a golden day

Each year I go birding on Mother's Day (which happens to be on the same weekend as World Migratory Bird Day!), and this past Sunday I saw some spectacular spring migrants. The kids didn't mind too much and Stijn was just happy i did the lawn and shopping to give him a break. I did miss our breakfast in bed, which has become our way of celebrating a special day. I was up too early even to get my favorite: hot tea in bed - what a pity.

As always, I was hoping to get some new species, as well as see some old bird friends, both feathered and unfeathered. An early morning bird walk on Saturday along a small restored creek (Kleine Gete te Eliksem), gave Icterine warbler and skylark, plus 30+ other species. Very pleasant.

Grote Karekiet, or Great reed warbler, was my prize for getting up at 5:30 am on mother's day to visit Het Vinne (freshwater marsh). Following that, I helped with a bird survey near Hoegaarden (where the beer is made), where I picked up marsh warbler and the star of the day ... drums rolling ... the GOLDEN ORIOLE! And here it is, shown in WIKI files ... isn't it absolutely splendid! My first Old World Oriolidae - just 19 more species to go - does the thought give you goosebumps too?

my new motto

My favorite place to go is where I've never been.

Anonymous

Belgians like clean streets

I've had the strange feeling lately that I've been disappointing someone. Maybe it's from the mounds of thank-you's I need to write or phone calls to friends in need of support/encouragement that I need to make (or time i need to spend with the hubbie!), but for whatever reason I've had this unexplainable feeling that I've been letting someone down.

This afternoon, the answer came from a neighbor. And not just any neighbor ... a BELGIAN neighbor. This was the place I least expected it from! Especially since this neighbor has never uttered a word to me, until now ...

SHE barely let me get out of my car before she started rattling off (in Dutch at first, but then in English) her anxiety about the collection of dirt on our sidewalk/street. She prefaced her attack by saying that she was 71 and not afraid to speak her mind.

She was visibly agitated by the fact that we hadn't swept our sidewalk in the last few months, but she also let me know that we weren't the WORST on the street. Our Portuguese/Italian neighbors came in last place, as you would expect, right? They're attending to more important matters, like drinking wine and making delicious food. But that is hardly a solace ...

According to this neighbor, the police can fine you for not keeping your bit of street in order! Apparently the Tervuren officers are a bit more laid back as they don't fine you anymore (good thing for us). Maybe it's because the expat community hasn't been sold on this unwritten rule and has other priorities, like travelling and enjoying life!

Then she ragged on my Dutch husband, claiming he must understand the Belgian mentality of clean streets. I just shook my head, like "sure, why not", not knowing where this idea originated in the first place. Personally, I thought the Dutch were better known for their entreprenurial spirit and tulips (and love of travel, Yeah!) than dirt collection. But maybe I was wrong ...

But finally the REAL reason for her anxiety reared it's ugly head ..... NIMBY! For those unawares, NIMBY stands for "it's okay as long as it's NOT IN MY BACKYARD!"

She explained how our street acts like a wind tunnel, carrying all our dirt and filth right in front of her house, and how she has beautiful clean, white tiles in her garage that get dirty if their cars have to drive through our filth. Oh, the story goes on and on .... you really don't want to hear all the details. I was gagging as it was -

I bit my lip. I smiled. I listened. I tried to understand. But I also wanted to say, "hey, do you realize i have 3 kids, a husband that travels circumpolar, and that this is a NON-priority to me at this point in my life?" Maybe when I'm 71 I'll begin to fret about insignificant things. But today I saw black terns, hobbies, marsh harriers, and garganeys at a beautiful nature reserve, and that's WAY more important than any breath you've wasted in the last 5 minutes!

And I felt like saying, "have you heard the beautiful song of the greenfinch, bullfinch, great tit, blue tit, marsh tit, great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, hedge sparrow, blackbird"? And do you know where they got their last meal and drink? It was most likely at my well-stocked birdfeeder and my fishpond, which i place the highest priority on maintaining - thank you. And did you know that my girls correctly identified the 2 Goudvink (bullfinch) that fed at my feeder this week?

