Family Friday: June 28

42 Weeks Old

A few days late again this week.  I wanted to wait until we got home to take her weekly photo because it is easier to do here and we were really busy last week!  Cameron and I have also been battling a cold since we got back so we are moving slower than usual.

This past week we were in Seattle visiting Johnnie's family, seeing old friends, and running the half marathon.  We had a fantastic time seeing and doing many things that Seattle has to offer.  I have so many great photos that I hope I can find the time to do some separate posts about places we went.

Cameron had a great time hanging out with her grandparents and aunt all week!

We met with a friend and her children for a playdate at Playdate Cafe.  This was a toy-filled place where kids can play and mommies (and daddies) can socialize.  It was hard keeping toys out of Cameron's mouth so I tried to keep her mouth occupied with her pacifier.

We met up with a friend and his daughter in West Seattle for lunch at Sunfish Cafe (excellent fish and chips!) directly across from Alki Beach.  After lunch we took a walk along the beach.  Alki Beach is the rocky beach that Sam and Jonah rode their boat to and played on in the movie Sleepless in Seattle.

Cameron met her great aunt and uncle who came up from Oregon to spend the day with us.  We had a picnic on the beach at Golden Gardens Park and then went to the Ballard Locks to walk through the gardens, watch boats using the locks, and to see salmon using the fish ladder.

Another friend and I met up with our kids and strollers in Green Lake Park to catch up on each other's lives while enjoying a peaceful walk around the lake.  There is a fantastic two-lane paved path (about 3 miles long) around the lake for walking, running, and cycling.

We recently bought a new baby hiking backpack for Cameron so we headed up to the Boulder River Trail with Johnnie's dad to test it out.  We hiked for a while, stopped for lunch, and then hiked back to the car.  Cameron seemed to love being in the backpack and it must have been comfortable because she fell asleep in it!  We hiked through a moss-covered wilderness with huge trees along a river with scenic waterfalls... so beautiful!

Johnnie and I did a few things on our own while his parents spent time with Cameron.  We ran the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, went to a Mariner's baseball game at Safeco Field, walked around downtown Seattle and through the Pike Place Market, went to the Ballard Sunday Farmer's Market, spent a night bar hopping in Ballard, and went out for an awesome Korean BBQ dinner.

We flew back to Hawaii on Saturday evening.  Unfortunately Cameron woke up unusually early on Saturday morning and quickly developed a cold throughout the day.  By the time we got on the plane, she was pretty congested and not feeling well.  Cameron screamed until takeoff and then thankfully fell asleep for about an hour.  After that she slept on and off and had a few more screaming fits.  The flight felt longer than the 5½ hours that it was.  It is no fun flying with a sick baby but we made it!

Cameron is just starting to get over her cold.  I'm glad it's not long-lasting, especially because I now have what she has.  I suppose I was bound to catch it with all the sneezing, coughing, drool, and mucous coming from her!

Today Cameron felt well enough to help me unpack her suitcase :)

*******

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.”

~unknown

  

Family Friday: June 21

41 Weeks Old

This is the first time that a Family Friday post has been more than a day late!  We flew to Seattle last week and we've been so busy that I'm only getting short bursts of time on the computer.  This week's photo needed a lot of Photoshopping which took extra time.  The lighting in the house was great for the photo but there was no way to get my leg out of the way while I stood directly over her.  I was able to "erase" my leg with some Photoshop magic but that was way more work than I wanted to do.  We will be back in Hawaii this coming weekend so I will be waiting to take this coming Friday's photo at home so Family Friday will be a few days late again this week.

Cameron was teething multiple times in the few months but each time the teeth were visible and about to break through, they regressed.  This week her two bottom teeth finally broke through!  She actually handled it really well.  She had a few random screaming fits that didn't last long and she never got a fever.  It's pretty funny to watch her constantly run her tongue over her new teeth with a perplexed look on her face :)

She is not walking yet but she is getting more brave.  She loves to stand and pulls herself up on everything constantly.  This week she even pulled herself up on Dulce and then stood there pulling her ears.  Dulce never moved or flinched as Cameron grabbed handfuls of fur and she even seemed to enjoy the ear pulling :)  Dulce is such an amazing dog around children but I recently had a realization of a downside to this.  Dulce is very patient and gentle, tolerating whatever Cameron does to her (I always supervise them together just in case).  Because of this, Cameron might be assuming that all animals are like this and not know appropriate boundaries.  This may prove to be a difficult thing to teach her.

On Wednesday evening we left Hawaii on an overnight flight to Seattle to visit Johnnie's family.  This was a 5½ hour flight so we got Cameron her own ticket so that we could leave in her in carseat to sleep.  While we were waiting at the gate to board our flight, Johnnie got called to the counter to find that we all got upgraded to first class for free because of his Platinum Elite SkyMiles status!  How awesome was that?!  We love flying Delta :)

Nine months old and already flying first class... she has me beat by 30+ years!

