Brussels Ice Magic/The Art of the Brick

Make a picture slideshow We organized a day in Brussels with friends and headed into town via the train.  A short walk from Central station up towards the Royal Palace and we were able to see the Brussels Ice Magic exhibition. It had a comic book theme and was cool.  We had gone to a similar exhibit a few years ago in Brugge which had an international theme and was a bit more impressive.  We then headed to the Brussels in the Sky which allowed us to go up 85 meters to see awesome views of the city in a rotating cabin.  Then, we headed down the hill to the Grand Place where we visited the Art of the Brick (Lego exhibition) by Nathan Sawaya.  It is housed in the Bourse (the old financial building in Brussels) and was absolutely amazing.  I highly recommend you go to see this exhibit if it comes to a town near you!  We rounded out the day with dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe with 30 total people and then the light show on the Grand Place.  It was a great day!  :)

Wisconsin Weekend

A digital slideshow by Smilebox My cousin Conor started college and playing football for the University of Wisconsin and then we moved to Belgium.  Thinking we would only be here for two years, we knew we’d get to see him play in person when we moved back.  Having started our fifth fall in Belgium in 2013 and knowing that Conor was graduating in December, we knew we’d have to make a special trip to the US to see him play.  Of course the obvious week (our fall break) the Badgers had a bye and an away game.  We chose to align the trip with Thanksgiving which meant it was the last game of the season against Penn State.  It was also Senior Week so it was extra special for Conor.  Thanksgiving was great in OH (see a few pics on the left side) and then we were off to Wisconsin.  My parents and Conor’s parents were also going to be at the game so it was a bit of a family reunion.  Camp Randall (the stadium) was filled with excitement and it was good fun to see Nicholas and Lindsey get caught up in the atmosphere.  We were able to tour the facilities, spend time on the practice field, meet Bucky the Badger and several players (Nick captured a few autographs), and spend time with Conor.  The game, unfortunately, was not the outcome we all wanted.  Afterwards, we met again on the indoor practice field to take pictures with Conor.  The energy was a bit subdued, but dinner that night and then hanging out with college kids at the bar helped to bring the energy level back up.  We are so proud of Conor and all that he has accomplished! :)  On Wisconsin!!

Mediterranean cruise for fall break

Slideshow design made with Smilebox For fall break this year, we planned a cruise with my mom.  After we booked, we sent an email to lots of friends to see if anyone wanted to join us.  Two families took us up on the offer to vacation together and we had a great time!  This was our 3rd Royal Caribbean cruise from Europe.  This one left from Venice, Italy and included two full days at sea.   Our first stop was Split, Croatia.  Our family took a taxi tour around the island where we learned a lot about the history.  We then walked around the Royal Palace grounds that have been converted into restaurants and shops.  We went up into the bell tower of the church and had amazing views of the city.   Ephesus, Turkey was our second stop and the kids convinced us to let them stay on the ship.  All 7 adults piled into one taxi van for a great day of sightseeing.  We first visited the home of Mary where she lived out the last of her days.  Next, we saw Roman ruins.  I bought one of those cool books that has the overlays of what the place had looked like originally.  It’s so fascinating!  Our taxi driver asked us to stop at a leather store (complete with runway strip) as a favor to him.  While the products were gorgeous, they were still a bit pricey.  He received a gas voucher for our troubles so it was worth it for him.   Mykonos, Greece was our 3rd stop.  Nick and Lindsey joined us this day and the weather was just beautiful.  It was windy, but warm and the sun felt great.  We walked the town and had a delicious Greek salad for lunch.  The main point of interest was the windmills which are no longer in use.   Argostoli, Greece was the final stop on our cruise.  Again, the kids wanted to stay on the boat.  This time we had to take 2 cabs for the 7 adults.  We drove to Drogarati Cavern which is a cave that had these impressive stalactites and stalagmites.  It was my first experience with that and though tit was super cool.  Next, we drove to Melissani Lake which is sort of an “indoor” lake.  The roof has collapsed and you take a brief boat ride around the cave in order to see the sunlight.   All in all it was a great cruise.  I did think these ports were not as exciting as some of the other cruises we have been on, but the company of the two other families and also quality Nana time was really awesome.

Family pictures in Park Cinquantenaire

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On a very sunny and dry day in November, we went to Park Cinquantenaire in Brussels with our friend who is also a photographer.  It was a lot colder than it looked, but we managed to get several great pictures with the intent to use them on our Christmas card.  The whole idea was almost cancelled because earlier in that week Nicholas had chipped his front tooth (again).  I was hesitant to get family pictures taken, but Hope was able to make his mouth not a focal point.  Looking forward to doing this again with her in another Belgian location!