Let's get our priorities straight, shall we!

thoughts from the other side (of the ocean)

Alex came home from school on Wednesday (17 April) talking about the shootings that occurred at VA Tech 2 days ago. Judging from the details she relayed to me, it seems her teacher did her research. She knew the exact number of students that were killed, when/where/how it occurred, but also she was informed of -- the lack of gun control laws in the US.

Every time a school shooting incident happens in the U.S., the students here are quick to learn about it and hear their teacher's thoughts. Alex knows that it takes something close to a miracle to possess a gun here in Europe. You have to "answer a thousand questions and take a lot of tests", as she puts it. There's a slim to zero chance that anyone without a REALLY good excuse could even legally own a gun here.

But even w gun control in place here, it doesn't stop people from fearing the possibility of school shootings, and that related forms of violence may become more widespread. The fear may also be related to concerns about losing an innocence and quality of life that is taken for granted in Europe. Children ride their bikes or the city train/bus to school by themselves at a young age and think nothing of it. Once I heard of a 7 year old taking the train from Brussels to Antwerp for ballet lessons because her mom said if she really wanted to dance at that school she had to show how much she wanted it. Would be a shame for kids to lose this kind of freedom.

All that said, but more importantly, our hearts go out to the families and friends of the victims as well as to all those at VA Tech whose lives have been affected. I can only imagine what they are going through right now.

grandma PHOEBE is 101!

We spoke with grandma yesterday, and she sounded better than ever. Wanted to wish her a happy 101st birthday before the masses hit her doorstep. Actually caught her during a nap, but May said she wouldn't want to miss our call so she woke her up and we had a wonderful chat.

She was so happy to hear our voices and was especially happy to hear little Phoebe's voice. She said when I'm her age I'll understand how nice it is to hear the sweet voices of great grandchildren. I think I already know what she means.

I suspect she had loads of visitors today, stopping in to see how she's doing and wanting to wish her well. I wonder how many birthday cards, flower arrangements, boxes of chocolate, visits by family/friends, phone calls, etc. she'll get. I wonder what will be her greatest gift.

Can you imagine celebrating 101 birthdays?!

down and out

this is not me - it's a picture i made of Muriel - but it's how i feel right now. Exhausted, deflated, but also rejuvenated. Adventures in Spain and visits w good friends will have this effect on a soul.

i suppose i'll be back on my feet in a while ... but for a moment I'll relish the feeling of being whammied.

BTW, i like your boots Muriel - where'd you get them?

the gods must be angry

The day started well. Managed to get the kids to school on time, even early since Phoebe had to arrive by 8:50 for a school trip to Antwerp zoo. I was feeling confident that everything would go smoothly and Stijn would be picking the kids up at a quarter to 4 so I could enjoy a "day out" with my art class. I was joining a bus trip to museums in Belgium and Holland and I wasn't due back til after 5 pm.

Fatal flaw #1 - when a mother's overly confident that she can "get away" and have some time for herself, the gods do not look happily on this. At least they didn't in my case. The second they realized I was beginning to feel footloose and fancy free they began plotting revenge.

First stop, Hasselt, about an hour east of Brussels (aside: that's what I entered in my diary, and that's as far as I got!). After walking through town we found the establishment that housed the art exhibit, "The suspended moment", that we would tour. Still don't know what the place was called, but it looked sorta like an Abbey or churchgrounds, but there were no names anywhere. "Deadheaded" was the first bit of art. As you see here, it consists of a vase w living greens and dead flower heads spread on the ground below. Didn't really "get it", but enjoyed looking at the dead flowers and listening to the Dutch tour guide.

Fatal flaw #2 - oh no, I was actually beginning to enjoy myself and have a little fun, and this was really getting the gods pissed off. A mom having fun and not knowing where she is - how irresponsible is that? It wouldn't be long now until their plan unfolded, but I never could've guessed how low they'd stoop!

A series of huge photos taken through rainy car windows in the U.K. was probably my favorite part of the tour. Simple idea, magnificent photos - I absolutely loved them. Maybe it's because as a kid between the ages of 4 and 7, I used to spend a lot of time watching the rain dance on windows (car windows, house windows, school windows) and daydreaming - of course that was the best part. It rained a lot in England (yes, that's when we lived in England) so I had ample opportunity to bond with the rain drops and dream about whatever.

