Munky Family Vacation - Winter 2010

This weekend we celebrated the third anniversary of our move to Korea. On 23 January 2007 we left our first family home in Fairfax, Virginia to start our adventure in the East. We arrived in Seoul on 24 January and finally arrived at our new home in Pohang on 25 January. Realizing that in three years my sweetheart hadn't taken a single week's break from work, we set off on our first family vacation, and we had a fantastic time!

Since this has the potential of being a monster post, I'm going to break it up so I can freely share stories, pictures, and videos (particularly for certain grandparents who never tire of them).

Day One: Monday we headed to Busan (부산) where we would spend the bulk of our time. Our first stop was at Bexco, a convention center where the wee Munkys got to jump and play in all kinds of moon-bounce things. The little girls were apprehensive for about five minutes, but all bets were off after that. They bounced and slid down all sorts of slides. JMunk, being more cautious, opted for the smaller slides she could handle alone. Little LMunk got a bit gutsy and traveled down a huge Bob the Builder slide with her mama.





JMunk surprised us when she got very excited about the trampoline bungee jump. It didn't occur to her to be scared or anxious about it, so we stood in line for about twenty minutes so she could take her turn. I was so proud! I got a little adventurer after all! Not wanting to miss out on anything fun JMunk does, LMunk joined in last minute.



Hmmmm...so maybe it wasn't all they'd hoped it would be, but I was happy JMunk gave it a good try.

What they loved most were the water bumper boats. They had a blast "driving" and would go on to ask to do it again all week.



We had a lot of fun in the "nerf" ball area where we could shoot soft little balls from air guns all over the place. Unfortunately, those nifty air cannons weren't so precise on the aim, so MamaMunk took a fantastic shot and hit a nice man square in the back of the head. I whipped out my best Korean skills to apologize, then geared up for my next shot. Bam! Another bulls-eye shot to that very same head. Oops! I called it quits and let the DaddyMunk and girls have at it. After about two hours of bouncy fun and laughter, we left Bexco behind and headed for the hotel.

We stayed in the Haeundae Grand Hotel, right on the beach. Our room was ondol style, which means we slept on pads on the floor, just like at home. DaddyMunk quickly fashioned a fort for the girls to sleep in so they could keep their regular bedtime and we could keep to ours. After a good nap, we all headed to the hotel pool. It turns out that swimming with three children, three years old and younger who don't know how to swim, isn't such an easy task! We kept juggling little ones trying to make sure each child had proper supervision at all times. We managed to mostly all stay above water. LMunk knew no fear, so she trotted around the pool like she owned it. She took one nose dive but recovered splendidly within seconds and was back to exploring the depths of the kiddie pool. JMunk, however, wasn't feeling so brave and was much more cautious. We ended in our swim with a stint in the hot tub, and WMunk was the happiest and most relaxed we've ever seen him. He laid back and cooed and would have been happy to sleep there if we'd let him.

To end a perfectly happy day we broke bread, or naan, rather, at an "authentic" Indian restaurant just around the corner from the hotel. The food tasted like any authentic Indian food I've ever had, but the place was fully run by Koreans. No matter. We had curries of chicken, lamb, and lentils and naan until we could eat no more. The meal was divine. This mama was supremely happy and we all slept well that night.