one last stop. {two peas in a pod}

okay, are y'all sick of seeing pictures from our weekend at deep creek lake? probs, right? we weren't even there 3 full days and yet, here i am on my third post! sheesh!

i promise this is the very last post.

these pictures just really warranted their very own post.

aren't you super excited for the time we go on a week long vacation? maybe i'll squeeze 10 posts outta that!

kidding.

kinda.

okay, no really, on to the post!


after we checked out of our little lake front cabin, we said goodbye to ben and liam and their families and made our way over to have one more adventure with gabe and his family. just a short drive away was swallow falls park, home to some beautiful waterfalls.

the boys were so funny because i'm pretty sure they thought we were all heading home after we said our goodbyes. so when we pulled into the parking lot and they saw each other, they were super excited and screamed, "haiiii!" choi boy loves gabe and squealed, "geeeebe! geeeebe!" again and again. so cute!


i mean, who wouldn't love that gabe! (i swear, gabe was standing on a tree root or something...i hope!)

the boys are so cute together and are quite like two peas in a pod...a good mix of silly and sweet with a touch of mischief (okay, really that's more cb) and lovers of sports and any sort of transportation vehicles, to boot! and what's cutest is that as they play, they break out into spontaneous hugs, too. love. it.

once we got to the park, we "hiked" through the paths and down to muddy creek falls where we could get really up close and personal with the water.



like, seriously (scarily) up close:



notice the hubs' tight grip on choi boy.

after a few too many close-calls and near heart attacks (okay, *i* nearly fell in), we headed back to grab a bite to eat back in town before we hit the road.

of course, before we could do that, the boys decided to take a pit stop at sillyville and giggle city.

"umma, running! running!"

they parked themselves on the ground and had a fit of giggles as they watched and tried to catch a daddy longlegs (and this scaredy cat momma pretended to think it was so cool):




after they had thoroughly "examined" (i.e. squished) the bug, we loaded our budding entomologists in the car and headed back into town for lunch.

we ended up eating at the soda fountain in the back of the town's antique shop. the sign for milkshakes lured us in and we are so glad we stopped in!


it was so quaint and just delightful...and not to mention yummy! can you ever go wrong with tater tots, cheese fries and milk shakes? i think not.

after scarfing down our lunch, we strolled through the town one more time and checked out the antique car show.


our cute little boys garnered some attention and were invited to climb into one of the (very cool) cars. very cool.


by then we had delayed nap time long enough, so we coaxed the now cranky 2 year-olds out of the antique cars and said our final goodbyes (with lots of hugs) to our pals.

and with that, we settled in for the long-ish ride home,


and drove off, back down through the mountains, waving farewell to the windmills and cows.




and this picture has nothing to do with anything, aside from the fact that it was taken that weekend, but i loved it too much not to post:

no more lake posts, i promise!

:)

insta-friday. {catch-up edition}

it's been a while since i've joined up with jeannett for insta-friday, but if there is a teeny silver lining to choi boy being sick with bronchitis (boo! and blech!), it's having extra time to waste blog. ;) well, that and the extra cuddles and sweet time with my boy (which is actually a big, fat, glittery silver lining), of course!

here are some insta moments from the last couple weeks:

i went and got my hair did. perms have come a long way, my friends. all hail the super awesome korean pama. :)


see, a far cry from the crazy, tight curls of the 80s! though, slighly uncle-jesse-from-full-house-or-inigo-montoya-like...

my boy and i made my favorite fall treat...pumpkin chocolate chip muffins:

methinks he liked them.

it's not even (quite) halloween yet and there is christmas stuff EVERYwhere. don't get me wrong, i love the most wonderful time of the year. i'd just like to fully embrace and get used to fall first before winter is shoved in my face.
choi boy, on the other hand, is mesmerized by all the twinkle lights and upon seeing santa, decided he (whom cb is not even really aware of) needed a hug.

it was very sweet, but don't think i didn't have frightening visions of the entire display falling over and on top of cb. and those frightening visions were had as i snapped that picture. first things first! duh. ;)

choi boy really loves to "play" basketball. he has no less than three basketball hoops of varying sizes and no less than 6 different basketballs littered around the house. when all of those basketballs are nowhere to be found (which happens quite a bit, actually), cb will use anything as a substitute.

