More Summer Fun…Visitors, Windmills, and Flower Carpets

The DeKunders were back!!! They returned to France and Belgium for their summer holiday, and we just could not wait to see them.  We spent the afternoon at Huizingen, a provincial park in Halle.  It's beautiful, and the kids had a great time.

I'm sure someone was very sad about their sweet dolly being trapped on the roof of the building.  This has "My brother did it" written all over it.

Of course, the rains came, and we had to seek shelter.  It rained the entire month of August….  

Allison and Ella are always entertaining.

As are Thomas and his little sidekick back there behind him.

The whole group enjoyed dinner at the Kring's house.  It was so good to be together again.

Thomas is outnumbered, but I really don't think he minds….

The parents!
 Thank you to the Tomer family, as well, for a fun gathering at their house (no pics…bummer) that gave us more time to spend with Greg, Staci, and the girls.  Visits with our friends, who we miss so much, are never long enough, be we are thankful for the time we have together.

On Friday of that week, we headed to the Netherlands.  The reason for our trip was a visit to Holland Handicrafts.  We went to order a wine barrel, but we also left with a wine crate, speculoos mold, and an oak cabinet from 1880.  Oops!

We took the ferry across the dike (dijk) to Kinderdijk to see the windmills.  Allison was so resistant to doing this.  She kept saying, "Why would I want to see a bunch of windmills??"  It was so frustrating.  Usually, she is all about seeing new things.  Turns out, she thought we were going to see wind turbines…like you would see in Illinois.  We got a good laugh out of that.  She was pleased we were actually seeing real windmills and stopped complaining.

It was pouring rain, so we opted for lunch first.

These cool, antique radios were my view during lunch.

And, these guys.

There are things you never think you will hear yourself say…like... "Allison, just get in the shoe for a picture!"

The windmills of Kinderdijk are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.  Nowhere else in the world will you find this many mills in one location.  Nineteen to be exact!

This poor guy doesn't look like he's having much fun at all.  Hahahaha!

Ready for our boat tour through the windmills.

As we were leaving, I pulled over to get this shot. Walking back to the car, there was an older gentleman tending to his garden, and he was wearing wooden shoes.  I so badly wanted to snap a picture of him, but it just didn't seem right.  Darn!

 Back in Brussels, we headed to the Grand Place to see the flower carpet.  We would be gone the rest of the weekend, so this was our only chance.  We are lucky expats to be able to see this twice during our stay here since it is only done ever two years.  Last time we saw it, the temperatures were in the upper 90's, and the flower carpet was dead.  Check it out here 2012 flower carpet.  This year, it was bright and colorful and rained much of the weekend.  We knew the crowds would be crazy and our chances of viewing it from the town hall again would be slim.  So, we used our trusty Hard Rock Cafe VIP card.  They were able to get us a table next to a window, and this was our view.  

Thank you Hard Rock Cafe!

I borrowed a different window for these shots.
This year's theme was a Turkish rug.

We were exhausted at the end of the day, but hey, we saw windmills and the flower carpet.  Lucky us!!  Stay tuned, the weekend just kept getting better.

Until next time,

Wendy

Feeling Neglected?

Yes, I have neglected the blog!  I was just having too much fun in the USA. :)  We are now home and settled.  The kids' bags arrived the day after we returned, and mine arrived today.  I was so worked up about this missing bags issue.  And, I just had to keep telling myself how dumb that really was.  They were just things in those suitcases!  But, the thought of replacing those "things" and all of my favorite clothes gave me quite a headache.  The worry was for nothing though....thank goodness!

I wanted to share a couple of pictures from our last night in the USA.  I had posted on FB that I have a new lens for my camera...YAY!  I've had a lot of fun practicing.  My nephew is really having the most fun.  He likes to make the silliest faces and then look at them on the camera.  He accidentally made the cutest face ever, and I caught it!

Don't you agree!  Cutie Pie!

And, then there is his darling sister, my niece :), who is getting ready to turn four and celebrate with a Pinkalicious party.  Check out her Sophielicious dress.  So cute! 

Saying goodbye to our cousins was not easy at all.

Sneak preview of the Halloween costume.  He kept hiding in the backyard and asking if we could see him.   Most times....we could not.  He said he was excited about this costume because he was going to hide in the bushes and scare little girls.  What?!?!  MY sweet boy would not do that!  I'm going to have to keep a close eye on that one during trick-or-treating.  Sorry about this US Army...he's not making anyone proud with these antics.

This week is the flower carpet in the Grand Place.  This special event happens every two years in Brussels.  We were excited to see it!  Okay, well, I was excited to see it. ;)  I actually bought the picture above and then took a picture of it.  The heat (90+ degrees today) has really taken a toll on the flowers, and since it has been set up since August 14th, it has faded a bit.  In spite of these factors, it was still beautiful, and I'm so glad we were able to see it!

The flowers in the window boxes are so pretty at this time of year.

We paid 5 euros for each adult and went up on the balcony of the cathedral.  It was worth it!  I had a tough time getting good shots though with the shadows.  Note to self...attend next flower carpet on the first day and at high noon or after dark during the light show.

Me and my boys!  I continue to make frequent appearances in my new dress, but I love it, and it was so HOT!  But, I'm not complaining though.  It will be 50 degrees and cloudy in no time at all.  Probably next week!

I think she looks so cute in Europe. :) 

Walking home from the train station.  We took the train into Brussels due to the large crowds.  It is really the way to get into town.  It's so easy!

We had dinner with the Westercamps and made s'mores with the new fire pit.  Thankfully it cooled off a bit, so we could do this.  Those snazzy marshmallow holders are just bent hangers.  We are good at improvising.

The heat wave continues tomorrow.  We have a portable AC hooked up in our bedroom.  We'll see how it does.  The kids have fans...and yes, I feel badly about that injustice...it doesn't seem to bother my husband. :)

Until next time,
Wendy