Down-time in Seoul

Our family went sledding at a park in Seoul called "Children's Grand Park". Highlights of our day were: a ham and cheese sandwhich picnic outside, watching the Korean families ice fish, and having some "down time". For some reason, the older I get the more I like winter.

Seoul Storm

On Tuesday afternoon we braved the storm to take a look at how the city was handling the snow. The fire fighters that are stationed on our block were out shoveling my walks! It made me smile. In Korea the emergency number is 119 (as opposed to 911). You can see the number on the back of this fire fighter's jacket. Beneath the number it says, "Seoul Fire Department" (in Korean).

Snowed In

On Monday it snowed in Seoul. By the end of the day there was more snow in Seoul than there had been in over 70 years! We were snowed in! Jim had planned a ski trip with James, Anna and Gracie and it took them nine hours to make a three hour trip. Miri, Margaret, Daniel and I stayed home cozy and warm. We played in the snow and made homemade chicken noodle soup and Parker House rolls.

Daniel is One Year Old

Happy Birthday Daniel

The short story of Daniel's birthday party is that I have an unfulfilled dream of having a really cool clown come to one of my children's first birthday parties and make balloon animals, paint faces and do silly prank tricks. As Daniel's birthday approached I began calling to find a clown for our party. I got a referral for one and had high hopes of my dream being fulfilled, but the clown would not answer her phone. I started to think it must be some conspiracy between the clown and my husband (who thinks my dream is overpriced and unnecessary). On the eve of Daniel's birthday, my visiting teacher called me and asked if her niece could come and paint faces at our party. I felt grateful for her desire to help me out. Anna also came to my rescue and dressed up as "Strawberry the Clown" and prepared a few games for the party. The question is: "Can 'Hobo clown' (from Margaret's party), 'Dot the Clown' (from James' party) and 'Strawberry Clown' (from Daniel's party) be enough to satisfy my clown dream?"

Really, I'm totally serious.

P.S. The little girl in the picture above is Camille. She shares Daniel's birthday, birth year and birth place. Her mom made the Diego/Dora cakes.