homeward bound, the first leg

Welp, we survived the night and it was time to head on home.
Bates and Nick slept in till about 8, but I was up at 6:45 getting things together. We headed down to breakfast and fed Bates some baby food. He wasn't too into it, but did ok. Once we got back to our room, my friend from the Holt message board called and asked if we wanted to go on a walk with them. We said sure. We put Bates in his carrier and after about 10 seconds of crying he was happy as a clam. We headed down to their room and off we went.

They wanted to get their bearings, so we walked down the street to show them how close we were to Insadong. Insadong was buzzing and it was only just 10 am! There were a bunch of school aged children there and we got stopped three times and interviewed for their school projects. They would ask why we were in Korea, if we knew any Korean, what our favorite Korean food was, if we knew any Korean celebrities, and would then want their picture with us. I felt like a celebrity. It was fun! Bates just hammed it up, but QUICKLY fell asleep and napped the rest of the walk!We got to the end of Insadong and checked a map. We were only a few blocks from a little stream that runs through the middle of town, and we still have a few minutes before we had to head back to finish getting packed up, so we kept going. I was really glad we did, because I had seen this place in other families pictures, but didn't know what it was called or where it was. Seoul is so big, there is no just wandering till you find it. We took some pictures down at the water as a family of THREE (with the cutest sleeping baby ever!). The pictures are on Lillie's camera, so I'll post them when I get them.
It was nearing 11, and we had to be out of our room by noon, so we needed to head back, cause we still weren't packed up! When we got back to the hotel Bates and I went to the room to get started and Nick stopped and asked the front desk if we could possibly have a later checkout. They said they could let us stay in our room till 1 but that they were very busy. Also, they gave Nick a package that had been dropped off for us at the front desk. It was two more cans of Korean formula. We had asked DJ at Holt where we could get some more when we picked up Bates since he is such a picky eater. DJ said she could just give us some more, but I forgot to ask her again.... I was crying.... remember.....

So yeah! Holt had brought us two more cans! They are wonderful and take SUCH good care of the families!

We packed up the room and had quick lunch of leftover Bulgogi pizza and called the bellman. They took our luggage downstairs and stored it for us. We checked out... our room was over 1,000,000 wons for the week! (which is only about $900, but seeing 1 million was fun!). We had talked about going to the Palace before our ride came to take us to the airport, but I was tired, Bates was fussy, and we just didn't feel like it. We went upstairs to the play area and attempted to get Bates to play some, so he would maybe hopefully sleep on the plane. The kid did NOT want to play. He was fussy and just didn't want out of our arms. We even got IN the ball pit... nope, not a fan! Bates eventually fell asleep on Nick in the floor.They were cleaning the floors in the hall and it was REAL loud, so we went back to the lobby where the pool table was and just sat and waited. Nick ate his snicker bar (yep, they have them in Korea!) and I read my book. About 2:30 a man walked up and said "Browns?" We said yep and he told us in broken English that he was taking us to the airport. We loaded up with ALL OUR BAGS and put Bates in the carrier and loaded in the van. Goodbye Somerset, you were a fabulous place to stay!

Off we went. Driving through Seoul was a little bittersweet. We were headed home! But Bates was leaving behind so much... his culture, his heritage, the only family he has ever known, his language, his history, his ties to his birth family, everything. I, of course, cried. He was just sleeping on my chest and had no idea everything he was loosing as he slept. We loved Seoul. It was truly a magical place. A place we will never, ever forget. A place and a people we have come to love. A place that gave us the greatest gift in life... our first son. It's a place that our family will forever be tied too.... and we were leaving.I FINALLY got it together before we got to the airport. We unloaded with all our bags and got checked into our flight. I can't say enough good things about our airline, Asiana. First class service!!

We grabbed a little cart for all our carry ons. We had a bunch and they were heavy. Traveling with a baby doesn't make for light travel.

Nick and I were hungry, so we found a McDonalds- nothing like good ole American food- and had something to eat.

Guess who also likes McDonalds! Yep, he loves their fries just like his momma!The lighting in the airport was fantastic! They have lots of glass, so lots of natural light. We had a little mini photo shoot while waiting for the plane! My camera can't help it, it loves that little boy too!







Then we boarded the plane, for a 14 hour flight.... dum,dum,dum....