It is Hot Here...But I'm Not Complaining!

When we lived in Indiana and the temperature rose above 75 degrees, we were running the dual air conditioner - the one that allows you to set the downstairs at a different temperature than the upstairs - and it makes sure each and every room is cool.
So when it rose above 80 degrees here, we whipped out an air conditioner on wheels bought from another expat moving back to the states and closed our bedroom door. Here it is...the air conditioning unit Belgian style.
The hose goes out the window releasing hot air - which seems a little humorous to me. So, I'm leaving the window open only to let the hot air out, but also in again?
Yes, it looks a little trashy sending a big hose out our window, but with the trash bags still in the front of the house, we're getting used to our new reputation.
With all of that being said, it really does the job well!

Searching for Hidden Treasure Matey

So call me out of it, but I had never heard of such a thing as geocaching until eating lunch with a group of friends from the American Women's Club. Our friend Dallas offered up that her and her husband, Thomas, enjoy geocaching together. "What is geocaching?" was my question. Basically you act like pirates (not everyone really acts like them, but my son sure would) out to find hidden treasure, only when you take, you must replace. For the past 3 years my son has dressed as a pirate for Halloween, so this would be perfect for him!

McDonald's Happy Meal toys work well or even an American quarter for the replacement.

The first day of summer holiday (that's what they call it in Europe - it's not vacation, but holiday), we had Dallas choose some pretty easily hidden and easily accessible caches. There were three relatively close in proximity to each other in a nearby forest area. As she had said, "Maybe your kids will want to do more than one." Boy, is she ready for motherhood! Yes, my kids would need to do more than one so they can take turns with the finding, opening of the box, and replacing of the box. We don't want any fighting or arguing. She programmed the coordinates into her GPS and it walked us right to the place where X marks the spot.
Dallas explaining her special GPS for geocaching.

J taking her turn to find the first treasure box.

R taking his turn to open the first cache box.
Taking her turn to hide the first cache is J.

These are the surprises we ended up finding!

While eating our customary scrambled eggs and pancakes the next morning, J tells K, "Yesterday was one of the best days of my life." I thought, "Oh, really, I forget, what did we do yesterday?" He asks, "Why?" She responds, "I found 3 toys while we were geocaching."

Thanks, Dallas, for making my daughter's day!

School's Out...Finally!

Start the violin so I can say, "My poor kids"...they had to start school in mid-August (like the states) and go until the end of June (like Europe). (R's school back home was out before Memorial Day.)

Thursday was our last day. If they actually were aware of how this middle of the year move had played out, they would both be complaining, "That's not fair!" That's the blessing of them being just 7 and 5...how much longer can we continue to pull the wool over their eyes?

The last week of school consisted of field trips, Race Day, crafts and many other exciting activities. Below are a few of the pictures from the fun filled week.

R during Race Day

Battle of Waterloo Re-Enactment

Every year many people come from all around Europe to re-enact the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon Bonaparte was finally defeated here by the Duke of Wellington to stop the French from taking over much of Europe. During our travels in London, we discovered how important this defeat was to the English as well. Napoleon apparently was a power hungry fellow.

Here the English are marching in.
This must be Wellington. He seemed pretty important during the spectacle.

Being a boy, R definitely found more interest in the whole evening than J. She would rather just play her 'game girl' while keeping the noise down.

We had discussed with the kids that there might be soldiers pretending to die on the battlefield so they wouldn't be frightened if they witnessed soldiers falling down. For some reason, the soldiers didn't act out injuries or death during the battle, but R was still expecting it the whole night...waiting for someone to 'die'.

It's amazing to us this whole scenario was just minutes away from our house.

Backyard American Football

I'm surprised we couldn't sell tickets for this game. It's the only time you'll see a 50 pound Troy Aikman decked out in Purdue University attire and an Indianapolis Colts teammate up against a 6'7" tall, 250 pound Illini player in bright orange shorts. Furthermore, they're playing in Europe. What a game!

