Family Vacation Day 2... The Road Less Travelled

We made it up to Split Rock Lighthouse and State Park this morning. We'd never toured the lighthouse before so we did that today. The majority of our time was spent hiking around. You'll see the purpose of my title a little later in today's blog. It is a favorite poem of mine and was pretty suitable for the days hiking. Charles and Min walking down the path. They were absolutely nuts. We made it through the lighthouse but no other buildings because the boys couldn't quite control themselves. Scary when you're in a historic house full of antiques. So... off we went.

Min and I on the trail. He was the only who would agree to actually looking at the camera...but he couldn't do it with a straight face.

It was nearly lunchtime so we decided to have a picnic on this little island. This was the start of a bumpy road. Not only did we have to make it over Pebble Beach. Think.... a beach of fist-sized rocks, 3 boys, and lots of throwing. No...no one got hit by rocks.

Then we had to make it over this cliff. We were happy to see that the boys are pretty good climbers. No one fell off the cliff into the lake. Min and Travis had a great conversation going over. Min...'Dad, what's this?' Dad...'I think it's poop.' Min...'No. I think it's marshmallow.' Dad...'That's bird poop, Min.' Min...'Oh.. gross!!'

Min with his collection of favorite, beautiful rocks. Yes, we carried them all the way back to the truck in the cooler.

Once we made it over Pebble Beach we had to cross these rocks to make it the island.

On the island trying to find a place to eat.

Charles and Min.

2010 Duluth Family Vacation

We headed up to Duluth for a long weekend and a family vacation. The day started out with swimming lessons at the Y for Henry and Charles and then we left. I must say that taking long trips back to North Dakota has certainly paid off. The boys have gotten to be pretty good travellers. We made it all the way up here without movies. Yes, Henry played his DS and the other looked at books and Min took a nap, but...hey... there was hardly any fighting or anything. Charles didn't even ask how many days it was going to take us to get there. It was hot and we didn't have time to do much else on Wednesday so we headed to the beach. Yes... the beach at Lake Superior. It wasn't even that cold. And... where else can you drive to Northern Minnesota and feel a little like you're at ocean. We went to a beach close to the downtown area. A ship in the distance.

I wish I knew how to edit my pictures a little better on the blog. I don't have Photoshop on this computer. But, Charles has the great smile!! What a water boy.

Min is loving the lake!! His first comment.... 'It's so shivery!.' Didn't take him...or anyone.. long to get wet.

I think w'e'll head up to Split Rock Lighthouse and Park tomorrow. Charles should love it. He's such a little ship fanatic. More to come!!

I'm going to back date a bunch of highlights for the fall.

Congratulations, Henry!!

Henry tested and was advanced to the rank of recommended black belt. This test required quite a lot of work compared to the other tests. He had to write a paper, memorize a lot of information, and the test was quite long. But, he persevered and advanced. We're very proud of him!! Receiving his new belt from Ms. Hansen.

Mr. Q reading the certificate.

In his new black belt uniform.

Halloween 2009

Has anyone ever seen such a happy Power Ranger and frog? Henry says he was smiling so I have to assume that I also have a happy...hatchet carrying scary thing.

Honestly, have you ever seen such a cute frog?

Off we go! Min and Charles made it around the cul-de-sac..about 15 houses... then went home. Henry and I continued around most of the neighborhood, stopped to talk to a few friends, went through the neighborhood haunted house and then made it home.

First Snowfall

The boys were so excited with the first snowfall. They couldn't wait to get outside. Charles immediately wanted to build a dam...a tradition in the Paul household but is usually done in the spring. Charles did manage to make a dam. It filled up with melted snow and Min played in it.

Charles is pretty proud of his work.

Min making snowballs.

Resting after a hard days work.

Charles is passionate about many things. Here are just a couple. The cat, who he picked out. She started out as Abigail...then Noki Abby...Abby...and now Abba.

He also love to build with a passion for Lincoln Logs. This is entirely his creation built with no help from any of us.

11 years!!

Happy Birthday bone marrow!!! You're 11 years old!!

Happy Birthday, Min!!

We were lucky to have my brother and his family here during Min's 3rd birthday. It always adds a little more excitement and chaos to the party. Min and his Thomas cake. Min is obsessed with Thomas and his 'favorite' engine is Diesel 10. To unknowledgeable Thomas folks, Diesel 10 is a naughty engine. I truly hope that is not a predictor of my son.

My nephew, Noah, came too. Here he is helping Min unwrap his presents. He's turning 5 in a couple of weeks and was so good to Min.

Noah, with what I was told was a wanted movie of his.

Min at the restaurant where we had his birthday dinner. This was after drinking his ice cream as you will see in the next picture.

We were a little surprised to see Henry 'skiing' behind the Gator. They left to go around the cul-de-sac. Henry was roller-blading...alone, and Charles and Min were in the Gator. This is what we saw when they made back to the house.

This is a pretty good shot of the 'real' Min. The Min we see at home. He always hides when people talk to him in public. Yes, he's nuts. Poor Charles... he had been working on building a dam in the sandbox. He didn't get too upset though.

First Days of School

School has officially started. Henry started on September 7th and is in the 2nd grade. None of his close friends are in his class, but he loves school anyway. Charles started kindergarten on September 10th. He was very nervous about school starting. But came running out at the end of the day with a smile on his face. I asked him if he liked school, and he said, 'I love school!.' I asked him he had any homework, and he said, 'I don't think so. I don't know what that is.'

Happy Birthday, Charles!!

