We ‘finished’ the Fortress Trail today in that we walked the last third of it and ended up back where we started it (and August got to play in the water there again).
Today was the first time August petted a dog and also the first time he drank out of a water fountain. He also started saying the word ‘dig’ when we played in the sand.
We actually started by walking part of section 4 of the trail. To fully finish the trail we will have to do an out-and-back to as much of sections 3 and 4, since we were thwarted in trying to do that entire section. To limit how long that out-and-back is, and since sections 5 and 6 were some of the easiest part of the trail, we also threw in part of section.
Before getting to the trail we had to walk through part of Hyehwa. While doing that we followed the little (fake) stream along the sidewalk (he loved this – he is all about water, and when we left the house he was pointing at everything, especially grates on the street, and saying ‘wawa’) and popped into one art gallery I didn’t know existed.
After taking one more bus we started in Walyong Park. This is where he pet a little dog (and mainly used my hand to pet the dog) and he also had a blast playing with a dustbin. He loves seeing people use brooms, and also likes the dustbins they use, so this was very exciting.
We started the walk from there. We stopped at a playground to swing, at a little park with a broken water spout, then at a gate to admire the ceiling, then at a recycling yard to watch the big claw, then at a bench to have some food and water. He then fell asleep, and I walked for the next hour, getting to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza before he woke up.
We stopped at a bench outside there to play and eat and drink, then went inside the DDP to refill our water bottles.
We ended up at Jangchungdan Park and first played in the water and then the sand. His is where he drank from the fountain. Then, as we played in the sand he said ‘dig’ several times. And at one point he crawled into my lap and kept playing in the sand.
We took the subway and bus home. He had four middle school girls to entertain/be entertained by on the subway, so that went smoothly. He was really hamming it up for them. At one point he took a bite of banana bread out of his mouth, set it on my hand, then grabbed my hand and pulled it to his mouth and ate the banana bread.
Got home a few minutes after 5:30. Soon thereafter got a message from Derek that he and Logan were down in the park. So we all went down there and hung out with them for awhile. We then went across to the other side of the park. Carly stayed with August and he played in the garden planters (he loved the potting soil) while I got a few groceries.
Staring at the fountain/stream in Hyehwa:
Walyong Park:
One wall photo for you today:
Looking at the painted ceiling:
Waking up:
Jangchungdan Park:
Playing with Logan:
