Vastine adVentures: London

Aside from Lake Como and Disney, April was a very busy month for our family.

Allison was a part of the Middle School/High School Advanced Strings performance. Had I known her end of the year concert would be cancelled, I certainly would have taken a lot more photos of the evening.

Spring was finally starting to show itself, so it was time to hit the beautiful Sonian Forest running...or in our case biking and walking.

A gorgeous day...just T and Me!

The kids were being super lame on this beautiful April day, so we went without them. Turned out to be a great time for just the two of us. Hindsight...glad they stayed home. :)

FFF - Forced Family Fun
The teenage girl in front of me might have complained the entire five miles.

Sunny skies also send me right down to the Grand Place for a cold drink and some people watching.

For a few weeks each spring, the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken are open to the public. Ericka and I went on a weekday morning to check it out. It was just us and the old people, but it was definitely worth seeing the flowers and the gorgeous Art Nouveau greenhouses.

A legit palace where the King Philippe, Queen Mathilde, and their four gorgeous kids live.

Geraniums that were bigger than me!

Yes, I'm really in Brussels, Belgium

April brings the annual Zythos Beer Festival in Leuven, Belgium. Over one hundred different types of Belgium beers can be sampled in one place. The drinks are served in real glasses, so if you drop it, the whole crowd cheers. Let's just say, some of those drops might be on purpose by the end of the evening.

My fave this year...BANANA beer! So good!

Obligatory picture with pretend monks.

Stacy was such a good sport. They now have a beautiful baby girl!!!

Typical goals for the evening:

1. Have fun

2. Hang out with awesome friends

3. Try new beers (this would be #1 for the hubs)

4. Meet a giant

Okay, meet a giant has never been on the list. But when THIS man goes walking through the beer fest, you tell your friend Shoshana to get over there and talk to him, and you'll follow her. He was a really cool guy and appreciated that we asked for a picture. Most people just sneak up next to him and grab a shot. He is from The Netherlands (of course) and measures 7 ft 6 in! His brother, who was also there and looks like Ivan Drago, is only 7'4. Poor guy.

Yes, we are standing!

The beer fest certainly brings out the fun in our awesome friends!

On April 27th, Mom and Mike arrived! It was a long wait for them to get back to Belgium. They were supposed to visit in October 2013, but my mom suffered a heart attack just three days before their trip. We were so happy to finally have them here!

Our first stop was the beautiful bluebell forest in Halle, Belgium. The bluebells would not last much longer, and it was high on my mom's list of things to see.

No editing on this photo! It is really that gorgeous!

A stop at the Grand Place of course!

On Tuesday, we celebrated Chris's 41st birthday! Our friend Narttaya did the Thai cooking. It was delicious!

Mom's #1 thing to see on this trip was LONDON! So, we made London happen. Thanks again to all of our friends for helping transport the kids and especially thanks to Chris for holding down the fort while we were away for a couple of days!

Our first day was rainy...in London...no surprise.

Covent Garden

A stop at the British Museum

The doors of St. Paul's Cathedral.

The sun peeked out while Mom and Mike were inside.

Buckingham Palace!

Rebel...She said, "I AM walking on The Mall!"

St. James Park

We actually missed the opening hours of Westminster Abbey both days. Ugh! I felt so terrible they didn't see the inside.

Riding in a London cab!

Dinner was at inamo (yes, all lowercase)...one of my favorite restaurants in London! It is Asian cuisine with a tapas flair. There is a mouse built into the table with an LCD projector above you. See what you like, click on it, and voilà! It is delivered to the table in no time at all. Mike found it to be a bit frustrating at first. The mouse was not his friend. At one point, he almost ordered 17 items!

You can choose the theme of your table, see your meal virtually, and even play games.

There's me! Just watching these two try to order a meal. :)

This is what I came for....beef cooking on a hot stone on top of a mound of salt with three different sauces.
It. Is. Ridiculous!

Thursday, we were up bright and early with more to see. We started the day at the Tower of London. Mom loved the Beefeaters and the Royal Guards outside the Crown Jewels. We did not see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, so these guards would have to do.

The old and the new!

Watch out for this guy!

Tower Bridge!

We then headed over to Brasserie Max for afternoon tea. It was delicious, and as always, I ate and drank way too much!

Such a proper little pinky finger.

Off to see Big Ben and The London Eye!

Super proud of Mike on this shot. He has a tendency to focus only on the people and not what is in the background. Great job Mike on getting the whole London Eye! ;)

That sky behind Big Ben is ridiculous! It doesn't even look real.
Side note...Did you know Big Ben is really just the name of the bell and not the whole tower.....

For the remaining part of the day, we decided to do the Hop On Hop Off tour. We did have to ditch the tour just before going over the Tower Bridge. We had to catch the Tube, or we would miss our train. I've had enough experiences with running for a train, and these two were not up for that kind of running. I had my own little workout when I got them to St. Pancras, ran to the hotel, grabbed all of our bags, and ran them back to the train station. We ended up having time to spare, but I was really glad we went that route.