Paris

I realized after my last post that the girls did go out for a few drinks on Sunday night. We went around the corner to a bar that specializes in Genever, a local drink here. Genever is a type of gin that is often flavored and served in shot size glasses. We tried several flavors including banana cream, blood orange and chocolate creme. They were so good.

Monday morning, we started our day early and took the train from Antwerp to Paris. Our hotel was very tiny but in a great location near the Trocadero. The Trocadero provides the best view of the Eiffel Tower and we were able to get many good pictures there. We hopped on a tour bus and got many great views of the city. We made stops at Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe.

Tuesday morning, Chris and I went over to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be.

Paris, as well as most of Europe, was in the middle of a heat wave. The tempurature was in the mid 80's during most of Chris and Mom-Moms stay. It does not usually get that hot and most homes and businesses do not have air conditioning. We were very lucky that our room in Paris had air.

We were all worn out by the end of the visit. Colin, Chloe and I dropped them off at the airport while Craig was a work. Colin cried after they walked into the airport. We are so glad they came to visit and were able to see where we were living.

I'd rather be playing video poker.

We were very happy to see Mom Mom and Aunt Chris as they came out of the airport security on Friday. Since we were in Brussels we swung by to see the Grand Place and Manneken Pis. Once we got back to the apartment, we went to pick up Colin at school and pick up some goodies to snack on at the store.

Saturday, we headed out to Brugge for the day. It was amazing that the weather held out for us and actually was sunny by the end of the day. We are in the middle of a heat spell, it has been getting to around 80 degrees everyday. It sounds great, but it is rare to have air conditioning here and by the end of the day, our apartment is pretty hot.

Saturday was also our 6th wedding anniversary, so we got a sitter and all went out to an awesome seafood dinner. We used the same sitter we did before. She told us that Colin definitely understands Dutch but he would only answer her questions in English. She was also telling us about all of the things going on this weekend in Antwerp - end of the college exams, Beer Fest Week and Gay Pride Weekend, start of sales - which explains why it is so crowded. By Belgian law, the stores are only allowed to have sales twice a year in July and December.

Sunday we went out to Kinderdijk, in the Netherlands. Kinderdijk has the largest concentration of windmills in one area. We rented bikes and rode down the road to see them. Mom Mom had not been on a bike for a long time and was a little wobbly during the ride. She told us that she would much "rather being playing video poker" and probably be a little safer too since she took a spill not too long after she said that. She was OK and was brave enough to finish the ride.



We were back in Antwerp by early afternoon and did some shopping. We did not not do much Sunday night since we were leaving on a girls only trip to Paris early the next morning.

We were invited over by one of Craig's American co-workers on Saturday. They live in a town outside of Brussels. Colin was so excited because they have 2 kids, ages 8 and 4. He packed a bag with animals in the morning and carried it around with him all day until we left.

The kids had a ball. At one point, they were all dressed in costumes and playing on the swingset in the backyard. It was so funny. Colin is the cow.

I noticed on Sunday that Colin had a black spot underneath his thumb nail. He wasn't complaining about it, so I let it go. By Monday after school, it was developing a yellowing ring around it. I brought him to the doctor this morning and she confirmed that it was infected. The doctor poked 3 holes in his nail to drain the puss. I think I was squirming more than Colin. We will be treating it for the next few day until the infection goes away.

After we dropped Colin off at school, Chloe and I headed over to De Speelbrug, a play center for young children and infants. This was the second time we were there and Chloe loves it. It is basically and daycare room and an outside play area. It is open to all children under 4. They ask for a donation of 2 euro per visit and you can stay as long as you like - and they serve coffee or tea!

We are getting ready for Mom Mom and Aunt Chris to come on Friday!!

Chloe is still not walking on her own but we have been practicing every day. She thinks it is so funny and is always laughing when she is standing or walking. I will post a video in Flickr. I cannot post it correctly on the blog.

Monday was ride your bike to school day. Colin was very excited. Everyone rides bikes here. Many parents have have bikes with large crates on the front where the kids ride. I have seen as many as 3 kids at one time in the crates. I will takes some pictures and post them.

Below is from Colin latest photo shoot at his favorite statue - The Animal Statue - or Brabo. He like to pose and have his picture taken in front of it.

Brussels

We made a day trip to Brussels on Sunday. Brussels is so close, only about a half hour and there is a lot to see.

