the home of the Branch President...so naturally they put him to work!)
• having people remember him as the guy that had blue hair. . . 
• almost not being let back into Korea: Lance had been wearing shorts and a t-shirt in China (much nicer weather where he was) when he got to customs in Korea, the customs guy made him put more clothes on before he'd let him through! 

Chimelong International Circus

all you can eat crab

Lance got back from China Monday night. On Tuesday, we drove about 2 hours to Youngdeuck (probably spelling that wrong...), a town where they specialize in catching and selling crab.

the market, where everyone was selling fresh seafood

various sea creatures I don't know the names of

a fishing boat

at the market

the town
do you see the people standing outside the restaurants?
they would bow to anyone walking/driving by to try to get them
to go into their restaurant.

we bought an entire bin of live crab

those are all crab!
i think it looks kinda creepy

drying fish and squid

remember that bin of crab?
the people we bought it from cooked it for us

they even shelled it for us

look at all that crab meat

baby squid....i was too scared to eat

 27 crab and we ate them all!!!! They cost about $3 each.

On the way home we stopped by a traditional Korean village called Yangdong.

Korea so far...

I'm still here. In Korea.

Basically all I've really been doing is EATING. We go out to eat at least once every day. One thing I like about Korean food is all the side dishes they bring out with your meal. You typically get a little bowl of rice, a bunch of different side dishes that you share with everyone and some main entree like beef, or pork, or fish...

Maybe this just happens within my family....but when you eat you follow these rules:
1. slurp your noodles and soup as loudly as humanly possible
2. stuff as much food in your mouth as you possibly can for one gigantum bite
3. please chew loudly, it shows you are enjoying the food

hahaha. okay, so I know not EVERYONE eats like this but the people I eat with do! but I still love them.

Ready for a picture overload? Here it is:

I need these!! (I stink at using chopsticks)
I call these 'training wheel chopsticks'
angry birds style

spicy crab claw, anyone?

my cousin and her little girl
and hiding under the gray hood? a little 2 month old.
I love all the moms (and some young dads) walking around
with their babies strapped to them!

my favorite Korean food: bibimbop
(rice with different vegetables...& an egg)

the "food court" in the mall

most of the restaurants now have these.
in the thing on the right are a bunch of cups being "sterilized"
on the left is a water dispenser.
if you want water, go get it yourself.
(and consider yourself lucky there is water, not tea, to drink)

korean fashion:
leggins with shorts or a mini skirt already attached!! haha

Baby Jade, cute as ever!

looking down a street in Jinhae

open market in Jinhae
lots of people selling fruit, fish, etc etc on the street

open market: lots of different grains to buy

open market: fruits, veggies, fish...

open market: squid

open market: dumplings!!

open market: butcher shop

4 generations
not the most flattering, but hey at least I got a pic!

you always take off your shoes.
even in some restaurants

sitting on the floor? no problem!

I love this girl!!

baby snatchers

So you know how if you want to hold a baby, you typically ask the mom first if it's okay??

That doesn't happen here.

Everyone in Korea thinks Baby Jade is super cute. (Which, of course, she is!) I don't mind her getting lots of attention, but I do mind the baby snatchin'!  Women will just come up to me, hold out their hands, and take my baby out of my arms! I don't mind as much if it's a relative...but I have had a few strangers, like a random lady at the grocery store, snatch my baby out of my arms! It just freaks me out a bit because . . . I don't know you!! I've started just carrying Jade everywhere in my backpack baby carrier, because it's harder for people to just take her from me when she is strapped to me.

Anyway, here are some pics from our Korea adventure so far.

"chinese takeout" in Korea
way different than in the U.S.
Lance is eating an octopus tentacle

my cousin's little girl really liked Lance!

My cousin and her family!

eating out

Jade and Lance

Jade :)

the LDS church in Jinhae

a view of part of the city

it's pink and has hello kitty on the dashboard!

We visited a Korean temple

it's really cold

Korean food!

happy baby

eating with the missionaries