Labor Day Vacation - Part 2

A Reunion to Remember
On April 29, 2009, Rai (then 17 months) and Zoey (then 10 months) met for the first time in the van on the way to the airport in Seoul, South Korea. Having had a busy few days slowly meeting the people they would call "Mommy" and "Daddy", both Rai and Zoey didn't pay too much attention to one another. Once they arrived at the airport, however, they slowly acknolwedged each other's presence until we finally got this adorable video clip:

Play time was cut short when they were seated on opposite sides of the same airplane for a VERY long plane ride from Seoul to Dallas/Fort Worth. Despite the brief reunion as both families passed customs in DFW, they didn't have much time to play, but this brief time together was certainly important.

I call Zoey "Rai's Korea Friend" because this is the only friend Rai knew (or at least met) while in Korea and still knows today. Since Zoey lives nearly 7 hours away, it has been a bit difficult to keep them in touch. We keep up on Facebook, by email, and through our blogs, but Labor Day weekend was the first chance they had to see one another again.





We met the Shucks at a Snake Farm and Zoo in San Antonio on the second full day of our vacation. Rai and Zoey weren't too sure of each other and focused mostly peaking through glass windows of snakes until they got outside.





(Zoey and her brother, Braedon)













As you can see, Rai really took to Braedon, too!





And we even got the trio to pose for a few pictures!

By the time we went to lunch, they acted like they had known each other for years.










It was certainly a day to remember!

Labor Day Vacation - Part 1

Rai and I had a great time on our trip through Austin and San Antonio. Here are the highlights:

Day 1
We left after preschool and stopped for dinner on the way down to Austin. As we expected, traffic was really heavy for the holiday weekend, so we took our time at dinner!



Day 2
The next morning, we got up early to have breakfast with Mili and her son, Luka. Rai had met Luka a few months before and kept saying "Luka has eyes" all the way there. I'm not sure where that came from, but it was funny to relay the message. After a few minutes of eating breakfast, Mili explained to Rai that Luka couldn't eat the breakfast burrito because he doesn't have teeth yet. So, I heard "Luka got no teeth?" all the way to San Antonio. :-)




*This is certainly my favorite!

After our morning visit, we headed down to San Antonio to see Sea World. Luckily, the weather was beautiful, and for once, it wasn't too hot.
















Rai tried to convince me that I needed a souvenir (this hat in particular), but I'm not much of a hat kind of girl. :-)






The Beluga Whale show had a "splash zone" where you can sit if you don't mind getting splashed by the whales or dolphins. Unfortunately, we weren't close enough to get any water.

I explained to Rai that he WOULD get wet at the Shamu show. (I had remembered getting soaked many years ago.) So we sat in the 2nd row just to be sure.







For anyone who hasn't been to Sea World, the Shamu show includes one part where the trainers have pairs of whales splashing the audience. They went to each section EXCEPT ours. Apparently, we were too close to the front. Rai liked the show, but he was a bit disappointed when the show ended before we got splashed.

So I made sure he left soaked. :-)



I'll continue the other trip pictures tomorrow. (They are uploading now.)