Traditional Hanok (home) Village

Yesterday was our first public meltdown (her, not us!) and it was a doozy! The day started out good, we woke up, hung out, did our you take a bite, I take a bite thing. This must be how she used to eat. I share the seeds, Otto shares the yogurt. She hopped in the stroller and we're ready to go! She loves that stroller, often wants to just sit in it and hang out in our hotel room.

See how her dress is pulled up? We found out later that this is a no-no by funny looks and some nice young Korean lady pulling her dress down. Live and learn. We got to Hanok Village which is an old fashioned neighborhood where people still live. There is a tourist booth where they give you a map with a path to follow and lots of emphasis on shhhh - people live here.

The master takes on an apprentice.

The apprentice balked and was fired from the post. There are little boutiques where there are lunch and tourist spots. Here Lolo and Otto are together right before the storm:

There are no photos of the next 40 minutes - imagine 90 degree weather with dripping sweat humidity, a child screaming bloody murder who does not want to be out of the stroller but thrashing around screaming OMA (foster mother) at the top if her lungs, Koreans alternately shushing us or running out for us to take the water, sweet tea, etc. they offered. Oh yeah, and it is all up and down labyrinthine steep hills and I just want out. Yikes. She finally fell asleep in her stroller, so relieved that I would let her get back in instead of carrying her and exhausted from the kerfuffle. So then we went to the outdoor folk museum and walked around while she slept. Can't explain this statue:

When Lolo woke up she was ready to play so she and Otto ran around on some grass kicking a ball. This marching band came up and she danced along happily.

I changed two "eungah" diapers in public restrooms with no diaper area - though many of them exist here. When we got back to the hotel room she dozed and played in her stroller the whole evening, wouldn't get out to play in the tub with Otto or read with me. Finally coaxed out by drawing. She stayed on the bed and colored the rest of the night until I went to sleep. We tried to sleep with her by the wall then Otto then me but she wouldn't leave Otto's face alone so he got up and slept in bed with Dad. Cheerful morning, bonking around, then went for walk in neighborhood where I got a DELICIOUS toasted cheese, lettuce, mustard and tomato on chibata. Fell asleep in stroller, Otto got a pepperoni pizza, came back to hotel room. We'll go out and take two subway trains to a playground. On another note, she loves to count and say numbers, show on fingers, match fingers you show her. Her first English word was Otto but she says one, two, three, puppy more regularly. Oh, how we long for home! But Tim says I can't say that anymore (nail!) so tomorrow we are getting up early and going to a waterpark after a quiet day today.

Hot day...

Hey - I forgot this one from yesterday:

We've decided to name her Laurel YeoWon Mugnolo Weber. Whew! Today was a slow morning - poor little Lolo seemed a little sad, lethargic, homesick. I know how she feels - I can't wait to be done with hotels, restaurants, looking for something to do. I want easy, familiar food - I'm sure she does, too. I never really knew what was meant by comfort food as I do now. Another week or so to go. It is hard to take pictures now that my hands are full of baby things and my energy level is lower. Here are a few from the park we visited from 11 - 1 (WHAT ARE WE DOING!)

Otto picked up this worm and she came over and took it from him and handed it to me. Yikes!

Besides Lolo another thing that makes it a pleasure is watching Otto interact and play, feed, sing to, push in the stroller, comfort and PLAY with her. He is tireless and he is making all of this 200% better. Oh, thank heaven. Even if he did try to teach her "booger" right after nose. Here are some souvenirs we bought at the outdoor market:

And our best spent $15 yet - we knew she liked her tub and this was an hour's entertainment:

I have new respect for you folks with girls with tamed hair - she is very cooperative but everything falls out. That hair has a life of it's own - start Pinteresting cute cuts!

Seoul Forest

Thanks for all the kind words family and friends - what an incredible adventure! Once again I will say that we did not intend to spend a week and a half with YeoWon here so we are woefully unprepared for that. Even knowing it was on the way for about a week did not inspire us to stock the fridge, get a stroller, etc. That's the Webers for you! Turns out it would have been hard to stock the fridge - she drinks milk from a bottle 3 times a day and here is a list of her favorite foods other than a few spoons of rice: seaweed soup, soybean paste soup, kimchee, meat and eggs - no cheese, no fish. Our experience so far is that she doesn't eat much but she also doesn't seem to complain about hunger. She will try most things but spit it out or push it away if she is uninterested. So this morning we Craigslisted a stroller from some Americans who had purchased it for their vacation. We were a little worried that YeoWon wouldn't take to it but it was no problem - she climbed right in and even wanted the straps fastened. What a relief - as we mentioned before our little neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks and this 2 1/2 year old has pretty much outgrown the 3T things we brought! She's heavy! Otto is pretty adamant about pushing the stroller unless we don't let him - on and off trains, busy sidewalks, etc. We started at the Splash Fountain which goes off in crazy patterns for half an our each hour. Otto loved it and YeoWon and I hung out at the edge splashing with our feet:

Then off to the playground where Otto and YeoWon went down the slide lots of times together:

Ramen and sushi at a food stand which YeoWon really didn't eat - nor did she drink the milk from a carton with a straw but let us squirt some milk shake in her mouth from one of those bottles like apple sauce can come in. We toured the butterfly garden again and went through a cool little building with animals. Last night Otto taught YeoWon about making bunny ears based on her bunny and the bunny that made us all make them:

We ended up back at the fountain but it was off so we just splashed around for a few minutes before heading home. Now, I have only felt positive feelings about the Metro but I will tell you that it is tricky for the stroller pusher. The trip to Seoul Forest took 3 trains, 2 transfers but the transfers amount to walking a block or two underground and there are intermittent steps throughout. You have to go far out of your way to find the elevator and sometimes Tim just carried YeoWon and I carried the stroller but the whole way home she was almost asleep the whole time so we were reluctant to bug her. Kind of tricky... Tim went to dinner by himself, Otto and I ate yogurt and leftovers. Tim forgot his wallet and left the iPad as collateral! Eek. All worked out and we're all settled for the evening...