Fatal flaw #3 - mom is beginning to lose it - she's losing control, reconnecting with her past, starting to dream again. "We can't have this" scream the gods. "Time to intervene, and QUICK!"

Bbbbbbrrrrrrriiiiiinnnnnnngggggggggggg goes the cell phone. "Sh--" goes mom, thinking this can't be good - nobody ever calls me on my cell phone, so it must be serious. Of course, I can't manage to dig it out of my bag until after the message kicks in, and what a shock it was to hear the news. It was Jacques from school calling to tell me that they think Alex may have broken her arm. At first I thought he said, "vermoord", which if you know Dutch means "dead", but he really said "vermoed". I about keeled over. But then I heard him say "arm gebroken", which brought a big sigh of relief, followed by anxiety when it occurred to me that i had no way to get home. Luckily Stijn answered on the first ring and whisked Alex away for x-rays and a cast. And I was able to catch a ride back with the one mom who drove separately.

And the gods could be happy again with mom back in control of the house. Now let's just hope they don't freak out when I leave for Gibraltar for a WEEK! BTW, as you can tell from this photo, Alex is doing absolutely fine. She's already decorated her sling with jewels and pins and can't wait to get her flourescent yellow cast!

on the rock

When I saw this photo of the rock of Gibraltar (go to Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society and click on Gibraltar, Nature's Mountain, the cover photo for a book on diversity), it made me think of a poem written by my late friend L. Alexander. I can't remember all the words, and I know I'm missing a line or two, but it goes something like this ...

You know I've heard about people like me
But never made the connection
They walk one way to set them free
But find they've gone the wrong direction
There's no need for turning back
All roads lead to where we stand
And I'm convinced we'll walk them all
No matter what we may have planned

by Laurence Alexander

slow birding in Switzerland

For krokusvakantie (winter break), we stayed at oma & opa's house near Zurich, Switzerland and soaked up sun and beautiful views of mountains and lake Zurich. There was little snow for skiing or sledding, which meant more time for birdwatching, and mommy was too thrilled. First new bird was spotted in downtown Zurich by the train station, and what a great bird it was - a RED KITE (Milvus milvus)(all fotos Wikipedia)! The long forked tail and white underwing patches (confirmed by Stijn + Alex) were dead giveaways. Could hardly keep my eyes on the twisty, windy roads - yes, of course mommy was behind the wheel.

Day 2 we took kids to a lakeside park in Richterswil and got new bird #2 - the RED-CRESTED POCHARD (Netta rufina). Stijn parked the car and came back asking if I'd seen red-headed ducks by the train station. Figured he was talking about the feral mandarin ducks and didn't think anything of it. But when we walked back to the car and we saw 2 pairs and 2 males of RCP, I was shocked. Memory will be only lukewarm though, as they were practically begging for food, alongside mallards and coots. Probably just escapees of a captive popn, but they were pretty to look at and will still go on my Euro list!

Day 3 topped em all with 3 new species! Alex and I were taking a lovely stroll in a wooded ravine by oma & opa's house w moss covered boulders and gushing stream when the white throat patch of this WHITE-THROATED DIPPER (Cinclus cinclus) flashed before our eyes. What a pleasant surprise! We spent minutes watching the 2 dippers fly back and forth along the watercourse. A Swiss gentleman came by w his dog and we had a conversation in my very broken German about the dippers and also about some raptors he'd seen, or at least that's what it sounded/looked like with all his hand gesturing/pointing up at the trees. Alex is now motivated to learn German so her mom won't embarrass her again.
Bird #4 was the ALPINE CHOUGH (Pyrrhocorax graculus). We found it by the cafe Holzegg near the Grosse Mythen (steep cliff) in Brunni. In our attempt to find enough snow to make at least 1 snowball we took the gondola up to the top of the BrunniAlp ski resort. Immediately heard unfamiliar bird calls, and perched atop the cafe were 2 black birds (pair?) with red legs and yellow beaks, which flew off as soon as they noticed I was dying to know what they were! While we ate lunch I convinced the kids to put french fries on the picnic tables outside, hoping we'd lure the birds back for another view, but unfortunately we weren't so lucky. Kids beginning to realize they have a strange bird for a mom.
The COMMON RAVEN (Corvus corax) was also hanging around Holzegg. Were 50-100 flying around the peak of the Grosse Mythen, and that was something to see. Have seen ravens in N.A., but this was first encounter in Europe and so will go on my Euro list. Kids enjoyed listening to their loud, clanging sounds.