Night flights are the way to go with an active baby!  She fussed for a short while we taxied but as soon as the plane lifted off the ground, she went out like a light and slept almost the entire flight.  We landed in Seattle at 6am which was 3am Hawaii time.  It's only a three hour time change so it only took a couple days to adjust.

We scheduled this visit to Seattle to coincide with the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Half Marathon that Johnnie and I both ran!  This was my 5th half marathon and Johnnie's 2nd.  My running buddy came up from Texas to run with me and we all had an great time.  The race course was beautiful and the weather was perfect!  I will try to get a post about the race up this week.

Johnnie and I left Cameron with his parents and spent two nights at the gorgeous Edgewater Hotel in downtown Seattle.  We had an amazing waterfront room with a balcony and it was within walking distance of the race.  It was a romantic little getaway in this beautiful city :)

*******

"You can learn many things from children.

How much patience you have, for instance."

~Franklin P. Jones

Cameron's First Flight

Cameron's first trip off of the island is a big one!  We flew from Honolulu, Hawaii to State College, Pennsylvania.  That is over 4,700 miles done with two transfers and a total of 11 hours 5 min in the air.  Children under 2 years of age can fly for free sitting on the lap of an adult.  However, this was such a long trip that we knew we would all be more comfortable if Cameron could sit in her car seat instead so we purchased a ticket for her.  We flew on Delta in the "Economy Comfort" section and used our Delta SkyMiles to cover almost the entire cost of the trip for all three of us - how awesome is that?!  We are frequent flyers and had a lot of miles saved up :)

We left Hawaii on an overnight flight with a 9:15pm departure time.  This gave us all day to finish packing and get ready for the trip.  We got to the airport early and gave ourselves plenty of time to check in, get through security, and relax before boarding our flight.

One purchase we made before this trip was an umbrella stroller.  We have the Chicco Keyfit 30 Car Seat for Cameron so until now I was using the Chicco Keyfit Caddy which is a stroller frame that the car seat snaps into.  We also have a Bob Revolution SE jogging stroller but it is big, bulky, and not easy to travel with.  Umbrella strollers are lightweight and compact (perfect for travel and everyday use) so we went shopping for one.

We tried out many umbrella strollers but fell in love with the new Chicco Liteway Plus Stroller.  This stroller is awesome!  This is a 2-in-1 stroller that converts from a carseat carrier to an umbrella stroller.  It is lightweight and folds compactly for travel and storage.

As soon as we started our trip, we knew that the Liteway Plus was a great purchase.  We need to travel with Cameron's car seat so having the ability to snap it into the stroller instead of carrying it separately was extremely convenient!  We hung the diaper bag and car seat base on the handles and pushed it through the airports.  We gate-checked the stroller before all of our flights and took the car seat and base onto the plane for Cameron to sit in.  Now that we are at our destination, we are using the Liteway Plus as an umbrella stroller and Cameron loves to ride in it.

Our first flight was from Honolulu to Salt Lake City which was about a 6 hour flight.  Cameron's rear-facing infant car seat just fit in the Economy Comfort seats which have 3-4 more inches of legroom than coach seating.  I'm not sure if the car seat would have even fit in the coach seats!  The plane was seven seats across with two aisles.  We sat in the center three seats with Cameron in the middle of us.

A lady sitting in the row behind us saw Cameron upon boarding and said "Hello there, I guess I get to listen to you for the entire flight!"  Um... hello to you too?  As it turns out, Cameron barely made a sound for the entire flight.  She fell asleep as the plane took off and slept almost the entire flight.  We were lucky.  Another baby a couple rows back had a few screaming fits throughout the night.

It was about 3:30am Hawaii time when we landed in Salt Lake City but Cameron woke up smiling and had a great time looking around while we waited for our next flight.

Our next flight, from Salt Lake to Detroit, was about three hours long.  This plane was six seats across with one aisle.  We put Cameron next to the window so that Johnnie and I could both get up and out if we needed to.  She cried only for couple minutes as she was falling asleep.  She slept for most of this flight as well.

The crazy light show tunnel at the Detroit Airport...

The plane from Detroit to State College was a tiny one - only four seats wide.  Cameron's carseat would not fit in these seats so we gate-checked her car seat and Johnnie flew with her on his lap.  This was only a 45 minute flight so it was manageable.

Cameron was a little fussy on this flight but only cried for a couple of minutes.  She slept for a little while and then was content to look around and play with the emergency procedure pamphlet.