I think the big guy won, although it looks as though he might have lost something at the end of the game.

Heat Wave!

It's 72 degrees today and you'd think we're having a heat wave! It is for Belgium...we decided to whip out the water slide we just bought off another family moving back to the states. That's how you do things here...instead of going to the store to buy a brand new air conditioner, you just wait until you hear of someone moving and see if you can buy theirs. (We'll have to take a picture of that too...I hear they are a sight to see.) So how could we pass up this slide for 50 Euros? We couldn't!
The kids have looked forward to this all week and we had to wait for just the right day - above 70.
After helping me set it up, R ran in to change his clothes and about scared me to death...he's becoming way too European. I said, "Buddy, you really don't need a swim cap for just the water slide." He was at a swimming party last weekend and needed it inside the pool because it's required. He replied, "I know, but I like it." Oh boy!

It was definitely worth the 50 Euros!!

Cooking Today with Pre-K

Today was the last of the cooking days with Moms and Dads...I just happened to be the lucky one that ended the year. The menu of choice: dirt pie complete with yucky, slimy, squirmy gummy worms. I headed to the door telling the kids we were making dirt pie and we needed to take our cups outside to dig up some good dirt to eat. One little girl just smiled as she started to follow with the cup in her hand. I wonder how far we could have gotten until she realized how crazy that sounded?

We messed up the kitchen really good while dumping in our chocolate pudding, chocolate cake, crushed up Oreos, and hiding the worms in our cups. Can you believe one little girl told me she didn't like chocolate cake? I thought liking chocolate was part of being a girl!

Back Side of Our House

I can't take a picture of the front of the house yet only because our trash from the flood still sits in the driveway...so here are the pictures of the back. The three center windows on the first floor are doors opening up to the back yard. We have a huge back patio and on the right side you can see we brought a temporary basketball hoop with us. We planted Pansies in some pots, hoping they'll last all summer without the hot summer heat like Indiana has.

Can You Pick Up Some Ice?

While helping a friend plan for the big going away party for so many women (many businesses are having the families go back to the states because of the economy), I asked if there was anything else I could pick up for her. She said, "Sure, I could use about 4 or 5 bags of ice." I thought, "Oh yeah, I can do that."
I waited until the day of the party to think of getting it because it's just absurd to pick up ice any earlier than that. So the day came and I got to thinking...now, Europeans don't usually drink ice in their drinks. I wonder where I should go to pick up some ice? In the U.S. I would have numerous choices...gas stations and basically any grocery store. Remember, everything takes 3 times as long here. I left 3 times earlier than I had originally planned just because of that.
I stopped into 3 grocery stores and finally found bagged ice in the 3rd. To add onto that, it's in the freezer section, not out front by the cash registers - just in case you're in Europe and need a bag of ice!

12 Years and Going Strong!

The Chateau de La Hulpe is just down the way from us and has great walking trails. It's the perfect place for celebrating our anniversary on a lazy afternooon. I have taken the kids there one other time, but K had never been. I didn't get any pictures of the chateau this time because there was a huge tent blocking the view, but I'll take some in the future. It's really a beautiful place!
Nobody in our family likes the ends of the bread loaves, so we have been saving them for the perfect day to feed the ducks...like June 7th!

I wish I could have gotten a picture of R's smile when all these ducks flocked to greet him once they realized he had food!

This stinker was chasing everyone around, proving his dominance.
Maybe my friend Dallas can help us determine which bird this is? Any ideas? It has a distinctive eye.
We found these miniature frogs along a path...K thought they were crickets at first when they were hopping around because of their size. They are tiny!

She cannot be my daughter...she will pick up anything no matter how slimy or gross it is.
Of course by the end of the afternoon we each had our own walking stick and Kelsey had 2 ticks crawling on her which prompted a whole family search. I never thought I'd end the day looking through my husband's hair like a chimpanzee on our anniversary, but it happened!