Best part of birding was watching birds together as a family and also without binoculars, which always seemed to get left behind. This is what I call "slow birding" because it's not so much about how many birds you see but WHO you see them with and HOW LONG it takes you to get there. Now that sounds like another brilliant idea that will get me nowhere.

alex blogs

check out a new blog by exela (stage name for Alex)

signs of spring

Some photos (although not mine) to cheer my snowbound friends in North America who are probably huddling by the fire and doing anything they can just to stay warm. My grandma in Virginia said it was supposed to dip to 16 F while here it hit 16 C! Signs of spring are everywhere as a group of 15 redwings visited our garden a few weeks back, as well as one lone male bullfinch. I wondered if it was the same male that visited our bird table last spring!


The blue tits have been actively checking out my nest boxes for weeks now. It seems that no sooner do i lay down to catch a rest that one of the little guys starts pecking away at the entrance to the nest box. We have 2 boxes - one on our patio and one in a huge conifer. Last year they fledged 5 from the conifer box.


Goldfinches have already made an appearance, although i haven't seen one in the field yet. I don't get them at my feeder like i did the American Goldfinch - what a shame.



The vlinders (butterflies) are already emerging. I think i saw this species yesterday. Seems early but it's been so warm here that it comes as no surprise.

Carnaval

If this shot doesn't break the winter blues, I don't know what will. Here you see Thijs and Phoebe all dressed up for a Carnaval celebration (kick-off party before start of passover) at school. This is a BIG deal here, and the kids/schools invest lots of time and energy into organizing events. Grades 1-6 spent Friday afternoon dressing up and putting on a toneel (theatre performances) in front of the whole school, and Alex seemed to enjoy this very much along with eating 2 times frites!

a fly on the wall

what i would give to be a FLY ON THE WALL

to hear secrets WHISPERED

to see MASKS come down

i think it would be great

to be so SMALL

hats off to PJ

This one's for PJ, otherwise known as Paul, or man of Laura, who learned today that his research paper on something to do with calcium channels somewhere in the brain, was accepted by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This is no little beans, and so we're taking every measure to properly acknowledge its significance, but not as in p value, get it? And while I'm documenting this historic moment, my man Stijn is perfecting the art of pannekoeken maken! Onze kinderen hebben carnaval feest morgen, en wij moeten koeken in de keuken! Got it?

Welterusten

tot volgende keer!

my obit.

Let's keep this short and sweet, shall we? This is how i'd like my obit. to read although hopefully not for SOME time. However, the last part will take more work if we're going to make that happen - that's where my dreams come into play. Here goes. Don't blink or you'll miss it!

She married a dutchman who loved to travel, loved birds more than anything, and died by a salt marsh.

Yes, that's all folks!

Is that simple or what?

Well, actually, the last part runs deeper than it reads. There are lots of ways to "die", so to speak.

The literal translation might have been the first thought that came to mind. And it's not a bad thought since i'd love to live and die by an estuary and have my ashes cast off as the seabirds fly overhead and sing my eulogy. You'd just have to listen to them and drink a toast.

Then there are figurative translations, like "dying in a pose", which means to achieve peace with yourself like when in a yoga pose. When i first heard the expression, "dying in a pose", it struck a chord so deep i couldn't get past it for weeks. I think this is what i was feeling when this phrase came out. I'm getting closer to feeling that inner peace, but we're not there yet. I'm always looking though. Just like the man, i'm always looking ...

