Castle of Lavaux-Sainte-Anne

One more thing to get used to...tourist sites are not open on Mondays. We ended up staying home yesterday because every where we decided to go there became a recurring theme: Closed Mondays. So we headed out today and toured a castle in a nearby city. This castle is on the front cover of a book given to me by one of my students. (Thanks Emily and family!) It is thought that this castle was built around 1450 and is surrounded by a moat because of the plain area it was built on. First we strolled outside the castle along the moat and were greeted by about 9 deer. K took some pictures of them grazing. It continues to surprise us that the Europeans aren't concerned about safety issues and possible lawsuits just waiting to happen. There were a few areas where my children could have slipped and fallen into the almost frozen over moat water. (It's 0 degrees Celsius here today. For my class back home...do you know what temperature that is in Fahrenheit? If you send me the correct answer via e-mail I'll write your name in lights on my blog!!) Anyway, in the US that would never fly. We would have some kind of barrier so any toddler or speedy fast child couldn't fall into the moat.
After that we ventured inside where we read about various past activities that occurred in each room. Inside is also where a Museum of Hunting and Nature Conservation is located as well. Many locally found animals that had been hunted were placed throughout the castle. Later on we even played hide and seek in the garden area. Once again the kids were very well behaved and thoroughly enjoyed our own little tour. I'm so thankful because when we first decided to move here I was uncertain how the kids would do visiting tourist sites. Honestly, I could hear, "Carry me!" when I thought of our family walking on cobblestones and climbing treacherous stone steps, but they have risen to the (few so far) occasions and surprised me with their stamina. Let's hope this continues!

Aqualibli Swimming Park

Aqualibi is a water park nearby that I cannot seam to pronounce properly yet. R and K constantly correct me and for some reason I have a mental block on the pronunciation of the word. I'm just hoping it doesn't transfer to my abilities to learn French or we're in for a long 2 years here!!!
This was the water park we were going to on the same weekend K was so excited to buy his Speedo. We did end up finding one for him and R that are more like shorts, but really tight. Hee! Hee! So, today was the second time we have been to this inside water park which is also connected to an outside amusement park open in the spring named Walibi. Everything was dark the first time we went to the park-I guess for mood lighting. Today we went earlier in the day and it was a lot brighter. We even found more rides around corners we didn't realize were available. The kids had a ball and ventured on some crazy water slides. They also have a wave pool there and we actually found the real hot tub area which is about the size of two classrooms back home. It was huge...and a lot warmer than the miniscule "hot tub" we found last time. The one R and I tried previously was a freezing cold bubbling tub (which we thought was going to be hot) that was the size of my closet back home. We decided we'll definitely get our money's worth out of the season pass we bought (thanks to our small group!). Tonight we're discussing tomorrow's adventure in Europe. K is on break until the 5th of January and we want to take a few more small day trips.

Belfort Belltower in Ghent

While in Ghent we also visited the Belfort Belltower. What a sight! I'm not sure how many miles you could see from the top, but it seemed like forever! After taking the elevator to the top, (we had climbed enough stairs in the castle) the view is amazing. You are allowed to go to all 4 sides and view the city underneath. However, we didn't stay long. On a cold day like Friday, and with the wind blowing into the observation areas of the tower, we were freezing.
Sidenote: This day was the first that I saw signs in R that he might be afraid of heights like me. He was squeemish ascending and descending the tight spiral stairs in the castle which had an unstable handrail. He also didn't seem too comfortable in the belltower.

Castle in Ghent

Since we have been in Belgium I have had the itch to sight see as much as possible whether it be a short vacation for an extended weekend or just a day trip. Friday we decided we needed to show the kids a castle since J is all into princesses and R enjoys pirate stories. We just thought they'd enjoy the atmosphere of one. We were right! Gravensteen was the castle we chose in Ghent (about an hour away from us). Now the books tell us that it's actually known for the gruesome system of medieval criminal justice. We were wondering what we had gotten ourselves into when the children decided to wear our headsets that take visitors on a walking tour of the castle. We weren't sure what kind of stories we were allowing our children to hear. The displays up on the walls that K and I could read didn't have anything really gory involved, so we were hoping the headset tour didn't as well.
The castle served as a residence and fortress until after the 14th century. Then the building was turned into a dungeon and inside the courtyards executions were carried out. Along the tour we did see a guillotine and explained to the kids what it had been used for. Inside the castle were various chains and handcuffs to restrain former prisoners. That was pretty much the extent of the goriness (we hope) involved because it was a freezing cold day and the kids didn't complain a bit. They were pretty engrossed in their headsets. So after listening to the tour for about an hour, it was over and I asked R what the stories were that he heard through the headphones. "I don't remember," was the response I received. Well, I guess that could be good fo this castle's history.

