It's a small world...Germany!

In this post I told you about the not so politically correct Germany exhibit in the It's a Small World ride.....and you thought I was exaggerating.....

THREE CHEERS FOR GERMANY!

Everland Revisited

A few weeks ago, we made another trip to Everland with our friend, Christie.  Oh course, we hit all the Everland highlights that I posted about before, but I thought I would share a few other things with you that the park had to offer.

This is the biggest drop on a wooden roller coaster in the world (I hope I have that statistic right).  Anyway, it is a CRAZY drop, and I went on it!!!  I am not a huge fan of roller coasters at this stage of life (I used to love them), but this one was really fun.
Here's Pat and Christie on this crazy, spin you around and upside down ride...yeah, I just HAD to stay with the baby.  :o)
Christie and Pat at war in the ballroom.  I think Adeline was a little overstimulated in here.

They had a very nice parade.  It would have been nicer if it wasn't quite so loud and was in a language we could understand...but I guess that is being a bit unreasonable.  Although, I find it interesting that almost all the signs in Everland are in English...many without even having the Korean translation.

She's big stuff!

This park is VERY family friendly.  I love these baby rooms.  They have nice changing tables, a water cooler, and rooms with comfy chairs and a curtain for nursing moms (not that I needed that room, but still...really nice).
The rose festival for the season was beautiful.  There really is a lot of variety at this park.



and we're done!  Adeline just decided to fall asleep in her chair like this for about an hour and a half...perfect for us to take turns riding that huge coaster.
Stay tuned tomorrow for Germany pictures...I just couldn't disappoint you after the popularity of this post.

Sunday Finest

A Ship Possessed

A Ship Possessed by Alton Gansky is in my opinion, not one you need to add to your summer reading list.  Again, a book club selection...not sure who chose it or why.  I was not able to make the meeting, but I have heard that this was the consensus of the group.  I did hear that it made for an interesting discussion, which is always a plus in a book club.  I am not sure if this book is intended for adults, but I found the writing style juvenile and some of the conversations seemed contrived.  

It is a book of spiritual warfare surrounding, you guessed it, a possessed ship/submarine that emerges on a beach after missing for decades.  I won't give away more of the plot, but I will say I was bothered by the fact that in the "final battle," the Christian (who started out the book as a Sunday Christian) tells one of the girls to quote the verse, "Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world," but he never mentions the ever powerful name of Jesus and never calls to Jesus for help.

It's a Zondervan book, so I would love to hear the take on this from you Zondervanites....or anyone else who happened to read this one.

In case you need something formal...

The first time I found this store, I didn't have my camera.  Now, friends, you get a glimpse into some of the most entertaining formal wear I have seen in some time.

Okay, the green one is actually quite nice.

This one is my personal favorite...do you get it?  It took me a while.

Do you see the spider head, body, legs, and web?  mmm hmm....sexy!!!

Other Favorite Parts of our Vacation

At Khatatoni, our resort in Phuket, this elephant was waiting on our bed.  So cute!  It is made from rolled up towels and washcloths with pieces of an orchid for the face and toenails.

Okay, this HAD to be one of our favorite parts....massages by the pool, in the grass, on the beach, etc. for 300 baht...um, that's about $10....yeah, we each had a few of these.  There was a breeze and you could hear the waves crashing on the shore.  It was amazing!  The first day, I was talked into the foot scrub and then after my massage they asked me if I wanted a pedicure.

me: How much is that?

them:  150 baht (about $4)

me:  um, yeah, let's go ahead and do that too...

My splurge spa day cost about $23 in the end...nice...

Disclaimer....I would have totally posted a picture of me too to be fair, but my sweet hubby couldn't find the camera on the day I got my massage on the lawn outside our room.

