One of my favorite parts about attending an international school is the schedule. With two weeks off and traveling the first week, it gave us the second week to catch up on our sleep. And, the kids loved it! We arrived home late afternoon from Italy on Easter Sunday. I really hated missing church on Easter. Thank goodness the Easter Bunny still stopped even though we weren't home in the morning. We weren't in the door five minutes when the kids were already hunting for their baskets. They were spoiled once again.
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| The kids got baskets….and I got this. Oh the joys of returning from a nine day vacation. Have I mentioned I can only wash four towels at one time due to the size of my washing machine? I think maybe I have. ;) This pile took a while. |
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| An early evening egg hunt…which turned all wrong. Thomas had a heart attack when he didn't find the last egg…Thomas was beyond rude...Thomas spent the rest of the night in his room. I was still recovering (emotionally) from scratching up the rental car about two minutes before turning it in that morning (a story I just don't want to talk about anymore.) To be blunt…Easter Sunday sucked! |
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| FaceTiming with these two was definitely the highlight of my day. |
But, Monday was a new day! And, it was a holiday, so Dad had the day off. We spent the day in Brussels and visited The Art of the Brick. This was a Lego exhibit we have been trying to get to since November. Of course, this was the last day. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.
Art makes better humans, art is necessary in understanding the world and art makes people happy. Undeniably, art is not optional.
-Nathan Sawaya, Lego artist
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| The exhibition was held in the old stock exchange building. It's gorgeous! |
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| We were able to see this in Peoria when the kids were much younger. It was just as cool the second time. |
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| For Jack and Maddie |
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| The recreations of famous pieces of art were amazing. The best part was the kids have seen so many of these actual paintings and sculptures in real life! It was one of the moments where it hits you…they have been so fortunate and have seen so much in their short lives. |
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| The Bayeux Tapestry! We just saw this last October. |
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| We had just seen the real thing three days before! |
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| She's my favorite Degas. |
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| And, there was time to build Legos. |
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| That's me with Boba Fett. :) |
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| We had lunch at an Irish Pub across the street. |
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| Just doing a little shopping…. |
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| This pretty much sums them up. |
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| The most important stop of the day. |
Tuesday, there was work to do. This room drives me crazy. It has driven me crazy for two years. The office in on the main floor, and you have to pass by it get to the toilet. Everyone that comes to my house sees this disaster. It was time to do something about it. And, a trip to IKEA was in order!
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| The dumping ground. That is about to end! |
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| The Lego table that never gets touched. I moved it to the basement and created a bit of a man cave for Thomas. All of the toys are set up nice and neat with a rug to make it warm and cozy. He loves it, and I can't believe how much time he has spent down there already. Big suitcases were moved to the attic. We rarely use them anyway because we always fly Ryan Air. Other junk was pitched. What a great feeling! |
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| This used to be nice and neat. How does it get to this point?? It's amazing how much junk you collect in such a short amount of time. |
By the end of the day, it looked like this. My hands were covered in blisters from assembling the furniture, but the end result was worth it. And now, we can display all of our fun beer signs and other goodies we have collected.
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| Bins were added to the bookshelf. New decor on top! |
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| Yes, the chair is straight now. I just didn't have the strength to pop it into place. Allison can now stop doing her homework in front of the TV. Thomas is using the newly organized Lego table in the basement for homework. |
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| What a relief!!! And, a week later it still looks like this. I think everyone is happy with the spiffed up space. |
| Wednesday is my day at the AWCB. They complained about going, but they didn't complain about the root beer floats. |
Thursday, I'm not sure we even got dressed. It was great!
Friday we were off to Pairi Daiza. For my friends in Belgium, it is worth the trip and cost. This was our third visit, and it was still just as much fun as the first visit.
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| New baby pigs. Oh so cute! |
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| Beautiful! |
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| It is more than just a zoo. The grounds are beautiful! |
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| And, the play area….you could spend the whole day in just this section. |
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| Two pandas were added this spring. Unfortunately, they slept the whole time. |
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| The lemurs are always the kids' favorite part. |
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| More babies! |
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| We spent the day with my friend Kim and her boys. Obviously, the ice cream was quite good. |
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| The signage here is hilarious. You definitely get the point. |
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| I could not get "Hakuna Matata" out of my head. The kids said they have never seen The Lion King. What? WHAT?! |
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| The giraffe area is much more laid back than you would find in the states…okay really…it's a free for all. We've been there when people are feeding them leaves found on the ground or nearby bushes. That would NEVER happen at home. These greens were provided by the zoo, and the kids just can't get enough of being so close to the giraffes. |
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| This picture took one second to organize. Can you tell their moms take a lot of pictures? :) |
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| The squirrel monkeys are so much fun! |
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| Excuse me…but there is something on your head. |
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| He would actually make a smooching sound like he was kissing her. So sweet…until he bit my lip. Not cute! |
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| This is dinner in Europe, and a great way to end the day. I love it! |
Up next…a BIG 4-0 birthday weekend!
Until next time,
Wendy