Fall family update 2013

A free slideshow by Smilebox Four and a half years into our two year assignment here in Belgium and life is truly speeding up.  The new people who are moving in can’t believe how busy they are here.  One friend just told me she wants to go back to work in order to slow down.  :) What a riot!  So even though I joined Facebook, I’d like to still keep up with the blog while we live here.  Even though it’s exhausting, I know I will one day appreciate that I took the time to do this.  I hope you can find some time to update me on your life as a lot happens in a year!  Take care! Nicholas -- At 9 and a half, Nicholas is very busy!  He is now taking weekly tennis lessons with 3 other boys and I can’t wait until we can play together.  Soccer season is about halfway through and he is still enjoying the goalie position.  Last week he was so good my friends on the other team kept asking how old he was!  So proud!  :)  He is also playing floor hockey again and the Sunday lacrosse clinic will start up next weekend.  He also ran a 4K with Paul in Brussels last weekend which was awesome! Nicholas begins and ends his day reading in his bed.  I now have to keep track of which number in the series he needs on my iPhone as he is reading so many different series right now.  4th grade has gotten off to a great start and they have already gone on one overnight field trip to the Belgian coast.  The highlight of the year will be a week trip to London with his classmates.  What a life! Lindsey -- Lindsey is 7 and a half going on 17!  She is very confident and knows what she wants.  If I had a dollar for every time someone said she was just like me, I’d be rich.  Bless her heart!  :)  Irish dance is on hold while they try to find a teacher, but the soccer season has been quite fun for Lindsey.  She is really getting the hang of it and is a strong defender.  Piano lessons were added last year and even though our teacher moved to another town, she is still keeping up with the lessons.  She loves to sketch, color, and do all things creative.  Singing all the words to all the songs is a favorite past time as well.   2nd grade is also going very well for Lindsey.  She has an American teacher who has most recently been teaching in Morocco.  There are a lot of new kids in her class this year and it has been fun watching Lindsey interact with them.  She’s still into reading and now loves going on a math website.  She got braces this fall in order to fix a front tooth that was sitting behind her lower teeth and pushing them forward.  It’s early for her age, but she’s lost 8 teeth already so we needed to get started.  It’s amazing how much better it looks in the month she’s had them on! Both kids --  It’s sad to realize we don’t spend as much time playing games and watching movies together.  As they grow up we all seem to be going in different directions with different interests.  There is still a lot of time spent on electronics, the trampoline, and fighting with each other.  Our family bonds the most during dinners and when we travel.  We are hoping to add family bike rides to our weekends, once we can get Lindsey more confident on her bike.  We just celebrated International Festival at school on Friday and the kids enjoyed showing their American pride! Gretchen -- I have managed to fill my days/weeks with lots of volunteering again this year.  I’m still involved with Scholastic as a way to offer books in English to the children at the school.  I’m also the homeroom mom for Lindsey’s class this year and not Nicholas’s.  I am still the co-chair of the Welcome Committee at school and I match up new families with existing ones.  We have had 120 new families start so far this year.  I’m still taking French lessons but have switched to a different teacher.  I am hoping to continue to learn and get confident in my ability to understand French.  I’m also taking tennis lessons and attending a bootcamp, both of which I really love.  :)  My goal this year is to explore Belgium a bit more with some of my new friends who have a lot of energy to get out there and do stuff!   We had the awesome experience of attending Oktoberfest in Munich this year.  Everyone gets dressed up in traditional lederhosen (boys) and drindls (girls).  It was so much fun! Paul -- Paul has been with ATMI for over 8 years now and spent most of those years in Belgium.  His travel is picking up and he is going to China and returning to the US more often.  Paul turned 40 in August and received a new set of golf clubs from us so he hopes to get to on the course more often.  He is assistant coaching both of the kids’ soccer teams this year which is keeping him super busy.  He ran in the 4K with Nicholas and perhaps that is the start of his father/son race career? That’s an update for you!  We have two big trips coming up: our fall break cruise through the Mediterranean and a trip to the US over Thanksgiving to see my cousin, Conor, play football in his last game at Wisconsin.  My goal will be to blog again before Christmas!  :)

LBI Beach week 2013

Picture slideshow generated with Smilebox This summer we did something new and rented a beach house in New Jersey on Long Beach Island (LBI) where my Aunt Carol & Uncle Tom have a beach house.  There were 21 of us in attendance it was good fun from the start!  The 9 kids (5 between Tina & Molly and 4 between me and Steph) immediately took to one another as if they had always been friends.  It was awesome!  The week was full of trips to the beach, riding bikes, boogie boarding, surfing, and planning our next meal!  Lots of laughter for sure! It was so much fun, we’ve already booked next summer’s LBI beach week.  Be afraid!

Summer 2013

Digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox Summer 2013 was just as crazy as the summers in the past.  We came, we saw, we conquered!  The kids and I left Belgium in July and headed to Kansas for a quick 6 days (note for next year, stay longer)!  Next stop was Portland, Oregon to visit a friend from AZ that lives there in the summer and also a friend that moved back to Portland from BE.  I fell in love with that city!  Just sorry that I didn’t take any pictures of our visit with Amy and family.  Next we were off to Phoenix for some heat!  It’s awesome to see how the kids welcome Lindsey and Nicholas and act as if we haven’t been gone for 4 years now!  Forever friends for sure!  Next stop was OH to visit with family.  We did lots of cool stuff with the cousins and caught up on movies at the theater.  (Such a treat after living here and not seeing a movie in the theater!)  I also squeezed in a girls’ weekend to Chicago and loved catching up with my college friends!  We also had a beach week in NJ but that will be a separate post as it was a whole vacation by itself!  :)