First Night!

Here she is still playing with her giraffe - trying to wrap it in ribbon but also wrapping it to her hand:

We went to bed shortly after where there was a screaming fit like you wouldn't believe. Worried about the hotel neighbors we turned the light back on and Otto played cars and Tim sat and I dozed. She watched Otto and held tight to her bunny. Wanted her shoes that Tim bought her in Tokyo. Wanted her fork that we had eaten grapes and tomatoes with. Eventually Otto came back to bed and Tim pushed her onto a pillow and after many long, slow blinks she was willing to close her eyes and go to sleep.

She woke up happy and went to wake Otto and snuggle:

We only thought we would have her a day or two in Korea but they let us take her early so now we are just waiting for all the paperwork - we may get to come home earlier than our current July 10 flight but maybe not. So we didn't bring enough clothes or a stroller. Tim Craigslisted a stroller and went to get it this morning while we stayed and played. Here she is enjoying grapes and kimchee rice for breakfast while watching Looney Toons.

Put herself down for a nap about 10. When she wakes up we're back to Seoul Forest - this time no bikes just playgrounds...

First Day

Yowza - what a day! We met at ESWS and filled out some paperwork. We met the director of ESWS who gave us historical information about how ESWS was started about how the elder Dr. Kim back in '72 thought that Korean children should be in loving homes instead of orphanages so he started ESWS.

Then we had a very nice lunch in the cafeteria with Dr. Kim and a homeland tour group of 9 - 19 year old Korean adoptees. Finally off to get Yeowon! She is always happy to see us and very friendly. Here is Otto reading her stats sheet telling us what she eats and drinks, about her sleeping habits, etc. Two interesting details: she is talkative all day (hope she can keep up with her brother!) and she likes strangers so you really have to watch her when you go out.

Then her foster family went through what they brought for her - clothes, loads of photos, the toys and books we had sent her, toys they bought for her, a two photo books they made, her Korean name stamp and a traditional hanbok that looks like it will fit a 9 year old. It was so clear how well loved she is by her foster mother and father and brother (an adult) who were all there and cried when they said goodbye as we all did. We took photos on the other camera that we will have to wait to post. Finally they shoved us into a taxi which we really appreciated. Here we are in the taxi:

She was very fussy about the seat belt - she is all 2 year old - adamant about what she wants but so friendly and playful. When we got home we just played in the room for a few hours. Here are Tim and Otto and YeoWon reading a book:

We drew some pictures, cut and forked some grapes and cherry tomatoes which she took turns eating and offering to me and Otto, played catch, and read books. In all the excitement she skipped her nap so we decided to go to an early dinner to Pizza Hut (the foster mom said she likes pizza) which she took one bite of and then started to cry. I brought her the two blocks home while Tim and Otto finished up at the restaurant. We got home where she had a good screaming cry and Tim and Otto followed - Tim went to buy milk for her bottle while Otto sang to her and played music which helped. When Tim got back he filled up that bottle and she drank about half and zonked out. It was only about 6 pm so we'll see if that's for the whole night or just a nap I guess. Whew!

Last day as a family of 3

First off, our hotel is surrounded by authentic Korean restaurants which means I really can't eat in them - no one speaks English, menus with no pictures, fish tanks with eels or octopus outside and a grill in the middle of the low table that you eat at sitting on the floor. This would be a whole different trip if Otto and I were non-vegetarian/non-picky eaters. Anyhow, Otto convinced us to go to the one American restaurant in our neighborhood - Pizza Hut. And thus made a criminal out of me. I am generally a rule follower but it clearly said no salad bar unless you order a main course. I did not want pizza for dinner, I wanted salad bar. So we ordered a large pepperoni and Otto artfully ate some of a piece and put that plate next to my place when I went back for salad seconds. Too bad I didn't take a picture of the salad bar. The lettuce was in a small dish. There were big dishes of topokki (rice cakes that are gummy in chili sauce with fish cakes), pasta with sweet red sauce, lychees (turns out they have a pit), mashed squash, sweet potato salad, jello, yogurt, croutons and frosted flakes. Tim and Otto ended the night last night with a good wrastle.

On our last day as a family of 3 we let Otto choose whatever he wanted to do. He chose to stay in the hotel room until 11 playing video games then we went to Seoul Forest. Here is Otto in the Alps:

And walking by a pretty wildflower meadow we spotted on the way:

We rented bikes:

Here we are riding through the park, noticing all the playgrounds and water fountains we can bring YeoWon to:

Hey, wait a minute!

Here is a lovely pond with decks that go through it:

And a playground that we just had to stop at:

Of course with Tim along we had to have a quick competition - how long would it take you to make it around counterclockwise with out touching the sand. Otto 2:02:

Tim - 1:20

Emily - 4:02 - sheesh!

Back on the bikes and poor Otto took a spill. We were on a small path when our fearless leader came to this and didn't know what to do:

Well he froze and ended up with his bike in the water, scrapes on both elbows, a tummy ache and a good shake. He walked it off and after a few minutes we were back but riding slowly. You would think he'd want to stay on solid ground but you'd be wrong:

A snack helps everything (grapes and tomatoes - they go in for the tomato as fruit around here):

Especially one eaten in a beautiful setting:

Off to the butterfly garden:

Vegetable garden that some high school kids seemed to be "working" in with lots of jostling and laughing:

Of course we took a picture of this:

And finished up with a big slide.

Now we're resting, reading and cleaning up before dinner...