My parents were waiting in State College for us.  My mom had visited Hawaii in December so she had already met Cameron once before.  This was the first time Cameron saw my father in person instead of on a computer screen.  Cameron has a couple dozen family members and friends to meet on this trip!

At this point, we were finished with planes and airports but we weren't done traveling yet.  We had about an hour drive to my parent's house.  Cameron (and Johnnie) slept for most of the drive.

The take-offs and landings didn't bother Cameron's ears at all.... in fact, she slept right through most of them!  Out of the entire 11 hours in the air and 1 hour in the car, she only cried for a total of about 5 minutes.  I like to think that she is a born traveler and has flying in her blood.  After all, she is the daughter of a pilot :)  Let's hope that the flights home go just as smoothly!

Adjusting to the 6 hour time change is a whole different story but we're doing better than I expected.

*******

"There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror."

~Orson Welles

Flying to the ROK

Johnnie and I ended our trip to the States by spending a couple of nights in Chicago.  This is where we caught our direct flight back to the ROK, or the Republic of Korea.  On the way from Korea to the States, I flew on United Airlines and wasn't impressed.  For our trip back to Korea, we flew with Korean Air which is partnered with Delta.  Hellooo frequent flyer miles :)  I love flying Korean Air!  It's a looong flight but always an enjoyable one!

We were super lucky and had an empty seat next to us!

When you board the plane, you will find a blanket, a pillow, and a bottle of water on your seat.  After everyone is seated and settled, the flight attendants hand out little pouches containing disposable slippers, a toothbrush and toothpaste.  They will also hand out headphones.  This is all free :)

Korean Air flight attendants are super helpful and friendly!  They are truly the nicest flight attendants out of all the airlines I've ever flown on.

One of the best things about Korean Air is the individual screens on the back of every seat.  Our flight was over 13 hours but I was looking forward to it because of this little screen :)  It's the perfect opportunity to catch up on your movie watching!

You can watch movies, documentaries, and TV shows, listen to music, play games, see the news, shop, and view maps and information about your flight.  There is even a kid-friendly section with movies and games specifically for young passengers.

The Landscape Camera is awesome.  When you board the plane and get settled, find this feature and watch the forward camera as you are on the runway and taking off - it really adds to the experience!  Once in the air, the forward camera becomes a boring view of sky and clouds (picture of the small screen below on the left) but the downward camera is a fun show as long as there aren't clouds blocking the view (picture of the small screen below on the right).  It gives everyone, even those in the center section of seats, a chance to "look out the window" at the world below.

There are a variety of maps to view information about your flight.  You can see exactly where the plane currently is, the flight path, air speed, time to destination, etc.

On the map below you can see our flight path near the end of our trip.  All planes must stay out of North Korea's air space.

On the flights between the States and Korea, two meals are served.  There are always two options but you can arrange for an alternate meal (for example, vegetarian) when you purchase your ticket.

Our first meal had a Korean option and an American option.  The Korean option is often Bibimbap if it's an afternoon or evening meal.  I rolled with the Bibimbap on this flight which came with kimchi, fruit, seaweed soup, and the Bibimbap fixings.  To eat it properly, put some (or all) of the rice on top of the food in the larger bowl, add the pepper paste and sesame oil to your liking, and mix it all together.

One important thing to mention is that beer and wine are free on international flights.  I took advantage of that and had some white wine with all meals and snacks :)

Our second meal was actually a choice of two American options; chicken or lasagna.  I rolled with the chicken which came with potato salad, a roll, and a chocolate mousse dessert.  All of the meals come with a small empty mug.  After everyone has been served a meal, flight attendants come around with coffee and hot tea.  If you would like either, place your mug on the flight attendant's tray and she'll pour it for you.

There were drink or drink/snack services every couple hours during the flight.  Before our second meal, flight attendants handed out steamy hot little wet towels which were very refreshing after so many hours in the plane.

It was an enjoyable flight and we're safely back "home" on the ROK... at least for the next three or four months.  I spent a total of five weeks in the States and had a great time visiting with family and friends, shopping, and getting my fill of American food and dark beer.  Before I left, I wrote that I wondered what things would stick out the most about America.  Here are the top three things that did:

1. The diversity.  There is such a mixture of races and cultures in America that everyone looks unique.  There are all shapes, sizes, and colors.  It really is a beautiful thing!
2. Portion sizes.  The amount of food served on a plate in the restaurants in the States is HUGE.  I rarely walk away from a Korean restaurant saying "I'm stuffed" but in the States, I'd be stuffed and I'd still have food left on my plate.
3. People sizes.   Americans, in general, are large people.  Perhaps you can blame it partially on the portion sizes mentioned above.  I certainly came back to Korea a few pounds heavier.

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"There are places I'll remember

All my life, though some have changed

Some forever not for better

Some have gone and some remain"

~The Beatles