Finishing up September and Early October

How's that for a creative blog title. Well, that's where I'm at, and this blog needs to get up to speed.  

Back to September!  We attended the Grape Festival (Druivenfestival) in Hoeilaart this year.  We practiced our shooting, and the kids were big winners.  They chose some sort of puddy that makes a farting sound in a plastic toilet.  Money well spent….

In Morton, we have Pharaoh's Fury.  In Hoeilaart, we have Sex Dance.  

We had a beautiful Sunday afternoon for "Car Free Day" in Brussels.  Streets inside the ring of the city are vehicle free for the day, so you can walk, ride, skate, etc through the streets of Brussels.  We loved it!

There was just a slight incident after this picture was taken.  It may have involved me being catapulted over the handlebars of my bike when I tried to brake with my left hand while holding my iPhone in my right.  No worries though…the iPhone was fine.  My shoulder, thigh, and pinky finger were feeling it for the next several weeks.  Ouch!

Avenue Louise, usually a cluster of traffic, was wide open.

Family photo!
You'll see behind us that cabs, trams, and cars with diplomat plates were allowed to use the streets that day.  So, you still had to be careful and watch out around you.  And, the bikers were a little insane as well, so we were cautious.

We rode 29 km.  It was a really great day!

Word on the street was that Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett would be performing in Brussels. Turns out, they were, but only ticket winners for a local phone service would be allowed to attend the concert on the Grand Place.  So, I thought I would make a reservation at Hard Rock, and we could watch from windows.  When we arrived for dinner, the Grand Place was completely blocked off.  A man from Hard Rock was waiting for us and gave us these bracelets to enter the Grand Place and Hard Rock.  We were so excited to find out that once you had the bracelet and you were inside the Grand Place, you were in for the concert too!  Chris was regretting that he declined our crazy dinner idea.

The view from Hard Rock.

Not so happy when a tall cameraman came and stood right it front of him and then hoisted his even taller camera on his shoulder. 

This was not a typical show for Lady Gaga. They were promoting their new album, which has a much softer, classic feel to it.  They sound great together!

We have such fun kids!

In late September, Allison was off to London with the ISB theatre department.  They saw three shows, toured theaters, drank a lot of Starbucks, and had more fun in one weekend than I had in all of eighth grade.

Just a couple shots of this guy. I told him I wanted to do some practicing.  He gave me three minutes.  I'll take it.

I love long walks in the forest around ISB.

We were excited to grab dinner in Brussels with our friend Becky.  Becky and I know each other from our days at ISU in the Big Red Marching Machine.  Chris and Becky know each other through CAT.  Small world!

The kids are still riding and still loving it!

Homecoming weekend!

No dance, no royalty, no parade.  But, we did get some Friday night lights and a tailgate.

Late night trips to Starbucks for Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  Love these girls!

It just needed to be captured.

 Enjoying the massive grapes grown in Hoeilaart...compliments of our landlord.

Cutie

We spent some time working in the Raiders Cafe this fall during soccer season.  Someone had a blast helping out one afternoon.

Next up…Disneyland Paris!

Until next time,
Wendy