Why Do We Spend Money on Christmas Gifts?

After our air shipment arrived in 4 huge boxes, my kids have had the most fun yesterday and today playing with, not their Christmas presents, but the empty boxes. We have turned them on their sides and decorated them as bungalows. They are complete with door mats, flags, flower boxes for the windows, flowers growing outside, custom made pictures on the inside, and I even rigged up some of the lamps K's company rented for us. Now the kids can decorate the insides with the doors closed - OOOOOh! I'll take pictures when our sea shipment arrives with my camera cords. (We're always waiting on something right now!)

Christmas Packages

So K and I were sweating bullets waiting for our air shipment to arrive because it contained important Christmas packages for the kids. The movers told us on December 8th that the air shipment would probably beat us to Belgium and we were hopeful that it would, but with the Christmas mailings occurring our shipment was delayed quite a few days. K kept receiving e-mails stating it was delayed on that specific date, and that hopefully it would go out the following day only to receive the same message the next day on his e-mail. We waited and waited until it finally came over to Belgium only to be held up in customs now. Tuesday K e-mailed some lady from customs back and explained our kid situation. She pulled some strings and Christmas Eve at 9:00 AM I heard the doorbell ring. I have been asking the Lord to bless her this Christmas ever since!

Christmas Market in Germany

Did I already mention that we don't have television and I can't access the internet from my computer yet? So, we don't have to state the fact that we can't check the weather forecast...even though most days it's rainy. Anyway, we decided to head to Cologne, Germany today to visit one of the most "attractive" Christmas markets alongside Cologne Cathedral. (As I keep mentioning, I'll post pictures later.) We noticed it was overcast when we left Belgium, but we weren't too concerned. We were going on our first real adventure now that we're living in Europe! This is exactly why we came here...to explore! So, the kids were in the backseat playing their PSP and "Game Girl" when K and I all the sudden noticed we were heading into some never ending rain. It took 2 and a half hours to get there and it rained the whole time, but trying to be positive and "troopers", we decided that there might not be many people that ventured out like we did. So, we finally found a parking space and headed upstairs out of the parking lot to see the scenery. After bumping into Christkindle (Santa Claus) who gave the kids some chocolate, we enjoyed Christmas music by a polka band in the train station. We then tasted German pretzels (yum!) for a snack and authentic "German" Subway for dinner. We did venture out for the market area because I was on a mission to buy an ornament. (We collect them from places we've visited around the world.) We really couldn't get the whole view of the market with the cathedral in the background due to the umbrellas and our own hoods blocking the fabulous views. The rain never let up, but the kids never complained either. They were able to ride the carousel two times and pick out our ornaments. I even tasted mulled wine (we decided it's basically wine that is heated up) before the kids' toes were wet through their socks and shoes. So, we headed back to the car. We actually were in the car driving longer than we stayed at the market, but it made for a unique Christmas experience.

Shopping for a Speedo

I was wondering why K was not in a great mood when we woke up, but didn't realize until later the exact reason. We were shopping for the dreaded Speedo today. We're going to the waterpark tomorrow and K can't participate in the activities unless he purchases one because Bermuda style shorts are not allowed in the pools here. The positive note with this situation is that he doesn't need the "tighty whitey" looking briefs. He is allowed to swim with some that resemble boxer briefs. I would take a picture, but you know how sensitive men can get about Speedos. Anyway, after trying about 5 different pair on like a woman tries on clothes to go on a date, he finally found the perfect one. (He even modeled it for us after we got home.) We stood in line to pay for it and he wouldn't approach the counter. He acted all shy and goofy and handed me the money to pay for it (like we were going to see somebody we knew...we just moved here Sunday!).

We'll keep you posted as to how the swimming came along.

Trash

When we lived in the US, we didn't recycle on a regular basis. K really saw no point in doing it, but now that the issue is so expensive in Europe, K says, "You know, the Europeans really do a lot of things right." For instance, trash bags cost 1 Euro here. That is about $1.5o for each white trash bag! They also have to be purchased from certain stores in your communal area so they have the name of your commune printed on it. People don't pay an additional fee for trash pick up, but the cost of the bag covers it and that is why they are so expensive. The cheaper bags are blue for recycling plastic (collected Tuesdays), and yellow for recycling cardboard and paper (collected every other week) so we are highly encouraged to recycle. Great idea...huh Stacye? She's going to be so proud of us when we get back to the states and we're recycling gurus!