We started at the Grand Place. Craig told me that it was the best Markt we would see and I agree. It was really awesome. You could spend the day there hanging out. Of course, it was raining when we got there but the sun did manage to come out towards the end of the day.

We also saw Manneken Pis and made lots of pee pee and birdie jokes with Colin. All of the pictures I had seen of it made it look big, but it was really small - about 1 1/2 feet tall.

We drove across town to see the Atomium. It was built in 1958 for the world's fair and is a replica of an atom blown up 165 billion times. I was so glad we did, it was so weird and cool at the same time. There is an elevator that goes straight to the top but then you need to take escaltors to get to the other levels. The escaltors run through the tubes and they are very small and steep. There are windows in the tubes that allow you to look out while you are going up or down. You can easily lose you sense of balance because of the angle you are traveling at and the angles of the balls and tubes you see through the windows.

When we got back to Antwerp, we saw a huge cruise ship docked on the river. We live only a block away from the Schelde so when they sounded the horn, it was really loud. Then they set off fireworks. This is probably the only fireworks we will see this year! I am glad the kids did not wake up from all of the noise. It was probably 10:30 when all of this was going on. It doesn't get really dark until probably around 10:15.

We are getting excited for Mom Mom and Aunt Chris to visit in a week and a half!!

Harlekijn School Fest

Saturday was Colin's school fair. They blocked off one of the steets and had a stage and games set up. Colin was so excited!!!

The parents were asked to make either a cake, tart or biscuits for the bake sale. We have the bare minimum when it comes to baking supplies, so I decided to make Rice Krispie Treats. Rice Krispies are one of the only reconizable cereals brands in the food store. So I made up a batch and brought them to the sale. Belgians don't eat Rice Krispie treats so no one knew what they were. I think they were one of the last things left on the table to sell.

All of the kids put on a show. Colin was a tourist, but as soon as he got on stage and saw all of the people, he started crying and ran off. It happened so fast, we weren't even able to get any pictures. I wasn't surprised that he did this, he doesn't like being the center of attention.

We couldn't believe when we arrived that they had a bar and were serving the beer in glasses. They even had coffee and tea with teacups and saucers. We have been told that Belgians won't drink coffee out of paper or plastic. I had been wondering why there were no Starbucks or take out coffee shops.

Colin had his face painted, played lots of games and got a henna tattoo. I think most kids went home with stained clothing from the henna gel.

We hung out with some American friends and were beat by the end of the day.

Colin asleep on the kitchen floor.

The Mosel River Valley

It was another holiday weekend here in Belgium, so we decided to go the the Mosel River Valley in Germany. Craig thought this was going to be one of our best trips and I think he was right. It was exactly what I imagined Germany to be - clusters of houses with large church steeples in the center surrounded by mountions. The mountains around the river are covered with vineyards. I don't know how they pick the grapes because it is so steep.

We stayed in a guest house in Valwig, right along the river. Because there were four of us, they let us stay in the only apartment they had. It had a terrace and Colin wanted to go out and eat on it first thing every morning.

Our first stop was Trier, the oldest town in Germany. It was settled by the Romans and there were amazing remants of Roman buildings. They almost looked out of place amidst the other German architechture. We picked up some sausages and saurerkraut for dinner and traveled along the river back to the guest house.

The mountains were dotted with castles on our trip back. Some were still intact and others were in ruins. Craig started to talk about how cool it would be to live in a castle. He was saying that with John Davis' help, we could rebuild a castle and make it practical for living. Below is a great example of a castle Craig thought we could rebuild.!??!

Sunday we visited Burg Eltz. It was hard to believe that it is privately owned and that a family lives in it. Portions of the castles were open for tours. The inclines down to the castle made the hills in Luxumboug seem like ant hills. And coming back up was a workout, especially while pushing the stroller.

By the way, the boo boo on Colin's face was from school. On Friday, he fell face first on the playground.

From there we traveled up to Koblenz, where the Rhine and Mosel rivers meet.

Colin pretending to be Rocky on the statue of Wilhem at Deutsches Eck.

We had dinner at a resturant a few doors down from our guest house. We didn't realize that they did not take credit cards and couldn't believe that they just told us to come back the next day to pay.

Our last stop was in Cochem. It was a cute town with an amazing castle.