Holiday Time!

Instead of Thanksgiving kicking off the Holiday season Belgians have Sinterklaas. Thanksgiving Day was like any other for us. Rick went to work, the kids had school, and I was tortured by the supermarket. No actually the grocery shopping thing is getting better but not so good that I even remotely considered conquering a Thanksgiving dinner. Instead we had pizza and pasta. I know, I know I could have come up with something a little more appropriate like a roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, which incidentally I can do, but most of the week at least 1 child was home ill with minor cold stuff. So instead on the weekend we celebrated the birthday of Sinterklaas at a Genzyme party for the kids.

Sinterklaas is a very old man who lives in Spain. (Don't tell anyone but Drew's teacher is from Spain and never heard of him until she came here.) He has a boat, a white horse and some helpers called 'Zwarte Piet'. 'Zwarte' means black hence the black faces of the helpers. The PC version is that they are chimney sweeps. Every year Sinterklaas comes to Belgium around the time of his birthday. He loves visiting all the children and he usually brings toys and treats with him. The 'Zwarte Pieten' help him to bring the toys and treats to the children. The kids leave out their shoe the week before his birthday and every night Sinterklaas leaves treats in it. Then on Dec 6th his birthday he usually leaves presents.

I can't tell you how confusing this is for our kids. We are not doing the shoe thing at home but all three kids are at school. They got their big present from Sinterklaas at the Genzyme party so we are covered there. Santa Claus is still slated to come to the Belgium house on Christmas although we'll be in the States. Don't worry we have that covered. I haven't quite figured out if Santa Claus also comes for the Belgium kids. You see Santa decorations everywhere but I have been told that Christmas is for family gift giving. Well it is a good thing Drew doesn't know any Belgian kids and the girls don't understand the language enough yet. As far as I know the magic of the holiday season is not being questioned!

Genzyme Sinterklaas party - one of the Zwarte Piet and Sinterklaas 

Genzyme Sinterklaas party - meeting Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet. Megan and Alyssa are hiding behind Lyn. Drew is the only brave one. 

Genzyme Sinter Klaas party - The gift getting part. Alyssa came out of hiding for this, Megan still is hidden behind Lyn, Drew is thinking, "where the heck is mine?!" 

Genzyme Sinter Klaas party - the jumpy thing (Megan, Alyssa, and Drew). I don't think you would ever find a jumpy thing like this in the States. There are no walls on it. Just a brightly colored edge as shown in yellow in the background. This thing is about two and a half feet off the ground on a hard tile floor. Can you tell it makes me a little nervous? 

Genzyme Sinter Klaas party - Drew climbing up the rock climbing wall 

Genzyme Sinter Klaas party - Drew coming down from the rock climbing wall 

The happy party goers - Alyssa, Megan and Drew 

Its all about food

A great thing about living in Belgium (and Europe in general) is the fresh bread. There are bakeries everywhere and even in the grocery stores the bread is baked fresh. Besides restaurants bakeries are about the only thing open on Sundays. After hours you can even buy fresh bread from a bread vending machine. I kid you not - sliced loaves of fresh baked bread in a vending machine!

I know I've talked multiple times about the grocery store and here I go again. At one of the stores I frequent they have a section of deep freezers for all different kinds of meat. In between the steaks and the chicken is meat for dogs. Yes, meat for dogs! Not dog meat though. People in Belgium, more so than any other European country I've visited, love their dogs. Even knowing this I was still a little shocked to find out about the meat for dogs section. I'm pretty sure I have not purchased any for our family. I suppose since Belgians love their dogs so much the meat for dogs is probably pretty high quality at least.

Three ballerinas - Megan, Alyssa, and Harriette  

Harriette, Megan, and Alyssa in the play room. 

Drew's dream

The one thing Drew wanted to do more than anything else while we were in Europe was to take a ride on one of the fast trains, the TGV. On Saturday his wish came true. We set out first thing in the morning and drove the car, to the tram, to a regular train, until finally we boarded the TGV. The TGV did not disappoint. "It was cookin'", according to Drew. We arrived in France at lunch time. The only dissappointing part of the TGV ride was that we were only on it for 40 minutes. Within five minutes of us arriving in Lille, France Drew wanted to know when we would get back on the train. We had seven hours and 45 minutes to kill. Not the answer Drew wanted to hear.

We looked out the window from the train station. The day that started out clear and sunny had turned on us. It was pouring! Rick and I had no more of a plan than to just explore the city by foot. The day suddenly seemed to get longer. We headed to the huge shopping mall next door to the train station to get lunch. After some yummy french bread sandwiches, waffles drenched in chocolate sauce and donuts everything seemed a bit cheerier. We headed to the tourist office for some advice on how to fill up our day.

Despite the weather, which we weren't prepared for at all - 1 umbrella for the five of us, we managed to enjoy ourselves. We found a tiny zoo that had great exhibits, a kiddie train, and a small shelter to get out of the bursts of rain. The old part of Lille is beautiful. The buildings are so ornate and interesting. (The pictures are minimal since the camera didn't come out too much due to the rain.) The town was alive with people too. We spent our last few hours drying out in a restaurant with a great menu. After our mouths were drooling over our choices we found out the kitchen didn't open for another two hours. Yes, of course we're in France! They eat late. Oh well we ordered 5 croque monsieurs (French version of grilled ham and cheese) and a lot of wine. It was warm and dry at least. The kids were happy coloring and and we were happy sipping our wine.

After "dinner" we took the fast train, to the regular train, to the tram, to our car, to our home. We poured ourselves into bed exhausted. It was a good day.

Getting ready to board the TGV to go to Lille, France 

En route to Lille, France aboard the TGV! 

Lille, France - Alyssa, Drew, Megan and Lyn on yet another train ride. Alyssa wouldn't go on the train unless Daddy or Mommy went too. I don't think Rick would have fit since I barely did. 

Lille, France - Megan and Alyssa enjoying the sites at the zoo. 

Lille, France - The belfry of the Nouvelle Bourse 

Lille, France - Megan and Alyssa done! 

Home Front

I posted a few pictures to show the inside of our house. Quite a few people have asked me to do this. I will take some of other views and post soon too. The second set of pictures is from Sunday afternoon. We had a rare sunny day and spent most of it outside biking and at the farm/park. The weather has been cold and damp for at least a month. Coincidently most of us have had the sniffles for at least that long. It rains almost everyday for at least a little bit so things barely have a chance to dry out. Luckily it rarely rains all day so the day is never a complete wash.

Drew, Alyssa, and Megan in the dining room. The picture is taken from the kitchen side of the room. The big glass windows and doors look out into our back yard 

Alyssa, Megan and Drew cutting in the dining room looking into the kitchen over the half wall.  

Megan and Alyssa playing in their room with their friend Harriette. 

The living room (the playroom side) - Drew (striped shirt) and his kindergarten buds, two Germans - Jan and Tim, a Brit - Theo, and an American -Trevor. Our guest room and computer room/play room are through the door in the center top of the photo. 

At one point all five of us we on this see-saw. On Sunday we biked to this farm on the other side of town. It was such a beautiful day we were able to eat lunch at an outdoor cafe at this park. The following few pictures were also taken here, the kinderboerderij. 

Megan, Lyn and Alyssa at the park in Brasschaat 

Two little girls or one BIG tree. (Megan - left, Alyssa - right) 

The brave boys petting "the big billy goat" 

Alyssa and Megan's reaction to "The big Billy goat" from afar of course. 

Trier, Germany - Megan with her bouquet of giant leaves.