On Friday, October 14, my mom and dad arrived in Seoul after a very long flight. I drove up with half of the children and dropped them off at the Dragon Hill Lodge while I drove out to Incheon Airport. When Mom and Dad walked out of customs, the look on their faces caused a traumatic flashback to when I walked out of those same doors 13 months ago. That haggard, glazed over expression reminded me of not sleeping for over 24 hours, dragging seven children through immigration, through customs, losing one of the children's bags, trying to navigate a new language and culture and walking out to the lobby hoping to see my husband, but instead sat in the corner of the airport for three hours while we waited for Brian to arrive--not knowing where he was and not having a phone number to get ahold of him. I am a woman that can handle immense amounts of stress, but watching my parents walk out in a zombie-like state reminded me that I would prefer to NEVER do that again.
The next morning we visited the Korean War Memorial Museum right next to US Garrison Yongsan. After seeing all of the military vehicles and the war exhibits we got to go see Body Worlds. Brian, Oakley and I saw Body Worlds in Chicago several years ago and we loved it. We thought that it would be really cool for everyone to experience. We weren't sure how the kids would do understanding that all of the bodies (even fetuses) were once real people that had been plasticized (is that a word?). They actually all found it incredibly fascinating until we got to the very last exhibit--which Chloe took the younger children into and my father followed. By the time I got in there, my dad was trying to usher the children out and Chloe was saying, "Oh, they're just dancing--that's all, just special dance moves." I realized it was the procreation section where in the bodies were placed in anatomically correct positions. Oh, boy, I wasn't quite ready for that, but obviously, neither were they because they didn't pick up on it at all. Just Dad and I were left blushing.
We then took the subway (which is the only efficient way of navigating Seoul) to the Insadong area of the city. These pictures are of our happy little family on the not-very-crowded subway. After this train, it was so crowded we couldn't sit or move and we had to keep the kids close so they wouldn't get mashed by the masses of Asian craziness.
After getting off the subway, I was trying to find a little traditional folk village, but got lost and found a giant, ancient palace instead.
The name of the palace was Changdeok Palace and served as the home of the royal family until 1989, when the last heir finally died.
The palace was the most amazing historical landmark that we have visited thus far in Korea. Unfortunately, it was raining so hard that we couldn't do the garden tour, but we did get to see all the major buildings and living quarters.
The throne of the king.
On Friday, October 14, my mom and dad arrived in Seoul after a very long flight. I drove up with half of the children and dropped them off at the Dragon Hill Lodge while I drove out to Incheon Airport. When Mom and Dad walked out of customs, the look on their faces caused a traumatic flashback to when I walked out of those same doors 13 months ago. That haggard, glazed over expression reminded me of not sleeping for over 24 hours, dragging seven children through immigration, through customs, losing one of the children's bags, trying to navigate a new language and culture and walking out to the lobby hoping to see my husband, but instead sat in the corner of the airport for three hours while we waited for Brian to arrive--not knowing where he was and not having a phone number to get ahold of him. I am a woman that can handle immense amounts of stress, but watching my parents walk out in a zombie-like state reminded me that I would prefer to NEVER do that again. 
The next morning we visited the Korean War Memorial Museum right next to US Garrison Yongsan. After seeing all of the military vehicles and the war exhibits we got to go see Body Worlds. Brian, Oakley and I saw Body Worlds in Chicago several years ago and we loved it. We thought that it would be really cool for everyone to experience. We weren't sure how the kids would do understanding that all of the bodies (even fetuses) were once real people that had been plasticized (is that a word?). They actually all found it incredibly fascinating until we got to the very last exhibit--which Chloe took the younger children into and my father followed. By the time I got in there, my dad was trying to usher the children out and Chloe was saying, "Oh, they're just dancing--that's all, just special dance moves." I realized it was the procreation section where in the bodies were placed in anatomically correct positions. Oh, boy, I wasn't quite ready for that, but obviously, neither were they because they didn't pick up on it at all. Just Dad and I were left blushing.
We then took the subway (which is the only efficient way of navigating Seoul) to the Insadong area of the city. These pictures are of our happy little family on the not-very-crowded subway. After this train, it was so crowded we couldn't sit or move and we had to keep the kids close so they wouldn't get mashed by the masses of Asian craziness.
After getting off the subway, I was trying to find a little traditional folk village, but got lost and found a giant, ancient palace instead. 
The name of the palace was Changdeok Palace and served as the home of the royal family until 1989, when the last heir finally died.
The palace was the most amazing historical landmark that we have visited thus far in Korea. Unfortunately, it was raining so hard that we couldn't do the garden tour, but we did get to see all the major buildings and living quarters.
The throne of the king.
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