Day 6: Lola visit

I'm a little behind on updates. Yesterday, Wednesday, we woke up hungry for a good and hearty American breakfast. Since Casey wakes up so early he went to get us coffees at W cafe again while I got ready. He got his standard mocha (Mr. Adventure right there) and he got me a plain latte, which was so unsweetened that I couldn't even drink it. 

Then we took off for Butterfingers Pancakes. It was a good ol' American breakfast and just what we needed to fill our bellies up before we saw Lola. We couldn't decide what to get because it all sounded so darn good, so we ended up getting the "Split Decision Platter". It hit the spot.

Next, off to see Lola at SWS. We arrived about ten minutes early and they put us in one of playrooms until she got there. I heard some people get off the elevator and then I heard the sound of little waddling feet running towards the playroom. There was our sweet girl. Omma and Appa had sent her in there to play with us, while they went to a different room. It started off great. We played with some of the toys, slid down the slide, and explored the room. 

Then..... Lola started trying to run out the door. We kept having to redirect her back into the playroom. After several times of redirecting her we decided to try and shut the door to the playroom to keep her in. Bad idea. That made her super anxious because she realized Omma and Appa were not there. The tears started to flow. I immediately opened the door back up and Appa came in to assure her that they were still there. Appa then sent Omma in, where she stayed with us in the room the rest of the time. We had an awesome time seeing Lola and getting to play with her, but it was definitely harder than the fist time. She was out of her element by not being in her home and she was also sleepy because she got up earlier than usual in order to get to our meeting. Further, she is very attached to her foster parents since she has been with them most of her life. I think we got a tiny glimpse of what custody day might look like. It made Casey and I both sad thinking about the grief Lola will experience and also the grief the foster parents will feel. You can tell how much Omma and Appa love our girl. Appa showed me some of the hundreds of photos he had on his phone of her. I am truly grateful for the hearts of this sweet family that has taken care of our sweet girl since she was less than 2 months old. I can't wait for the day when Lola is ours forever, but my heart is heavy thinking about the pain Lola, Omma, and Appa will all be feeling in about a month.

So, after playing with Lola for just over an hour we decided we needed to decompress over some coffee. Why not? It's the thing to do here in Seoul. NYC has nothing on Seoul when it comes to coffee shops. Probably 1 out of 3 businesses here is a coffee shop. No lie. This time we went to Topresso. I got a sweet potato latte (de-lish) and Casey actually ventured out ever so slightly and ordered a mint chocolate mocha. Baby steps.

Next, we got on the subway and ventured to Insadong. Insadong is an older area of Seoul that is known for their traditional goods and souvenirs. We really liked it here. We got some great street food and some really cool souvenirs for family. Plus, some Lady asked if Casey was 1/2 Korean while we were there so that was pretty hilarious and awesome. I always thought I was the one that looked the most Asian in the family, but it appears Casey has me beat. 

After a successful trip to Insadong we went to an Irish pub in Gangnam with another adoptive parent. She is actually staying the whole month or so until they take custody of their son. Her husband flew back home to work and he will rejoin her once they are notified of their visa hearing. We had a great dinner!

Dozing off now. I'm exhausted. Night night.