The Night Market

I wanted to go to the night market in Bangkok.  Ya know, clothes, jewelry, trinkets, etc....lot's of bargaining...my scene.  Of course, this is WAY past Adeline's bedtime, and Patrick wasn't too keen on me finding my own way....at night...in the middle of Bangkok (I know, he can be such a wet blanket sometimes...LOL).  So, being me, I decided to go to the hotel lobby that day and see if I could meet anyone who might be interested in accompanying me on this adventure.  I had just about lost hope.  Everyone in the lobby looked to be either male, Thai, Indian (lots of Indians vacation here), or a combination of the above.  I spent quite some time talking to one of the owners in a jewelry shop who spoke very good English.  I think she said she had been to the US 7 times.  Anywho...just as I was getting ready to head back to the room, I met two graduate students...and adventurous ones at that!  They had to attend a dinner but said if I was willing to go late, they were hoping to be back by 9:30.  Woo hoo!!!  One of them wasn't feeling great after dinner, but Ann and I had a blast!  We didn't depart until after 10 pm...um how old am I?!?  We navigated the subway (okay, Ann did most of that), shopped, saw some of the "night life" and "ladies of the night" of Thailand, and bargained for the tuk-tuk above to take us home.  This was a fun ride, but definitely not something to do with a baby girl.  We were back by close to midnight....(of course, a few minutes before I got home, Patrick looked at the watch that we hadn't reset and for a short time thought it was 2 am and was planning how he was going to get to the US embassy and alert the police).  Thanks, Ann, this was SO fun!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Korenglish #3

A few more Korenglish finds for your enjoyment...

I think Patrick needs to get at least one Korenglish t-shirt before we leave here, but I'm not sure the humor will translate when in the US.

ummm...Don't you wanna just run out and grab a bottle of this?!?  I have no idea what it tastes like, but we see this brand all over Korea.

Thailand!!!

Thanks Patrick for doing such a great job capturing the highlights of our vacation. I'll share a few more stories and pictures in the days to come, but this will give you the gist.

Sunday Finest

Yes, we're back....with a new summer blog look!!!  I was going to post a bunch of pictures and what not from our trip, but Patrick is working on a video/picture combo thingy that is AWESOME!!!  Hope to post it in the next few days.  We had a great time, and I am slowly catching up on all your lives....comments forthcoming.

Word of the Day

This marks the first of what will be a series of posts....similar to Wordless Wednesday, Friday Fun, or Sunday Finest which make frequent appearances here.  Adeline is adding words to her vocabulary all the time, and I have not been so good about documenting the whens and whats of her milestones in the past few months.  So, when she learns a new word, I am going to try to be better about keeping track.....thus "Word of the Day" makes its debut.

This edition of Word of the Day is dedicated to the Bliss Family, because I know Adeline's latest word will make you all VERY happy.  We were sitting in the family room playing the other day when that oh so familiar hum of jet engines sound overhead.  Adeline says, "eh pay".  I was pretty sure she was trying to say "airplane," so I said, "Yes, honey, that IS an airplane.  Good job!"  Later that day, our friend, Christie, was watching Adeline for a few hours for me.  When I picked her up, Christie said, "By the way, I'm pretty sure Adeline said "airplane" today."  Yes, yes she did.....I know the Bliss family is erupting into a happy dance because it is CLEARLY your influence that brought on this new word (E is an F-15 pilot, and their boys N and e love all things airplane).

What she's learning...

Adeline has been doing so many new things lately, and I have been remiss in posting about her new found talents.  Walking has now become her preferred method of locomotion.  It almost seems funny to see her crawl now because she does it so rarely.

Her speech is REALLY taking off.  She is repeating words we say, and sometimes saying words we didn't even know to try...

The other day, we were having grilled cheese and soup for lunch.  She has known the sign for "more please" for over a month, and she was making that gesture with her hands.  I said, "More, please what, honey?  Do you want more grilled cheese?"  To which she replied, "gill chee."  Are you kidding me?!?!  That has since become one of her favorite things to say.  We'll have to try to catch it on video.

Other words in her vocabulary are....mama, daddy, more (she's known the sign for several weeks, but she started saying the word this week), uh oh, hi, ball, book (started that one today), banana (nana), milk, Amen (also one she picked up on her own.  She seems to know when we say, "In Jesus name,"  "Amen" is going to follow), bye bye.  She mimics other words, but these are the ones she uses on a daily basis.

Oh, she also knows that a sheep says, "baa."

We are working on where her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and tummy are.  She gets them right inconsistently.  Her nose seems to be the hardest to find.

I mentioned in this post that she is learning to give kisses.  That skill is also improving, but she still reserves the right to give kisses when SHE wants to.  She now adds a mmmm ma sound when she plants her little lips on you.  So cute!!!  Of course, I follow her around all day saying, "Give mama kisses!!!"  I just love when she gives me some lovin'.

