Tong Bok Market + Seoul Tower

Kasey had a four day weekend this past weekend and it was so nice to have him home. Eisley loved having him home to play with her all weekend. She has now nicknamed him "dee" which we think is short for her usual "daddy" and all I heard all weekend was "DEE? DEE!" On Friday we visited a market in downtown Pyeongtaek named Tong Bok Market before going to our branch BBQ/camp out. It is a huge outdoor market that is open 7 days a week. It reminded me of a flea market back home. Except I don't think I've ever been to a flea market haha. I can only imagine that this was a little different than anything you'd see in the states. One word: DOG!

Chicken feet, yum. Kasey ate these on his mission!

The produce is so pretty.

The carrots here are huge! 

.....dog....be glad I spared you an up close picture.

So.much.kimchi. It smells so good!

What would you even do with a pig HEAD?!

Eisley's dream come true! It nibbled on her finger and she giggled. 

This balloon making mime on stilts loved Eisley and she felt very indifferent towards him. The peace sign is a universal hand gesture when getting your picture taken as a Korean. We had better learn quick.

On Saturday Eisley woke up with some pretty bad allergies so we made a quick trip to the 3 and 8 market and stayed inside the rest of the day. We spent the majority of the afternoon a few hours building Eisley's new play kitchen while she napped. Kasey did all the work [he's the best!] and it is ridiculous how difficult that thing was! She woke up and was so excited to play with it though, so it was definitely worth it. She kept stirring the fake food in her pot and then giving us bites and saying "mmm." It's amazing to watch their imagination grow at this age. The playroom is almost done, we're just waiting on a few more packages to be delivered. Eisley loves it so far. We stayed indoors on Sunday too and had a much needed and very lazy day. 

Monday was Buddha's birthday, Memorial day and Eisley seemed to be feeling better so we took the train up to Seoul to go to Seoul Tower. It was about a ten minute walk once we exited the subway and then a three minute cable car ride up Namsan mountain to get there. 

Eating her hard boiled while waiting for the train to arrive. This girl is seriously the best eater, and that I am thankful for.

The view of Seoul from the cable car station.

Seoul Tower from the cable car station.

The short hike from where the cable car drops you off to the tower was so pretty.

Macaroon ice cream sandwiches....ahem Stephanie and Dave.

The Locks of Love at Seoul Tower. People buy padlocks and lock them on all the gates, write messages and never throw away the key. It's meant to symbolize eternal love.

Our love lock :)

These are big fire pits that were used to warn of enemies approaching during the Joseon dynasty.

The colors in the court yard of the tower were so pretty.

Enjoying some tomatoes before we head to the top of the tower.

So many to choose from.

The view of Seoul from the observation deck.

The Han river. The fourth longest river on the peninsula.

There was a 360 degree view of all of Seoul and on each window they had posted the distance to different major cities in all the world. This window was the closest to home.

Our view from where we ate lunch.

She loved playing in the misters.

So this was kind of weird. A group of women wanted to take Eisley's picture and then this woman picked her up and asked Kasey to take their picture haha. 

The view from the cable car ride back down the mountain.

We got off the subway on our way back to Seoul at Nomdaemun Market to see what it was like. We only spent about ten minutes there though because it was so hot and crowded at that point. We decided we'd come back another day when we have more time and patience ;)

In other news we got our driver licenses! We had to take a 45 question written test. Driving rules here are very similar to the states with the exception of a few different signs and lane rules. We've also found a car that we're hoping to be ours by the end of this week. Oh, and Eisley has found a love of stickers. 

We're really enjoying our time here despite missing our families and friends back home. We can't wait to see everyone when we visit. Love you ALL!