There it is.

daydreaming

One of my goals is to capture my children's dreams in artwork so they'll always have something special to remind them of what they used to love. This is Alex trying on pointe shoes and daydreaming about what it would be like to be a real dancer someday. It was my first effort, and although it's not great I like it because you can actually tell it's ALEX!

Sometimes watching our kids chase their dreams awakens a part of us that's lying dormant. That's how i feel, at least. Being so busy w work and family in my former life, there was no time for thinking about anything else. Now thinking about "anything else" has become my preoccupation, and I consider it a real privilege to be able to dream 24/7. Who knows what will come of this, but I'm loving pondering all the options ... like running a birding bed-n-breakfast in the Algarve, for instance. How fun would that be!

assignment no. 1

Seeds of CHANGE

Candles BURNING

A NEW DAY is coming

birds are MY RELIGION

snowbird

This photo made me chuckle when I saw it. The first thing that came to my mind was, "no way, this bird is making a SNOW ANGEL!"

Then I saw this photo, which shows the bird taking a well-deserved break after all the huffing and puffing, and admiring the masterpiece it just produced.
And finally, the redwing perches on a nearby limb to check out whether anyone has been paying the least bit of attention. And he makes plans for the next work of art, which won't just be a 2-dimensional sketch on the ground. No, the next job will be a 3-foot SNOWBIRD!

fun links

If you have time to waste, check out the new links i posted:

BirdLife International is the equivalent of WWW for birds with the goal of conservation of birds around the world. Great articles on birds in local & exotic places and programs that make a difference.

RSPB is a bird conservation group based in Britain. Fantastic bird photo gallery which was my mainstay when first moved to Belgium. When I discovered this organization I wanted to move to England!

FATbirder has great bird resources - anything you want to know about birds or equipment, books you need to find.

Travelling birder has bird trip reports so if you're planning to go to Thailand, for instance, you can download bunches of reports and maybe even find someone to meet up and bird with while you're there!

Responsible travel is an ecotourist travel group that will help you find eco-friendly accomodation and holidays. We found a wonderful guesthouse in Portugal (www.monterosaportugal.com) through them!

Slow travel has been popular in Europe for ages but is slowly catching on with the rest of the world. Visit here to learn about the philosophy, read trip reports and get ideas on how to travel slowly. Awesome!

enjoy!

Zeeland in February

We didn't have this many vogelaars (birders) on our trip yesterday, but at least it gives you an idea of what birding in Zeeland can be like - LOTS of scopes and bird-crazed people! We weren't alone in our search for seabirds, shorebirds, geese and ducks - there were plenty of Dutch license plates and a few Belgian ones too. The sun never stopped shining and the birds never stopped coming - was happy to get 10 new species. Here's the list i kept w 53 species. Why don't we try names in Dutch this time? Welcome to my world. How many did you get?

Roodkeelduiker
Ijsduiker
Kuifduiker
Dodaars
Fuut
Roodhalsfuut
Grote aalscholver
Kleine Zilverreiger
Zilverreiger
Blauwe reiger
Knobbelzwaan
Kolgans
Grauwe gans
Brandgans
Rotgans
Bergeend
Wilde eend
Krakeend
Pijlstaart
Slobeend
Smient
Kuifeend
Eider
Ijseend
Brilduiker
Nonnetje
Middelste zaagbek
Buizerd
Smelleken
Patrijs
Fazant
Waterhoen
Meerkoet
Scholekster
Kluut
Bontbekplevier
Strandplevier
Goudplevier
Kievit
Drieteenstrandloper
Steenloper
Tureluur
Zwarter ruiter
Wulp
Kokmeeuw
Zilvermeeuw
Mantelmeeuw
Kleine Alk - so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Winterkoning
Zwarte Kraai
Kauw
Spreeuw
Ekster

bringing me home

I love the balance and symmetry of this shot, and the beauty that Laura brings to it. I've had friends tell me how beautiful she is, stunning really. Her most beautiful gift though is her ability to take you inside yourself to the center of it all. Just a telephone call later (or a luxury 10 days together, in our case) and she's brought you home again, back to a place you loved but lost along the way because you got so bogged down with life and defragmented. Back to yourself. Back to life.

