Puzzles and Poop

I know, I know. I have been writing each post the morning after. However, tomorrow is the big day. We meet your sweet Maylee tomorrow morning! I know that we will all have major butterflies and our taxi is coming to get us bright and early, so I decided to write about today's adventures tonight.

Today was amazing! As if the world was trying to make up for our quiet day yesterday, today was so fun and busy. We loved it! Again, our day began before dawn.....way before dawn......4:45 am to be exact. Nolan woke up after a scary dream and we just couldn't settle back into sleep. We headed to breakfast a bit later today and there were many more patrons. 

Finally, on the subway

Insadong

After breakfast, we came back to our room to pack up for our outings and tackle our plan. First, we headed to the subway, determined to actually make it onto a train. Guess what? It was a breeze. We were seated and on our way within 10 minutes. Thanks to my good friend Megan (who spent several weeks in Korea last year), I had a couple of very helpful apps, which got us to our destination without issue.

Feeling proud

Korean Hot Dog

I am thrilled to say that we made it to Insadong- an area of Seoul that we have wanted to visit for over a year. When we first got there, vendors were just starting their day. There were people roaming the streets, but not many. As we made our way down the main street, we looked at beautiful handmade items, as well as yummy snacks, toys, clothes, beauty products, and sovereigns.

Our first purchases were, of course, food. We started with dragon's beard candy- candy made with honey, cornstarch and nuts. We were so lucky that the vendor offered to go through the process of making the candy for us. It was pretty exciting and interesting for the boys. I will post the videos soon. Then we found Korean corn dogs. Yum!

After finding food, we continued walking the main street people watching and window shopping, when the boys found cartoon character statues that drew them in. Next to the statues were signs pointing down a set of stairs. Although we had no idea where they led, the boys begged us to go down and find out. Reluctantly, Joe and I agreed. I am so glad that we did! We found a sort of family fun center. The offered three attractions- the Dynamic Maze, the Dark Room, and the Alive Museum. 

We chose to try the Dynamic Maze. It was absolutely awesome! It was a mix of obstacle course and an escape room. We had to make our way from room to room, some of them with physical obstacles to overcome, others had riddles which we had to solve to open the next door. One room even required us to scream until we reached a certain decibel- the perfect challenge for Nolan. It was super fun for all of us and so unexpected. 

Inside the Dynamic Maze

When we left the family fun center we did some shopping, finding toys and souvenirs for the boys, a beautiful fan for Maylee's room, and a few other things to bring back home. Then we wandered back toward the subway, stopping at the Poop Pancake stall. Why not? We planned to visit the Poop Cafe, but after three hours outside we were getting too cold to continue. We will definitely go back to Insadong before we leave. It was such a great experience for all of us.

Poop Pancake Stall

After making our way back to our hotel, we rested for a bit then headed down to the mall to get a few items for our meeting with Maylee and her foster family. Since then, we have spent the evening packing her gifts, our meeting items, foster family gifts and the important documents that we need to hand-carry to Holt. I also organized all of our clothes for tomorrow, as we will be taking a picture with Maylee which will be submitted to the judge to be added to our court file- meaning, we need to look presentable. 

The butterflies and anticipation have been building since we returned home. We meet our daughter tomorrow. We meet our daughter tomorrow. WE MEET OUR DAUGHTER TOMORROW!!

New toys on the subway

Chocolate and Bean
Paste Pancakes

Enjoying his Bean
Paste Poop Pancake

Another gorgeous view

Please keep our family in your thoughts tomorrow. While we are hopeful for a smooth, happy meeting, we are also prepared for our girl to want nothing to do with us. For her to be scared of the strange people who are important and familiar, but without understanding of why or how. For our boys to have patience and understanding, helping to prepare her heart for the transition ahead. We are so hopeful for this. That our boys, her brothers, will help her to feel comfortable and loved quickly. Please hope for these things as we do.

I will do my best to update all of you on our meeting tomorrow evening, while I cannot guarantee that my heart and body will be up to the challenge. Thank you for sharing in our journey to bring Maylee home!