Mud Fest 2012

The Boryeong Mud Festival is one of the summer highlights in Korea I think. I has a blast there in 2010, and really looked forward to it this year too. The fact that it happens in July means there is almost always rain at the festival which is just as well, since it is a mud festival!

This year was no different, and as the rain poured down on our drive there, I was a little worried...

Luckily by the time we got to Boryeong, the rain had stopped and Stella and I headed straight to the beach for a dip :)

Stella and SY took a little nap...

...rise and shine!

Ciara's brother and sister from Ireland visiting for a few weeks...

Very sad story...Stella's pink dress from Gogo was drying on one of the 'No swimming' flags, and somehow the flag managed to get removed without us noticing. And so the dress disappeared! We went to ask the life guards if they had seen it, but no luck :(

Early on...

...and a bit later!

Mermen on the beach

Kite-surfing

Since Stella's dress was gone, we had to make a new one out of her blankie. She didn't think much of her replacement.

P.S. Check out Stella's cute shoes - she's joined the Crocs brigade! They are a little big, but all her other shoes are too small for her now, so for the moment it's these or barefoot!

SY won a doggie for Stella and the dart games

People getting into the festive mood...

Here is Stella reading up about the Yeosu Expo happening in Korea at the moment. I think it's amazing and I really hope we can see it before it's over in August. To give you and idea of what it's about, here's an excerpt from the brochure:
"The entire site of Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea is designed to form a model city exhibiting the low-carbon lifestyle of the future. It's a global gathering seeking to preserve the environment and to achieve the co-prosperity of the sea and humankind."

Stella didn't like these dudes much...

Mud and games

Stella got in on the action...

Daredevil

I took Stella to the park today, where there are 3 slides. One short little one, a longer, bumpy one and a looong s-shaped one that's covered. I'd walk her up the stairs, put her on the short one and run around to catch her at the bottom. Then one time, I couldn't see her, and the next thing she popped out the bottom of the long s-shaped slide! My  heart, I tell you....

I don't have a picture of the slides, but here she is swinging ~

Silly buggers

Where's Stella?

Cooking breakfast...

Upside-down Peek-a-boo!

Bath time hairstyles!

Love letters

Stella got her first love letter last week....the story goes like this:

It seems that Stella has become quite famous at the library. I'm not sure who likes her more: the old ladies who work there, or the kiddies who hang out or study at the library. We always come home from the library with all sorts of odd toys, snacks or random stuff given to us. Like today, the old lady who is in charge gave Stella a miniature dust pan and duster...I don't know what I'm supposed to do with all this stuff!

Anyway, there is a little 12-year old girl called Felicity, who can speak English quite well, and who absolutely adores Stella. She plays peek-a-boo with her, reads her books and keeps her entertained while I study! Last week, she left the library and game back with some hair pins and this letter for Stella:

She is very sweet. I think I'll definitely have to keep this letter for Stella to read one day.

Gwanak Mountain

If hiking/mountain climbing is your thing, then Korea is the place for you! Something like 70% of it's terrain is mountainous, which means that no matter where you are, you have access to a climbable mountain within no time. I love it. It's ironic, since I think just about every other part of Korea has been slapped up into a concrete jungle. So it's like heaven, escaping to the mountains for some fresh air and a bit of nature.

On Sunday we headed for Gwanak San, right in Seoul. The weather was a bit gloomy, which was actually perfect, since we were about to get very HOT climbing up.

Temple with pretty Buddhist lanterns at the bottom.

Stella having a bit of fun...

...and Daddy getting impatient ;)

Just the first stretch...

Misty!

All that mist was a bit spooky, but it kept us cool :)

Lunch!

A panoramic view...can't see much for all the mist!

We made it!