I guess that's what friends are for - bringing us back to life, so to speak. But Laura did that for me in the biggest way during her visit, and for that I'm eternally grateful. So thanks, Laura, for jumpstarting this old clunker!



Laura was the life of New Year's Eve (along w killer fireworks) when she discovered the Dutch love Michael Jackson! She got our hips swinging and the olliebollen flying - yumm, yumm Marijn!

...the beloved wife and companion. Btw, who's that GQ guy kissing on you - oh that's Paul! Can i have some of that?

She brings connectivity to the family, and it was endearing to see her needing some kidtime/familytime during their brief visit. During a mini-crisis of finding a resto in Brugge, she siezed the opportunity for some one-on-one with the boys.


Laura snapped a ton of photos during her visit, but she's never IN a single picture so this one's for her!

miss you too!

Taiwan?

Okay, I'm not looking at the sitemeter anymore because it's freakin' me out a little. With Laura's help, I recently plugged into this website so I could see who's visiting my blog. Well, lately I've had visits from Taiwan, Spain, Morocco and China (UK, Holland, Switzerland don't count since I know family/friends there). I'm not sure what search words brought them to my site, but it's perplexing to say the least.

If it's for the birds, then I must apologize as I've been neglecting my feathered friends as of late due to my love affair with my best friend Laura. But I'll get my rhthym back soon, especially since the birds are singing again and you can practically see their hormones pumping through their little bodies. Egyptian goslings have already been spotted in the Brussels area - but I'm sure that had nothing to do with global warming.

Or maybe they're related to the Verschuuren family in some way, or want to know more about the land of sprouts. Who knows. But it makes you wonder, doesn't it?

off to New York

Alex told me when she turns 14 she'll take Phoebe to New York (as in city) alone - oh boy

Happy Birthday!

Jan. 14th, to my dear, dear friend Laura Kammermeier in Honeoye Falls, NY, who "mac-ified" me and showed me the light!

Jan. 16th, to Phoebe's friends Grace and Sydney in Boardman

Dec. 29th, to my Dad and little John 5th who celebrated in Orlando, Florida

WE MISS YOU!

Phoebe's birds

Phoebe stayed home from school today so we had some fun with a bird quiz. I asked her to name as many birds as she could remember, and this is what she came up with. She wanted to list some boy and girl birds separately since she can tell them apart, but i told her we'd save that for next time. I don't think i could name 10 birds when I was her age. Her number 1 bird is one of my all-time favorites. Funny it's the first bird that came to her mind!

1. Cardinal
2. Merel - what the Europeans call a blackbird, but it's really a thrush
3. chickadee
4. Blackbird, but here she was thinking of the N.A. red-winged version
5. Goldfinch
6. House sparrow
7. House finch
8. Downy woodpecker - this is when she wanted to talk about differences between males and females
9. Dove, as in the wood dove which is more than abundant here
10. Mourning Dove
11. Parakeet, like Piet the ring-necked parakeet who visits our feeder every day around 2 pm
12. Flamingo - this came out of the blue!
13. long-tailed tits, which happened to be visiting our bird feeder just as we both looked outside
14. Bluebird
15. Bluejay, which she knows will predate eggs and slurp up the yolk, which is just how she likes to eat her eggs too
16. kingfisher
17. duck, like the one where the male has a green head she said
18. crane
19. Great blue heron
20. eagle, as in the Bald eagle she remembered
21. Vulture
22. Barn owl
23. Screech owl, which she pronounced something like skeerch owl
24. Barred owl, which says "who cooks for you, who cooks for you aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh"
25. Hummingbird
26. Blue tits
27. Magpie, which she's quick to point out when she sees them here - they're pretty neat birds.

gai Paris

Our day in Paris was definitely "gai", which means happy in French. The sun never stopped shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was a nice day to stroll the streets with the man i met almost 20 years ago. Stijn and I visited the musee d Orsay, which features art from 1848-1914, and loved it. With the highspeed train we made it to Paris and the museum before long lines had a chance to form, and we were back in Tervuren before the girls ballet class the next day. Thanks to Els and Harry, who watched the kids while we were gone, we got to enjoy time together in this beautiful place. I'm not a city person like Stijn is, but Paris is a place I'd like to revisit again and again. And again.