anything.

the other day, i was taking choi boy's shirt off so he could get into the bath. i had forgotten that i had put his nerd shirt on as an undershirt until i saw it peeking out under the two buttons i had undone. it was as though he was reverse superman, hiding his clark kent uniform under his super one. ;)



choi boy was my date to our school's international night...we went to see my kindergartners dance the merengue (they were SO. freaking. cute.), but when cb started to get a bit antsy, we escaped to my classroom to play for a bit. when we left, cb took a souvenir with him:

why, yes, that would be an asian man in a business suit driving that tractor. perhaps cb chose something to give us a glimpse into his dual career future? hmmm...

we met up with choi boy's noona again and headed over to a local pumpkin patch.
cb was *very* excited about the pumpkins!

no, really, he was excited. he was also interested in picking up every pumpkin he could. :)

of course, before we did anything else, we had to take a ride on the train!


cb and his noona braved the moon bounce slide,


checked out some goats,

(he tried to feed this pregnant one some rocks.)

and he even shared some precious popcorn with noona.

true love.

i'm back to playing words with friends after a short school-started-and-it's-crazy! hiatus.
looks like i need some brushing up:

although, in my defense, i use "gah!" as a way of expressing shock or disgust quite frequently. so there.


piper is so sweet and patient. i love her.

cb LOVES bathtime. i mean, looooooves. he could spend hours in the tub.
his latest bathtime antic is "swimming". he lays flat down on his back and kicks his arms and legs around, often singing because his voice sounds funny underwater. it's hilarious and awesome.


my mom is convinced he got sick from all the swimming, but the doctor said cb's ears were perfectly clear, thankyouverymuch.
;)

i may have found my newest snack obsession.

um, yes, that is a nearly empty bag almost finished during one sitting.
don't judge. they have 10g of whole grain in each serving!
so what if i ate 3 servings?!

my momma gave us a new humidifier for choi boy's room. it's korean and all sorts of fancy shmancy. it came with a handy manual written in both korean and english. and not surprisingly, it was chock full of some awesome engrish.
my favorite? the happy and angry humidifiers:

don't forget to use your humidifier "at the flat place," or it will be angry.

my boy is currently sleeping and sounding like darth vader. it's so sad and it makes my heart hurt when he has a coughing fit and is gasping for air. :( i hope the antibiotics work their magic soon soon soon.
but, in true cb-form, even a pesky illness can't get him down! except for his bouts of coughing, he is still his silly, wacky self, albeit with a crazy raspy voice.

the only difference? he's a lot more cuddly when he's sick.

which i don't mind.
not one bit.

four little boys.

four little boys together can often be a recipe for total disaster. or major trouble. or incredible chaos.

in this case, it was a recipe for too much cuteness. :)


our little guys had a ton of fun hanging out and playing during our weekend away and got a kick out doing anything and everything together, be it inside or outside.

they jumped around in the leaves,




played {the most ridiculously adorable} game of catch,




no, seriously, how stinkin' cute are they?!

hung out with their appas,




played some hardcore ring-around-the-rosie:



sidenote: choi boy hasn't really played much ring-around-the-rosie before -- i've tried, but it isn't much fun just playing with your momma. the power of peer pressure got cb to willingly join in, but he had no idea what was going on during the "we all fall down" part and just watched as his buddies fell on the floor. and then, he'd try hard to help them up. hilarious!



the boys even got to enjoy a bonfire together, where they tried some new and intriguing treats:

what is this white blob?

seriously? i'm supposed to eat this? like a sandwich?
whatevs, there's chocolate in there. i saw it.

and finally, the boys were also totally in cahoots and each talked to their respective grown-ups to try and convince them that we needed to stay one extra night:

"mommy, you look gorgeous. this mountain air really suits you."

"if we stay one more night, you'll get to hang out longer with people over the age of 2!"

"daddy, don't you want to keep rocking our awesome matching hoodie look?"

"who cares about work, appa?"
it didn't quite work.
;)

but, even if their scheming didn't work, i am certain this won't be the last of our travels together!


so grateful for good friends and great times.