We are the Champions!

It was a bittersweet weekend.  The International Festival was being held at ISB (our favorite day of the school year.)  And, it was also the weekend for the CESSIB basketball tournament in Paris.  We knew that Allison would be playing in Paris as she was a part of the Girls A Team this year.  However, we weren't sure if Thomas would be chosen as he was on the Boys B Team, and they would only take 10 players.  The plan was for the whole family to go to Paris for the tournament.  Well, Thomas was not chosen to go.  He was devastated, but there was the consolation that he could now go to the International Festival, which in turn made Allison miserable because she had to miss.  We decided we couldn't make Thomas go to Paris to watch his team play AND miss the festival.  It was a doubly whammy.  So, the guys stayed in Brussels, and the girls went to Paris. Allison left on Friday, and I drove over for the day on Saturday.  Yes, I was just in Paris two days before.  Crazy week!

I helped set up for the International Festival on Friday morning.  It looked great!

I arrived at the gated school welcomed by military personnel heavily armed with automatic weapons.  Personally, I think that wouldn't be a bad idea to have in Brussels.

It is still surreal for me to sit in a gymnasium and look at this sign across the way.  Dunlap...yes...Paris...I never could have imagined.  

I am thrilled to report that the Girls A Team took FIRST place!

Happy Girl!

The Girls B Team took first place as well!!!

And, so did the Boys B Team (Thomas's team!)

Our Boys A Team took second place.  I had a picture of their team too, but it seems to have disappeared...

This obviously calls for a team selfie.

Congratulations ISB Raiders Basketball!!

I spy the Eiffel Tower on the drive.

 I made it home in time to head over to the going away party for Kristin and Mark.  We are really going to miss them in Brussels.

Sunday afternoon, we celebrated the successful basketball season for Thomas's team. 

He decided to wear his uniform for the big day...interesting choice...but okay.

A pic with the tournament trophy!  You'll be there next year, Buddy.

What a super weekend!  Congratulations Raiders!

Until next time,

Wendy

January Came and Went…..

Well, the month of January went by so quickly I didn't even have time to blog about it.  So, here is January rolled into one post!

While we were home for Christmas, a tree fell on our neighbors house.  It caused considerable damage.  This is the neighbor who recently complained that we slam our car doors too loud in the morning. Karma…I'm sure the roofers were so quiet in the morning.

Basketball is in full swing.  Allison is on the ISB team and Thomas is playing for Brussels Sports Association. 

We enjoyed housing girls from Amsterdam.

Someday I will remember to bring my good camera for Thomas' games…bad Mom.  Incidentally, this was my birthday.  Last year, I spent it in Paris.  This year I spent it in the ISB gym for three basketball games.  But that's okay.  They are worth it.

That night, I was thrilled to share my birthday dinner with my dear friends.

We had fun….

My beautiful friends!

And, the guys!  They are pretty cool. ;)

 Flat Gaby came to Belgium for a visit, so we spent time getting pictures around Brussels.

Waffle stop

For ten days, I participated in a detox (no carbs, sugars, gluten, dairy, soda, coffee, etc.)  It was hard, but it was well worth it.  

Brandi trying to decide if she likes the smoothie…ready to follow it up with her Coke Zero chaser.

We saw Trans Siberian Orchestra!

But, it appears as though I deleted all of the concert pictures.  Oops!

Ericka and I had two photo shoots.  This senior was gorgeous!

This week, Nick came back to see us before he moves home to the USA.  You can see Nick's last visit here.  First stop after picking him up from the airport was a gourmet lunch at….McDonalds.  Hey, we had things to see.  No time for anything fancy.  Next stop was Villers Abbey.

It was a typical day in Belgium.  That sun was not going to shine.

And, then we had to climb the Butte de Lion.  By this point, it was pretty much raining sideways.  We stood up there long enough for me to catch my breath.

Much fun was had in Brussels that night.  But unfortunately (or fortunately) there are no pictures.  But, it was Nick and five women.  Couldn't have been too bad.

Tuesday morning, we headed to the west coast of Belgium.  I wanted to be able to give Nick a Belgium beer experience that few people get to have.  I called last week with the hope I could get through to order a couple cases of Westvleteren.  It was a miracle that I got through on the fifth call.  I've called as many as 500 times (unsuccesfully) in one day to get through.  It was meant to be.  So, we were told to be at the Westvleteren Abbey at 2:30 on Tuesday.  We arrived a little early and had lunch in the cafe.

Pretty proud of our liquid gold!

We really wanted to take this sweet dog home.  And, he liked me too, but he was just too dirty.  Poor buddy looked like he needed a good home.

Wednesday, we were off to Gent, Belgium!

We climbed the Belfry.  Okay, really I insisted we take the lift.  It's there for a reason.

We visited the cathedrals.

And enjoyed the sunshine as we walked around the city.

Lunch was at Pakhuis, and it was delicious!  The building was beautiful!  This was my view.

Then, we were off to Gravensteen Castle.

Our view from the castle.

Castle doors rank right up there with stained glass windows.

I didn't realize this statue had blue eyes until this trip.  A little creepy!

We had a little time before my kids got home from school, so we stopped at Chateau de la Hulpe.

Giant fallen tree = Male will climb

That night, we had dinner at Mykene in Leuven.  Everyone ordered kangaroo.  Yep, even the kids!  Of course we made a stop at the town hall.

And, we ended the night at the Grand Place for one last look before Nick is staring at corn fields again.

And, that concludes our whirlwind January.  We are excited for February and what it has to offer.  It is looking like it will be a good month!

Until next time,

Wendy