Fave shots of kids w Max and Jackie

... at Brussels kerstmarkt on a day when the sun really tried to shine. If you pay close attention, you'll notice that two of the youngsters are always near each other. In fact they were inseparable during the entire trip. See if you can find the lovebirds.


... by fruitmarket in Tervuren. Fridays are market day in our town and the kids couldn't wait to spend a few euros on Belgian wafels. Unfortunately the wafel man wasn't there that day so the kids bought snoepjes (candy) instead.


Oops, meant to save this one for the end. Kelley, better keep this one away from Tres. Yes, Phoebe and Jackie were like peanut butter and jelly, and it was sweet to see their fondness for each other. Funny thing is that Phoebe was showering Max with kisses too, so will be interesting to see how this love triangle evolves.


Finally the kids got their Belgian wafels in Brugges. It was a chilly but sunny late afternoon, and the warm fresh wafels hit the spot and gave the kids enough energy to make it mostly around the town.


Our trip to Dinant citadelle, which the kids didn't even want to do initially. They preferred to sit around in their secret place all day doing things we'd rather not hear about, which is exactly why we decided a trip to a castle was in order. Plus, they needed exciting pictures to show their teachers, not just photos of kids munching wafels!

this is the best i'm gonna get

I don't know why this image was deleted from the previous post, but here it is! I guess I'm still getting used to the keypad on my new macbook pro and may hit a stray key now and again. Really can't complain, now can I? It makes a lovely addition to our family but i have to watch that i don't spend more time with it than i do with the kids!

waiting for the fall

Our best friends Laura and Paul and their boys came to visit us in Belgium over the holidays. Every day was a non-stop party for kids and adults alike (see laura's blog for more party stories http://transition2ny.blogspot.com/). The kids were so thrilled to play with their longtime friends Max and Jackie and to have sleepovers for 10 days, yes you heard it right - 10 DAYS! Because the kids were happily occupied 24/7 the adults actually had some relaxing moments, like while sampling all the beer/wine Stijn had stockpiled on the patio "bar" table. All the stories, the laughter, the good cheer, the microburnouts (just a few) filled the house with good kharma, although I don't know if houses can actually have kharma. Nevertheless, the house "feels" different since we probably laughed/screamed/drove away any house spirits that might've been lingering. I've been waiting for the high to wear off, but it's just not happening, and I'll just drink more Leffe, Duvel or Delirium Tremens (love that name) if it threatens to.



So what were some memorable moments from this reunion of long lost friends? Well, I don't normally catch spontaneous actions on film, but Laura's reaction to Stijn saying, "is this the best i'm gonna get?" was great. We had successful family outings (is that possible?), and the photo below is from our trek to the Brussels kerstmarkt. The boys took Alex, Phoebe and Max ice skating, which was a big hit, and Laura and I took Jackie and Thijs on the ferris wheel. With the obligatory Belgian frites met mayonnaise and some hot chocolate or gluhwein, our tummies were full for the tram/metro ride home.



An afternoon out for the parents included a lunch at Hoegaarden brewery and a walk in the woods where we admired the simplicity and longevity of this old chapel.



Sharing a cup of tea with Laura is one of my favorite memories of our time together. This teatime came with a Belgian wafel smothered in cream and free entertainment for the teashop - our kids! The kids loved this pitstop with hot chocolate, ice cream, cookies (complimentary with tea), coca cola - yummmmmm! This made for a calm car ride home, NOT, but at least we were able to make it to our car. Will never forget almost missing the opportunity to walk 653 steps to the top of the citadelle only to find the gate locked shut. Luckily we caught the last gondola back to the top!



Exploring a castle in the quaint Wallonian town of Dinant (southeastern Belgium). Thanks to Czar Stijn, we actually made the trip to see the citadelle in Dinant w our 5 supercharged kids (while he sat calmly/quietly behind his desk at work all day). It was a fun trip, although by no means the least stressful. This was a great way to end our trip and get us dreaming about our next adventure(s)!