Driving in Europe

Now Tuesday came and K was off to work, but we still only have one car (and no internet, phone, or television by the way which is why I haven't been able to e-mail people or update the blog...sorry!). We have to all get up and drive K to work. Now, I'm not complaining, because I really like it here and we've already had some memorable experiences as a family. Also, I can have patience for a few weeks until our air shipment arrives and our Belgacom services are hooked up. Until then, we have to be a little flexible and roll with the punches.

K made me drive because I honestly think he didn't think I could make it back home (about a half an hour drive) by myself and two children safely. I did make it home, but I can't believe it. So, I'm going to measure the street as soon as our tape measure arrives so I can prove to all of you that the streets do not have enough room to have one row of parked cars on the curb as well as two lanes of traffic. There is no way 3 rows of cars fit on these city streets. I have no clue how there aren't more accidents here. I caught myself closing my eyes as I envisioned our car being sideswiped and the sideview mirror knocked off so many times! Then driving back to get K in the dark was even more challgenging. The next two days I told him he could just have the car. The kids and I could stay at home and play Mario Kart.

Also, the street we live on has about 7 areas that are sharply curved with curbs along both sides so you have to steer the car like an Indy 500 racer. It is so crazy I took a picture for you all to see, but we can't get it up yet until some of our equipment comes on the sea shipment. K is seriously scared that the tires on our car are only going to last a few months because I hit the curbs so much. When our friends Joe and Beth come visit they are going to think they've died and gone to the Formula One Heaven!

Shopping for Groceries

On Sundays most stores are closed in Belgium, so our new friends (the Biasi's) invited us over for dinner which was very tasty! They were wonderful company and the kids had such a great time at "that lady's house that had the Wii Mario Kart and all those Polly Pockets"!

Monday came and it was time to go grocery shopping. We went to a store kind of like Wal-Mart back at home. So here's the fun of shopping for groceries in another country...2 hours to buy items for 3 meals and some fruits and veggies for snacks. We go to buy milk, which isn't refrigerated (and eggs aren't either) because it's sterilized (we think), and we know that milk is "lait" in French, however, we had no clue what the names were for the skim and whole milk, and 2% didn't have any numbers on it. So, after looking in our French dictionary the whole time while the kids were again, being troopers, we ended up just picking items that looked like the right ones off the shelf and throwing them into the cart. We were getting frustrated and tired from the whole adventure.

Safely Home

We departed Indiana at 1:00 in the afternoon Decmber 13th. I took a few pictures of our last few minutes in Indiana.

We're on a two year mission to live in Europe and become a little European!

We checked 8 bags for the flight and had 8 carry on bags as well. One carried all our important papers such as passports, birth certificates, our marriage license, FBI background check paperwork, and other various items we need to check in at our local commune (kind of like a city). All the advise we received also stated that we should carry my jewelry, the Wii, and anything else expensive that we wanted to be extra careful with. So, the kids also had their backpacks loaded with entertainment for the long journey. K needed his work laptop and backpack as he would start working on Tuesday in Belgium. We had our hands full, and those bags were so heavy I thought my arms were going to come right out of the sockets. The kids were such troopers though, which has become a theme now for our family after a few excursions. J recently named us the "Trooper Family". I must be using that phrase way too much to describe the kids, but they really have been well behaved and in great spirits about any curveball thrown our way.

Kelsey Koo Moving

When getting ready for this big move, I had numerous piles around my house labeled with sticky notes saying "air", "sea", "storage" based on where the item was going and how it was going to get to Belgium if it was going with us. (I also had to pack 8 suitcases and carry ons as well filled with items we would need immediately upon arrival.) Then I had to make piles consisting of donations and trash. So it was just a little crazy around the house! The sticky notes were in my cabinets, on the walls (so I could lay items on the floor that fell into that particular category), on the shelves, on specific items, just everywhere. When the movers came to pack and move our belongings our dog got in the mix and ended up with a sticky note on her as well. In case it's too small to read, it says, "sea." Actually, she's flying in a plane a few days after we arrive.

Getting Ready for Christmas

So we're getting ready for the big move and of course we had to take family pictures for the Christmas cards so we could mail them out before we left. None of them are ever the "perfect" one, so you just pick one and don't second guess! :)