Yeosu and the World Expo

Yeosu, a small city about 2 hours from us was hosting a World Expo this summer.  I am still not really sure what an Expo is supposed to be but we thought we better check it out after hearing some good reviews.  Unfortunately we picked the worst day to go as it was the beginning of the Korean summer holiday.  It was hot and crowded!  There were several exhibits to see but wait times were anywhere from 45 minutes to several hours.  We managed to see a few of them and well as many international rooms decorated from countries all over the world.  The theme of the Expo was basically 'save the water' so many exhibits focused on that.  We explored through a sunken ship, watched some water shows, saw an 'underwater city' and more.

Fortunately they had fountains for us to cool off in.

Somehow we managed to stay until dark to watch the 'Big O Show' which was a ring of colors, water and fire.  It is quite amazing how Koreans love to pack as many people as possible into one small area!

We had plans to go to the Expo again the following day but opted out of the crowds and enjoyed the water park at our hotel.  A very good decision!

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Several years ago my mom bought some inflatable boats on sale in an attempt to use them at a lake near their home.  I think we gave her such a hard time about how silly that was they never got used.  When they moved to Korea they brought over a boat for us.  The weather was finally decent enough for us to take it out for a ride.  We went to the local beach and explored some of the coastline until E said she wanted to "go back to earth."  Sorry for doubting you mom, it actually was quite fun.

Rainy Season

Korea has a pretty intense rainy season.  It usually rain about every day for a month or so.  This year was no exception!  We actually had some much rain in such a short period we saw a little flooding in some areas.  Certainly noteworthy!

First Day of School

E started school this month.  For July we are only going 1 day a week because of other commitments but in August we start 2 days per week.  She is going to a cute international playschool where they play, sing songs, read stories, do crafts, have snacks, etc.  She will go for about 3 hours/day.  She loves having friends there too and has really enjoyed her first couple of days.  Can't believe she is growing up so fast!

Independence Day

It shouldn't be a big surprise that July 4th is just another day in Korea.  We tried to celebrate a little by having a couple other American families over for burgers.  We didn't get a firework show but we did watch from our rooftop one of the local motels on fire.  E still talks about the firetrucks and the smoke building.

Bamboo Forest

A new Bamboo Adventure Park and Forest opened near us.  It is a large forest with tons of old bamboo.  At the end of the trail is an adventure course with zip lines and other obstacles in the trees.  Unfortunately the girls needed to be a little taller to participate.  We loved wandering through the bamboo looking for panda bears!

It wouldn't be a good Korean hike without a display of various animal scat.

Photo Shoot for Dad

This post is a little late but here was our DAD photo shoot this year.  We used the first one...I just like some of the faces of the second one.  She's a cutie!

While we were at it I tried to get her to take a birthday picture as this girl will be 3 in August!