Crossing Things Off the List

We recently said goodbye to our last round of visitors - my parents and my mom's sister and her husband, Janice and Dave.  They came for a whirlwind trip of parts of Germany and Austria, as well as Paris.  I was a little nervous, sending them off with a GPS and a Rick Steeve's book, without any mode of communication, into the wilds of Germany, but they returned right on schedule (however, not without a few slightly hilarious stories to share).  And they had beautiful weather, which always makes travel much more enjoyable.

Last Tuesday while the boys were in school, mom, dad and I jumped on a train to Paris while Janice and Dave drove to a part of northern Germany where his side of the family hails.  I had never taken the train to Paris before, and it's quite surreal, an hour and fifteen minutes later, and you're in the middle of Paris.  This trip, too, was not without its moments...the Louvre is, apparently, closed on Tuesdays (what?!), the line to go up the Eiffel Tower was at least three hours long, and the disinterested, hates-his-job/life man who booked our train tickets booked them from Brussels-Paris, both ways - which we realized as we were about to board our train back home that night.  But, we also had gorgeous weather, and it ended up being a very beautiful, relaxing day in Paris (well, when you take both the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower out of the equation, you've got a lot of time to spare...).

Notre Dame

One of the three 'rose windows' in Notre Dame - and the only original.

Joan of Arc - patron saint of France

Notre Dame

Right after realizing the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays...I was so disappointed for my parents...what are the odds??  Usually if museums/churches are closed, they are closed on Mondays around here - I never even thought to make sure it was opened that day

Having a wonderful, relaxing lunch in a park right off the Champs de Elysees

Luxor Obelisk - marks the spot where the guillotine stood during the French Revolution, and where, among 1,300 others, Marie Antoinette was beheaded.

Arc de Triomphe

The boys enjoyed having their grandparents here, and were sad to see them go.  Bo still asks when 'Grandma and Grandpa and Janice and Dave are coming back?'

Required photo with visitors in front of the Manequin Pis

Having a beer at the Grand Place, Brussels.

Playing 'king of the rug' - Bo's favorite game.

We save our sewing needs for when Grandma comes to visit...

Having dinner at our favorite 'frituri' - Chez Ferdinand.  Best frites (fries) the world over.

We've been trying to cross things off our list lately, as our time here in Belgium is winding down.  I'm most likely going to leave with the boys in about six weeks - splitting my time between Dyersville and Minneapolis.  Belgium is known for its beer (obviously), and most notably, monks making its beer.  There are six Trappist Monasteries that make beer in Belgium, and we had wanted to visit at least one - this one being Westveterlen, which is known to be the best beer in the world - although in my opinion, that's highly controversial....Anyway, we've made it to two - Chimay and Westveterlen.

Amazing cheese at Chimay.

We drove through this cute little Belgian town called Dinant on our way back home.  If we ever get the chance, I'd love to go back and explore it a little more.

Dinant's the home of the saxophone...and proud of it, as sax's lined the streets.

Buying our beer at Westvleteren.  They make it so that it's very exclusive - each person can only buy one of those packs, which contained four beers and one glass.  You can make a reservation ahead of time to reserve a case of beer, but once you enter the grounds, they take your name, phone number and license plate, and you're not allowed to return for 60 days.  And it's crazy expensive.  

First sip of the best beer in the world...

We also spent some time in Ghent, Belgium, which is actually quite close to Brussels, I had just never been there before - so another thing crossed off the list.  Ghent is a very nice little city - much 'quainter' than I was expecting - plus they have a great castle.  I'd even say it's right up there with Brugge.

We met some friends there for lunch - here are the boys with their friends, Claire and Carmen.

Bird's-eye view from the castle.

We've been trying to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather we'd (been - as it's not so beautiful anymore) having.

Bo and Carmen at a park where they could feed the animals - donkeys, goats, etc. 

Bo loves Carmen - he tells me all the time he's going to marry her:)  

Will and Claire at a circus festival we went to in Leuven, Belgium - another Belgian city checked off the list.

Weird 'bird people' - they have the creepiest things sometimes around here for children's entertainment...

 This past Saturday was Will's last week of tball.  He loved it and loved going - sometimes too much.  We had to have a few talks with him about appropriate baseball field behavior - he just gets soooo excited. - and he really wants to win.  He's very young for his team - there's a pretty big difference between five-year-olds and seven-year-olds!

Will and his coach.

The boys are doing well.  School here doesn't end until the end of June.  In two weeks Will's class is taking a four night, five day trip to the coast.  It's just unbelievable to us sometimes the differences in culture here versus the states.  Can you imagine a preschool class going on a five day overnight field trip in America?!  Will will not be going with his class.  I just don't think it's necessary for a five year old to spend four nights away from home like that.  Plus, the kids aren't allowed to call home or anything - the parents just get a daily email update.  If we were going to make Belgium our permanent home it'd be one thing, but with us leaving here shortly, I don't really care if he 'fits in' or not!  Will's French continues to come along well - not that I can be certain, of course, but it sounds pretty good to me!  He's started talking in this weird accent at other times, however, which is quite strange.  I've noticed it mostly when he's with his Spanish-speaking friend.

Bo continues to exasperate and make us laugh all within the same thirty seconds.  He is pretty funny, but sometimes the things that come out of his mouth take your breath away.  Yesterday at lunch he got really quiet like he was thinking hard, then he says to me 'Mom, we can't say things like poopie-butt, and shit, and penis-head, right?  But we can say darn it and oh my gosh.'  How does one respond to that?!

Until next time,
Jackie