Harmonica Man

A dear friend, and talented musician, Busya, gave Evan a harmonica for his 2nd birthday. Needless to say, this was a gift we've hidden until we were settled in a place where Evan could play the harmonica in his own room. Or, better yet, outside.
He's actually become quite good at it and can play individual notes- not at will, but it does happen frequently.

Evan's great-uncle Bruce is a VERY talented harmonica player... maybe this current passion will turn into a inherited life-long skill- who knows? So, to share his "talent" we've posted a video below. In the beginning he is "reading" the numbers on the top edge of the harmonica... 11, 12, 13 are his favorites.

Rail Fence Quilt

Proud mama, Anna-Jane, holding the quilt made for Jane Elizabeth Edgar. Born April 17, 2008 at a very healthy 8lbs, 10oz. Wow!

Quilt is backed in yellow swirl print flannel. "Rail Fence" pattern in four colors: light blue "blessings" print, yellow "blessings" print, orange daisies/bugs, and green tessalations.




I'm taking a break on quilts while I'm in Washington for the summer... but will be back at it in August! Everyone keeps getting pregnant!

Everland, a.k.a. Korea Disneyland

Upon recommendation from other families, we decided to venture to Everland this weekend. The equivalent of Disneyland, created by Samsung. It's located about 25 miles from our apartment- equating to a 1.5 hour drive with minimal traffic. The layout of the park has a "zoo" with a Safari tour, AmericaLand with roller coasters, European Adventure with roller coasters, and a large central area with a season-appropriate theme. This being spring, the parade theme and decor was heavily floral... oh, my was it floral. We arrived around 10am, found a parking lot, took a bus to the main entrance and, after much pantomiming, figured out how to buy an annual pass- breaking even after only 4 regular-price visits... and children under 3 are free. Did I mention that Evan's not having another birthday until 2010? :)
We started our trip in the zoo quadrant of the park. Evan enjoyed the marmosets, gorillas, white tiger, and the swimming polar bears. They also had many vendors selling trinkets- Evan was particularly drawn to the bubble launcher. He ran back and forth through the cloud of bubbles a dozen times!

Matt and I posing with the posies :)

Lovely 70 degree day. Many shops lined the main entrance, filled with as many Anime and cutsie knickknacks as your heart could desire. We both commented on how they haven't quite capitalized on the character aspect of Disneyland. We only saw one costumed adult posing for pictures with kids. Even the trinkets were very generic, and not over commercialized... they have not learned to paste Mickey Mouse on EVERYTHING.

After touring the Animal Kingdom with 10,000 of our Korean friends... we found a somewhat American eatery (our other choices involved variations on rice, fish and kimchi). Evan is savoring his corn dog- made with a brown rice wrapper instead of corn. I ordered the teriyaki chicken which was served as 4 chicken wings, a pile of rice, a pork filled egg thing and... yes, pickled cucumbers, peppers and radishes. Matt tried the "Bulgogi baked spaghetti" which was spaghetti noodles in a tomato sauce with pieces of beef ribs on top. The whole meal only cost 16,000 Won. A deal by Disneyland standards.

Spinnning whirl-a-gig flowers behind us. Evan was pooped out by 1pm. Good enough for us... let's call it a day! We can always come back again... and again, and again.

Everland (2)

The overhead chairlift brought people from the entrance to Everland (the top of the HILL), to the valley where many of the amusement rides and theme park areas were located. The grade on the pedestrian hills in Everland... wow, I'm guessing a 15% grade. It was STEEP. Definitely not designed for overweight and lazy Americans!

I feel that something was lost in this translation:

The main street was bedecked with flower garlands and sashes. Very festive.

Oh, and did I mention that the employees wore outfits too... our favorites were the sanitation crew, dressed all in white (apparently trash does not convey dirt), with butterfly wings and antennae.

I could fill an album with the number of couples we saw wearing matching outfits. Red and blue rugby shirts, Peanuts characters, yellow hoodies... etc. The pink shirts with strawberry patterned robots were the BEST... but I didn't have my camera out to share that with you. So, you'll have to enjoy the stylish pink polos with dark denim. Do they call each other in the morning to make sure they are wearing matching shirts?? I think that when a girlfriend presents her boyfriend with a matching pink polo, he should take a minute to evaluate their relationship and make sure he's in for the long haul.

Evan playing with "Butman"

We went to dinner with our friends, the Prines, at our favorite local restaurant last weekend. It was the "4500"... home of the boiling egg soup! While we were there, we had an experience we couldn't resist photographing!!

Boys at dinner- we ate, seated, at low grill tables near the front windows.
Picture below is of Evan and "Butman" playing near the windows. And why do we call him "Butman", you ask... Check this out:

Some things just don't quite translate... bAtman vs. bUtman... a subtle, but important, difference.

Pyeongtaek Spring Festival

We visited the Pyeongtaek Spring Flower Festival on Friday, May 2. The festival was a demonstration of foods grown in or near Pyeongtaek- rice, strawberries, tomatoes, bonsai, orchids, roses, peppers, Asian pear, etc. The festival was on the grounds surrounding an Agricultural Museum, of sorts... with permanent greenhouses, landscaped grounds, and a lovely tropical arboretum.

Walkway to the rice paddies- they were planting rice from a 18" square brick of rice plants, fed through a rotating wheel that then plugged each plant into the shallow water. Much quicker than doing it all by hand!

Exotic topiary, surrounding by flowers and green plastic sheeting... the field in the distance is filled with multi-colored windmills.

Evan was tired from a full day at school- he conked out on the way to Pyeongtaek. And, toured all of the exhibits in a reclined position. The flowers at the base of the fountain are an odd mixture of nasturtiums, foxglove, gerber daisies, and pansies....and the fountain was adorned with fake red roses.

Pyeongtaek Flower Festival (2)

The Pyeongtaek "motto" is "Super O'ning"... not sure what that means, but it's on all their city signs and here, is spelled out in cactus.

The family! Evan asleep, #2 making his/her presence known and the two proud parents. Banana trees with monkeys made out of sawdust shavings behind us..

Yes, Virginia, there is a $335, 000 bonsai. And here it is.

Manicured gardens in a green house- small peppers (they call peppers "paprikas") in the foreground.

Getting ready for school- May

A little self-portrait with the camera... showing off his new haircut. Amazing how a lollipop can make a child hold still for just about anything!









Putting on shoes BY HIMSELF. Only a fool would come between Evan and his shoes. It may be a process, but he does put them on by himself. Notice the red and green socks- that's how we tell our left and right feet from each other!

The man sporting his Green Bay overalls, and new red Crocs- yeah for Endless.com and free shipping! Hopefully the Crocs will work for his new shoes when the ladybug boots eventually get too small... that will be a dark day.