The Other Side of the Pacific

Oh man.  This moving across the ocean stuff is not for sissies.  Especially with three kids in tow. All the logistics that came into play... my head is still spinning.  Good thing is, not only did we survive the trip, we are now thriving in Korea.  A few notes on how it happened:

Saying good-bye to my parents, our wonderful hosts this summer

We 'd planned to go up the Space Needle, but didn't get there in time.

Kate was her usual stubborn self.

This fountain was fun, though.

This is ALLLLL the stuff that we took with us, straight off the rental car!

I still don't know how we got it all from the rental car place to airport storage, but we did.

The kids were troopers.  No complaining.

Five suitcases, five large duffel bags, five backpacks, and five carry-ons made the trip with us.

First across-the-ocean flight for most of us

We've been in Daejeon ten days now, and it has been a crazy ten days.  The school purposefully jam-packed our first six days, wanting us to adapt to the time change as quickly as possible.  It worked; we were exhausted, but our bodies pretty much adjusted to Korean time within 3-4 days.  I finally managed to snap a few pictures on our weekend.

Our neighborhood is mostly full of buildings like this, with tons of trees and walking paths.

The neighborhood shopping area

There are tons of little playgrounds tucked around the buildings.

It is hot and HUMID!!  The girls like using their umbrellas as a shield.

Outside Galleria Timeworld, a large department store

Waiting for rain

On the Way

The last two months have been a blur.  We have:
-completed our school years
-finished a few fixes on our house (including some amazing landscaping by Brian!  WHO KNEW he had those skills?!), listed it, and accepted an offer less than three days later

-packed up and/or sold almost all our stuff, including two vehicles (Maggie is modeling our yard sale goods here.)

Don't you want to buy our stuff?

-rented a small storage unit for those things we do want to keep, just don't want to take to Korea

-figured out how to transport all our goods overseas (10 suitcases, all packed to just about the 50-lb limit)
-figured out things financially
-celebrated our girls' birthdays

-said goodbye to friends

-made the trek to Idaho (me by plane; Brian and the kids by van a few days later)

My Greyhound ride to Boise

-spent 4th of July with family in the Boise area

Wahooz!

-celebrated the adoption of our new official nephew with tons of family and friends

-taken pictures with the whole fam-damily

-had our faces painted

-jousted with cousins

-made a day trip to the Korean consulate in Seattle to check on our visa paperwork
-had fun at VBS and another round of swim lessons with cousins

CANNONBALL!

-obtained our international drivers' permits in Spokane
-walked to my elementary school to play, like, EVERY DAY we were in Idaho

Whitman Cubs

-swum at the beach

Jumping over the waves from a jet boat

-set up a lemonade & cookies & homemade origami stand to raise money for new LEGOs

-tent-camped overnight at Hells Gate

The S'mores were a hit!

-accompanied our littlest, newest cousin to his first movie (The Secret Life of Pets)

-paddle boated and kayaked on Lake Coeur d'Alene

-visited Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane

ANNNNND... that's about it.  Well, not really.  I left out the boring stuff.  You're welcome.
We've now been in Korea almost a week,  The school has kept us super busy the past six days, but we've made some great friends, learned a lot about the school, gone shopping a few times, and learned to say "hello" and "thank you" in Korea.  Jet lag issues are waning, so should be able to start exploring and taking pictures soon.  Until then!