The weekend
after Thanksgiving, we were lucky to have a surprise guest for the weekend. Jules, a puppet that is passed around from classmate to classmate, came home with Colin. We are asked to bring Jules with us during our weekend activities and document them in a scrapbook for the kids to see in school. Lucky for Jules, we were able to share our leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, see Sinterklaas, and make a day trip to the Aachen, Germany C
hristmas Market. Aachen is only about an hour and 15 minute drive from Antwerp. It was a very nice market and was very crowded. This is where we took the picture for our Christmas card.
The following weekend we drove to Bruges to see their Christmas Market. It was not as nice as what we had seen in Germany, but they had an ice skating rink set up in the center of the town square. Craig brought Colin skating and he did not do too well. It wasn't the nicest day and once it started to rain, they packed it in. Colin also went on the bumper cars for the first time. we were laughing so hard because Colin was wild. A few times he hit other cars so hard, I thought he was going to fly over the handlebars.
The following day was very busy. Sinterklaas had stopped by our apartment overnight and left treats and some presents in the shoes Colin and Chloe had left out for him. It was also Craig's birthday and a Christmas party for a kids group I am a member of. Colin was very exited excited to see Santa, but we were more excited because we had arranged for a sitter that night and went out to dinner. After dinner, we stopped at the bar on the corner of our apartment complex and found out the Belgian Beer Pouring Champion works there. Who knew there was such a person??
Last weekend, we went to Antwerp's Christmas Market. About every other booth sells hot wine (gluhwein) and Jenever. Antwerp also has an ice skating rink set up. Their rink was much more kid friendly and offered double bladed skates and penguins to help the kids keep there balance. This made all of the difference in the world and Colin was great! We had a sitter again that night and went back to the market. We couldn't believe that it was even more crowded, especially since the weather had just gotten very cold.
We will be going to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (again) for their Christmas Market. It is supposed to be one of the best in Germany. We will then be going into Bavaria and staying on a farm while we make day trips to several places. We plan on getting back home on Christmas Eve, just in time for Santa to come visit.
