Cute 2-year-olds and Crepes

Are these not the cutest 2-year-olds ever?

Grayson and his friends Castalie and Valentina had a playdate in our "backyard" (sure, it's supposed to be a place for parking cars, but we think it works just fine as a play area). Valentina is from Bolivia, and she and her Mom speak Spanish to each other. Then there's Castalie, from France, who speaks French with her Mom. And then, of course, Grayson and I - the English speakers. It makes for an interesting time. While none of the kids speak each other's language, it really doesn't matter at this age (although we are betting that by next year they'll all be speaking French to each other, since they'll all be in French-speaking schools). Us Moms speak both English and French together (I struggle to keep up with the French).

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo, how about you, you you?

That's a line from one of our favorite Raffi songs, which we sang all the way to the Antwerp Zoo last week.

Riding the horsies!

How do you get your 2-year-old to go to Paris for a day of shopping? Promise him a ride on the horsies.

My latest obsession . . . crepes!

Ever since I ate crepes in Paris with Grayson a few weeks ago, I have been obsessed. First, I went to the crepe stand at the Wednesday market in our neighborhood. Nope - not as good. They had nutella, but no bananas. And they didn't fold them right! And there was no cheese and ham option! Next, while in Paris for a day of shopping, I looked everywhere - but there were NOOOO creperies! Tony's theory is that they don't sell crepes (an inexpensive lunch option) in the high-rent retail district. He must be right.

Then, Tony noticed a creperie near his office. He brought some home for dinner, but again, not as good. The "savory" crepe had a funny herb added to the crepe, and the ham and bechamel was not nearly as good as ham and Emmentaler cheese. And again, there was nutella but no bananas! The Belgians may know how to make the best waffles, but they are lagging behind the French when it comes to crepes.

So . . . I searched the web for a recipe and am going to attempt to make crepes at home! The recipe looks easy enough, so here goes! (here is a link to the recipe I'm using: http://frenchfood.about.com/od/frenchcuisinebasics/r/basiccrepe.htm)

Ok - so this is so easy - really easy - and I'm not just saying that. Only a couple of ingredients, only one bowl needed, and easy to cook and flip. And . . . fabulous! Just look - I made banana & nutella, and ham & Emmentaler - just like in Paris (and almost as good - if only there was a view of the Eiffel Tower).

My stack of crepes - ready for storage in the fridge

YUMMY!

Our school search

After an extremely lengthy process, we've enrolled Grayson in school for next year. The Belgian public schools are excellent, but they do it differently here. Here, you can pick your school - any school - so you're on your own to research, visit, and decide (provided there's space available, which often isn't the case). After visiting six schools, speaking with the directors of several others, and reading about even more, we've chosen a public Catholic school that's not too far from our home. The other issue was that at age 2 1/2, when kids start school, the day is just as long as for the big kids (9:00 - 3:30, except Wednesday when school gets out at Noon), and I'm just not ready for that. Fortunately, all of the schools except one permit the youngest children to attend half days, and the school we've chosen will even let Grayson start out just a couple of days a week.