Our Latest Visitor, Flat Nate!

I thought it was going to be just another ordinary day walking the kids to the bus with our dog, putting the trash out, checking the mail, when I found a surprise inside our mailbox. It was a guy known as Flat Nate (just like Flat Stanley - in the book). He had traveled all the way from Indy to come for a visit! Our son and Nate were born just one day apart - Nate on the 22nd of May and R on the 23rd. They've literally known each other since they were 1 week old and we have pictures to prove it. (Not sure where the version that I could put on the blog is, but they're in our scrapbooks.) The boys have grown up together and we were flattered when Nate thought to send himself - flat and all - to Belgium for a visit! He arrived at just the right time, spring break. We were off for a few adventures these two weeks.

Flat Nate has come along with us to see the Lion Mound where the Battle of Waterloo took place, the Atomium, a little city called Hans-sur-lesse where we toured an animal reserve and a cave, and Dinant, another little city in the southern part of Belgium.

It's still a mystery to us how these buffalo lined up like Rockettes getting ready for some leg kicks, although, they appear to rather be desiring a nap right now!

We thought J would lose it when we spied some bats in the cave, but she kept her cool and wasn't scared at all.

While driving to Dinant, we asked the kids which part of Hans-sur-lesse was their favorite. It kind of surprised me when our son said the cheesy animal safari while I would have guessed he far more enjoyed the bats and eeriness of the cave.

Below is the River Meuse

It still kills me that we have to pay to use the toilet everywhere in Europe! The small white sign says 30 cents. Didn't we just pay too much to ride the cable cars up to this tourist spot?
The view from the top was amazing. The Collegiate Church of Notre Dame is below this Citadel.

Flat Nate is prepared to ward off any intruders.

Stay tuned to see where else we take Flat Nate!