Two Little Sprouts and a Little Flower: 2006

December 23, 2006

Merry Christmas from the U.S.

Is it Grayson or Tony?

Before we delve into our Christmas photos, check out these ones.

(that's Grayson on the left, Tony on the right)

Not that there was any doubt, but we have officially confirmed that Grayson takes after his Daddy.

Atlanta, Georgia

After a 10 hour flight (Grayson was a champ) we arrived in Atlanta. It was so nice to get in a car and hear Christmas carols on the radio 24/7. In just two short days we visited many, many of our dear friends who we miss terribly!

Dinner at Zocolo in Decatur with the most happenin' Moms around (that's Barbara, Debbie, Marti, Amie, Rhiannen, Kristen, Melissa, Me, and Leslie Jo)

St. Augustine, Florida

After our quick stop in Atlanta, we flew to Florida to celebrate Christmas with my Dad, his wife Prima, and his dog Sophie.

Grayson and Papa George both love choo-choos!

Golfing with Daddy at the World Golf Village - Watch out Tiger Woods!

Lunch at Caddyshack

Greasy American onion rings - you can't beat 'em

Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Next we headed to my Mom's house in Jacksonville, Beach. Did I mention the weather? It has been about 77 degrees the entire time we've been in Florida - such a nice change after the cold, rainy Belgium weather.

Tickle, tickle, tickle with Nana

So serious with Uncle Will

Laughing with Uncle Mike

Bub-bub is still going strong in his 90's!

Gainesville, Florida

We made it to our final destination - Tony's family's home in Gainesville - where we spent several days, including Christmas day.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Grummie and Grayson

Uncle Rob is so funny!

Lauren and Uncle Scott

Cookies for Santa

Santa must have liked his cookies - he gave Grayson a new choo-choo!

Let me down Mamaw - I want to unwrap more presents!

Christmas afternoon - golfing with Pop Pop

(Every day Grayson would yell "ride, ride" to get a ride in Pop Pop's golf cart)

Golfing at Haile Plantation

Back to Brussels

Now it's back to Brussels - see you next year!

December 10, 2006

Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) from Brussels!

Winter Wonders

Each Christmas, Brussels presents Plaisirs d’Hiver (Winter Wonders) (www.plaisirsdhiver.be). The streets surrounding the Grand Place are filled with the stalls of a Christmas market. A giant Christmas tree and nativity are on display at the Grand Place, and an outdoor ice rink, big wheel (ferris wheel), and roundabouts (merry-go-rounds) are on the Marche aux Poisson.

Grayson on one of the roundabouts - riding - what else - a hot air balloon.

He loved the roundabouts so much, that he rode them again . . .

and again . . .

and again.

Maybe next year Grayson can skate.

Yum - croissants at Le Pain Quotidien are the best! (and the biggest!)

Belgium's most famous (infamous?) statue - The Manneken Pis. He has hundreds of different outfits, that have been sent to him from all over the world. Here he is dressed as Saint Nicolas, who gives gifts to Belgian children on December 6th.

The Grand Place

McDonald's!

On Wednesday we leave Brussels to travel to the U.S. See you soon!

November 16, 2006

Moving Day

On the merry-go-round

Moving Day

The week before last we moved into our apartment. The movers arrived in the morning ready to go, but despite that we had reserved the parking spaces in front of our building to allow for the move, someone had parked there. This resulted in a 5 hour delay, which is how long it took for the police and tow company to respond. The movers were great (and they spoke English!) - they were able to move in our stuff in just a few hours using an exterior lift (they brought everything through one of the front windows, as the 1800's era building does not have frieght elevators). It is so nice to have our furniture again, after almost 2 months without it. Grayson is so happy to be sleeping in his crib again.

Our "container" that sailed on a boat over the Atlantic for 6 weeks

Moving our stuff up and in

Under the Belgian Sun

The apartment building we moved into is still undergoing some renovations, so the landlord offered for the workers to hang some shelves for me. One of the guys spoke only French, the other only Polish. The Polish guy did most of the work, as the French guy was his boss. So I had to try to explain to the French guy where to hang the shelves in my very bad French (and he in his very bad English), and then he would translate this into Polish for the Polish guy. I swear, for a week it was like I was living in the scenes from the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" when Frances had to communicate with the Italian and Polish workers who were working on her villa. It was quite comical, in fact, and the guys were as kind as could be in spite of the total inability for us to communicate.

Waiting for the bus

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was very different for us this year. Since we had just moved into our apartment, and since this is not a Belgian holiday, it wasn't nearly as much fun as it is in the States. I had to keep reminding myself that it was Thanksgiving, because in Belgium it is just another day. I managed to find some turkey breasts at the local grocery store, and I had brought a bag of stuffing from home, so we had some of the usual favorites. I could not, though, find anything pumpkin anywhere. They don't sell canned pumpkin here (or at least I couldn't find it), and none of the patisseries sell pumpkin pies (I went into three and then gave up - they all looked at me like I was crazy). So we settled for a very yummy pear tart.

Gallop horsie!

Throwing sand everywhere is so much fun

Back to the US

I'm actually typing these notes from my Mom's house in Florida. Yesterday my Dad got remarried to a lovely woman named Prima. I flew in on Friday for the wedding on Saturday, and then go back to Brussels on Sunday. I think I'll spend more time in the air this weekend than on the ground, but I didn't want to be away from Grayson for too long. Tony and Grayson are having a fun "guys" weekend together. The weather in Brussels has been beautiful so they've been out and about, visiting parks and shops. Oh - and I went to the Publix and bought two cans of pumpkin and two cans of condensed milk to bring back to Belgium so we can finally have pumpkin pie :)

Dad and Prima

My handsome brothers Mike and Will (talking to my Aunt Patty)

Grayson just loves the bus book that Nana (Noni) sent back for him

Pound pound pound (I feel sorry for our downstairs neighbor)

November 09, 2006

Grayson goes to "school" and more

Grayson goes to La Farandoline

This week Grayson started attending a French speaking morning program called La Farandoline (http://www.lafarandoline.be/). There are several locations around the city, including one right in the neighborhood where we will be moving in about a week (we found an apartment - woo hoo!). He goes twice a week from 9 - 12 and gets to play, sing songs, and speak French (ha ha) with about 10 other toddlers.

Getting ready to "flop" . . .

"Choo-choos" are one of Grayson's favorite toys, especially since we moved to Brussels and he sees them everywhere (he calls the trams choo-choo's).

Once every month or so a parent attends to help co-teach the class. Today was my day, and in three hours with toddlers I spoke and learned more French than I have in the past month. We sang "Le Canard Petit" (The Little Duck), ate biscuits (cookies) after which the kids started yelling "encore" (more), and played "passer en sous" where the kids "passed under" a bridge-like structure.