Christmas Holiday Part 2

Last Wednesday was the last day of school before the Christmas holiday and we went to see Chloe's Christmas show. She sang and did all of the moves, but did not like the audience looking at her so she faced the back of the stage the entire time.

We had a nice view of Chloe's hair for the entire show.

We left right after for London. Like before, we took the ferry and then made the 2 hour drive into town. Our timing wasn't great and we reached London during rush hour. To say driving through London at rush hour while on the opposite side of the road was stressful, doesn't quite capture it. We were very relieved to reach the hotel. We had heard about a Winter Wonderland in Hype Park and walked over the next morning. We got to see Santa, went on a few rides and played a game.



Colin the confident one and Chloe who knows she has been a little bad.

After a stroll around Harrod's, we took a taxi down to the Southbank to see a German style Christmas Market. English taxi's are 'brilliant'. It is so nice to be able to roll the stroller right on without having to fold it up. We walked over to Leicester Square, Covent Square and then made a stop in M&M World where we let the kids make their own mix of M&M's. 



Our 2 bags of M&M's valued at about $15!!

Over in Piccadilly we brought the kids to the Rainforest Cafe. Needless to say, they loved it and it made paying a small fortune for an OK meal worth it.

A friend recommended that we walk up Regent and Oxford Streets to see the lights. People don't decorate with lights like we are used to so it was nice to see the buildings and streets a glow. While the walk was nice, we didn't expect the enormous crowds of people doing their last minute shopping.

We had a long day of walking and were pretty tired and went back to the hotel. I had brought Chloe's skeleton pajamas that glowed in the dark. When we turned the lights out, she gave us a performance of 'Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones' on her bed. I wish I had video because it was so funny.

The next day, we brought the kids to a stage performance of The Snowman. It is a story of a boy who builds a snowman and that night dreams that he comes alive. It was the first time they have ever been to the Theater and they were mesmerized. After the show, we did a little more wandering before that bad weather moved in and we head back to the hotel. We were lucky that the hotel had a pool and the kids were eager to swim every night.

On Christmas Eve, we pack up the car and start our trip back to Belgium. We get really excited about going to foodstores in other countries, especially the UK. Food in Belgium is very expensive and the selection is not great. We packed the car with Cheerios, tonic and things like popcorn and some curry supplies and got back on the ferry so we could be home in time for Santa to come!

Christmas Holiday Part 1

Our holiday season kicked off with the arrival of Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Pieten in Antwerp. As usual, it was a big deal to see his boat come up the river and see Sinterklaas and his entourage parade into town. Colin went dressed as Sint and Chloe as Piet. There were easily a few thousand people who came to see him and we were packed in tight to try and get a glimpse. The TV footage that played the following few days proved to be the best view. The kids also got a visit from Sint at school and Chloe found it funny that one of the Zwarte Piets told her she was a little bit bad. She would think that was funny. As expected, we woke up on December 6th to find that they left the kids sweets and toys in their shoes. Colin is already asking if Sinterklaas will be visiting us when we are back in America. If you want a good laugh, listen to this You Tube recording of 6-8 Black Men by David Sedaris describing Sinterklaas.

The opening ceremony for the Antwerp Christmas Market is the Light Parade that starts down by our house and ends up that the market. It is another one of those odd Antwerp events that I would describe as a indie, performance type event that seems to be normal around here. My favorite was the light princess that guilded down the street by way of bicycle, of course!

It is nice to be here during Christmas and to be able to see the markets. Being around wooden shacks covered in lights somehow makes it ok to hang out in the freezing cold. The market gets very crowded and many people end up hovering around the drinks stalls or the fire pits that are set up. It is almost hard to believe that they are not selling beer at the stalls here in Belgium rather, it is typical for the stalls to sell gluhwine, amaretto and of course, jenever.

This year, there is an enormous ferris wheel set up and I brought Colin on. I could not believe that he was not scared, even when we stopped at the top for a few minutes while they were letting people on and off.

Colin has also been playing basketball twice a week. He enjoys playing and has a friend in his class. He is not the best player, but he doesn't seem to get discouraged. He had his first game early in December and recieved a medal for his achievements.

Colin and his giant uniform.