Eric And Jill Went Up A Hill: Day 3 - Lotte World (And A Whole Bunch Of Fun)

After our incredibly emotional and overwhelming day of meeting Joshua for the first time on Friday, we had planned to go a bit lighter and have some fun with the kids in the city. So we decided an all day trip to an amusement park was in the plans for the day. Strap on your seat belts...it's time to ride....

Lotte World is one of the well-known amusement parks here in the city, and is an amusement park like no other. We were told it runs a close comparison with Disney World/Disneyland in the U.S......and that's not a far exaggeration from the truth. Although slightly older in it's appearance, it boasts of being both an indoor and outdoor amusement park, complete with themed areas (like Disney), a variety of rides, shows, food shops, and their own cast of loveable little characters to round out the experience. And if that's not enough, they also have a large shopping mall attached to the park, a folk museum, a hotel, and an indoor ice rink for people to go skating at, should you have the urge to hone your skills and prepare for the next Winter Olympics.

Rachel joined us again today and we all had a great time walking around and taking in all the sights and sounds. One of Nathan's favorites was the "Giant Loop" - a 360 degree spin circular rail that went forwards and backwards a number of times before stopping. He was also a big fan of the "Gyro Drop", a ride where you were raised approximately 210 feet in the air while spinning around, and then after a brief moment at the top (while getting a great look of the Seoul skyline), the lock goes out and you drop into a free fall all the way back down to the ground. One of Brooke's favorites was "The Conquistador", an old pirate looking ship that sat approximately 70 people at a time and swung back and forth, almost to the ceiling of the building. And she also happened to get me (Eric) to go on those swirling teacups 2 different times too. Yep, our kids have no fear of heights, motion-sickness, or that "stomach coming up in your throat" feeling! Love it!

A fun story from the day happened when two Korean girls approached Brooke and Rachel while they were getting ready to go on a ride together. They said something to them in Korean, and then showed them their iPad/tablet they were carrying. Thinking they wanted Rachel to take a picture of them, she was preparing to take one. But then the girls pointed to the screen where they wrote (in their best broken English), "We would like to give this little girl our stuffed animal, because she is so cute and sweet." So, thanks to the graciousness of these two Korean girls, Brooke received a sweet gift of a soft, white, fluffy teddy bear, which she loved and held on to for the rest of day. Brooke continues to be the attention getter, and she's handling it pretty well!

Because we were having so much fun and there were a lot of rides the kids still wanted to do, we ended up staying there later than we had originally intended to. But who's keeping track of time when you're having this much fun? We ended the night going on an indoor hot air balloon ride which took us on an aerial tour of the entire indoor part of the park, which was a great way to cap off a really fun day together.

Another busy day packed with a lot of fun and creating some great lasting memories with the kids!

Only one more day until we get to see Joshua again and he becomes ours!