For my blogging public...

This is just a reminder that we are leaving in the morning for Thailand!!!  We are taking the laptop, but I am doubtful that we will be using it for much more than watching the pirated DVD's of The Office that my friend gave us to borrow.  So, when you don't get any comments from me for a week....it's not personal.  I'M ON VACATION!!!  um...yeah, I'm just a tad bit excited.  I did set up two posts for this week so you won't completely forget about me....and let's be honest...so I can come home to some comments!  :o)  Don't they just make your day?!?  Have a great week!  Janelle, I can't wait to see your new little one!

Friday Fun

Our friends, John and Amanda, took this video when we went to the Korean Folk Village together.  This alone made the day TOTALLY worth the trip!!!  These ajummas (grandmothers) were too fun!  Enjoy!

A Girl Named Zippy

A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel is one of my favorite books.  You will not gain deep spiritual insight from reading it, but it made me LAUGH OUT LOUD multiple times.  I recommended this for a book club recently and so had the pleasure of rereading it recently (trying to stifle my snickers while reading in bed beside Patrick who was trying to sleep).  It was a hit with everyone there, and we shared plenty of laughs while reliving the stories from the book.  If you grew up in a small town, in the 70's or 80's you WILL relate to this book.  It is witty and just plain fun!  Perfect for a summer read.  Here are a few quotes from some of my favorite sections...

"Decoupage hit Mooreland pretty hard, as did antiquing, and hand painting one's own ceramics."  Ohhh, I remember this!!!

"My dad asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said I'd have to think about it.  I questioned some friends, and discovered that these were the options available to me:  ice skater, cowboy, teacher of little kids, large animal veterinarian.  I didn't really, in my deepest heart, want to be any of those.  I began to fear that I might live my whole life without gainful employment, as most of the rest of my family had.........I went outside, where my dad was puttering in his tool shed, and told him I wanted to belong to the Mafia.  He asked what did I mean when I said that, and I said like in the movies, and he nodded........After that my life changed, and I mean for the better.  Hardly anyone ever bothered me, except for my sister, who must have belonged to whatever is bigger and meaner than the Mafia.  Maybe the Jehovah's Witnesses.  She dared even to lock me out of the house one night when my parents were away, when there was a bat on the front porch that was clearly diseased and looking for hair.  My brother came from out of nowhere and unlocked the door, and just in time, too.  Back in the house I gave my sister a whole host of menacing, Italian faces, which she pretended to ignore."

"I don't think I should be the one to tell you."

"Aaaahhh!  Tell me what?!"  I knew from Marcus Welby, M.D., that this could and did sometimes happen, that bad news was followed by more and more bad news, until finally the doctor was telling you that you had to give up coffee, which I knew for a fact would have killed my dad.

"Mom doesn't want you to know yet, but I think you're old enough."  She paused for dramatic effect, as my heart leaped around in my chest like a bluegill on a line.  "You're adopted.  Mom was never pregnant for you."

I had to lie straight down in the dirt.  Oh, my god.  This explained so many things.  I couldn't think of any right offhand, but I knew my life was about to become tragically clearer to me.

When the sky stopped twirling I jumped up and ran straight in the house to my mother, who was sitting in her corner of the couch, which by this time was a total nest.  She was reading Isaac Asimov, the love of her life, and eating popcorn from the night before.

I skidded to a stop in front of her and gave her a look of hardest accusation.  Without looking up at me she said, "You should brush that worm stuff off before you come in the house."

"As if that matters!  How could you not tell me I was adopted?!  Don't you think I have a right to know?  And who were my real parents anyway?"  I was trying to be mature, but periodically spit flew.

"Gypsies, honey."  She had still not looked up from Isaac Asimov Explains the Whole of Reality and Then Some.

"Gypsies?  Really?"  This was somewhat compelling.  I sat down.

"Yes, I thought we managed a very wise trade."

"Gypsies?  In Mooreland?"

"They were just passing through.  We heard them long before they arrived, because their horses and their wagons are all covered with bells.  It's quite lovely.  And they were led into town by a pack of wolves, who, during the full moon, stand up and preach."  She looked up for a moment, remembering.  "They were such a sight."

There were at least forty-two questions I needed to ask, but only one that really mattered.  "What did you trade for me?"

And to find out the answer....you'll have to read the book.