Charles is 6. Wow!! We spent most of the day in the Cities. We went to the Como Zoo and amusement park. Very much a hit with the boys. Afterwards, we made it through the traffic mess of the State Fair and got to the Mirror of Korea for dinner. We stopped over at Kim's Market for melon bars before we left for home. Charles and Min fell asleep on our way out of St. Paul (at 6:00 p.m.) and slept all the way home. Yes...you're right.... it's not good for a 2 and 6 year old to take a nap at 6 p.m. But, they did crash at 10...not midnight like we had thought.

It has been so fun watching Charles grow to this age and seeing more and more of his personality shine through. On his first birthday, he stuck his fingers in the cake and screamed. He hated it. Now, he's very much a rule-follower (he's going to LOVE school). And, thinks everyone else should follow the same rules....even when you're 2. And, when you don't follow the rules, well... he's not especially happy. He loves to build with Lego's, Lincoln Logs, and in the sand. He could play in the water for hours and hours. He's literally spent the majority of the summer wet and sandy. He also adores ships. He's not a speed talker like Henry. Thankfully...you can really only have one or maybe two of those per family before you start buying stock in earplugs. But he is a thinker and an analyzer. He asks some incredibly thoughtful questions. Most of the time they are also incredibly thought-provoking. He is our Charles. Our Jeong Min 정 민. We love you, buddy!! Pictures with the brothers!!

Opening presents....He got a remote control airplane and a remote control helicopter.

Water Wars

All we needed was a little warm weather, and ....look out!!! It started with the sprinkler in the front yard and quickly escalated into an all out war. The boys had water guns and, if you can see them, Min has nun chuks... Very useful in a water war.


Charles and Min in the get-away car. Charles' pose is straight out of 101 Dalmatians. Min is holding on for dear life with one hand and clutching his nun chuks with the other. It looks like he might be considering a tuck and roll maneuver if he gets pushed any further out of the jeep.

Henry and Charles are retreating so they can reload.

The motto in the military: 'We never leave a soldier behind.' Henry, being a great big brother, carrying his uninjured brother out of battle while under fire.

Charles protecting the little guy.

This was actually taken before the war started. I'm not sure where the idea to meditate in a sprinkler came from. But, since I've never tried it, I can't say that it doesn't work.

Ice cream with chopsticks?

Who says you can't eat ice cream with chopsticks....

He did pretty well too.

The Birds and the Bees?

I would like to know how the phrase 'the birds and the bees' ever came to imply what you use it for. We've been... or actually the boys have been (because I would just as soon avoid the conversation altogether) brewing up to this conversation for awhile. It started with easy questions like, 'Do babies have blankets in their moms tummies?' 'Did I have clothes on when I came out of my moms tummy?' These questions were some time ago, but they have continued with questions that a very simple answer would satisfy. Not so the other night. Charles was in one of his question asking modes, and he can ask tough questions. Let's just say that he was NOT satisfied with simple or vague answers but demanded details. Sweet Martha...the details. Henry laughed hysterically. And, Charles...our dear analytical, detail-oriented, so serious, little boy kept on asking...and asking... and asking. Nothing was funny to him...it just was. Of course, now he's moved on from that to breast-feeding.

So, a sample of our Charles' questions.
1) 'What is under the earth?' I questioned a little thinking he meant what was under the ground in the center of the earth. No. He meant that since the earth is round, like a ball, what is underneath it... like under Antarctica.

2) 'If the earth spins so fast, why doesn't it fly off into the sky?' Apparently his preschool teacher had been discussing gravity.

3) 'Why does God make it so bad storms happen and people get hurt or die?'

When he is wondering if something really happened or is just pretend, he will ask, 'Did that really happen down in this world?'

Underwater World

We made our very first trip to Underwater World at the Mall of America today. We actually went up because there was an exhibition called 'Passport to Korea' going on at the Mall. Sorry that I didn't notify everyone but I found out about it so late that I didn't get any emails out. Anyway, we also managed to get to Underwater World too. We LOVED it!! Unlike our visit to Mystery Cave, this exhibit was loved by ALL family members. Charles was in his element as you will see in the pictures. Henry thought it was incredibly cool. And, Min... well Min at times was so excited at some of the fish that he would shake. Very much worth the trip to the Cities. Henry and Charles by the scuba diver advertising 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. I think Henry is pretending to be strangled. I'm not sure...but I didn't think you were at risk for being strangled by scuba divers. Hmmm... I may be wrong.

Charles posing by the poster for the movie.

Not sure what a 2 year old thinks about when they are sitting on the back of tortoise statue.

Quite a bit happier in this one.

And, Charles by the replica of his beloved Titanic. This boy is obsessed with ships and ocean storms and why ships sink. He has about 4 Titanic books. His favorite movie is The Perfect Storm. This was terribly worrisome to me for awhile because his favorite part of that movie is when the fishing boat sinks. He knew that I didn't like that movie much. Finally, I explained to him that when the boat sinks, the people die. They don't get to go home to their family. He just looked at me and said, 'Well, God just goes down and gets them and takes them to Heaven.' I didn't have anything more to say.

Charles by the waterfall. Another favorite of his. He loves waterfalls, rivers, hoses, swimming and anything else that has to do with water.

All in all, the trip was good. The boys had fun and so did mom and dad. The Korean exhibit was good. I wish we had gotten to go on Friday or Saturday when the performances were different, but we were happy with what we saw and it appeared to be well attended.

Oh no...a 2 year old on wheels!!

Oh yes... Min is learning to ride a trike. As you will see, he's not very fast so he isn't too dangerous yet. But, he will only get faster. And....steering is a definite concern. Thankfully, he likes to wear his helmet.