First foray into 'lower Brussels' (the really old part of town)

Heading into the Grand Place, the main city square that's surrounded by a mass-collection of Italian Baroque architecture.

Bizarre famous statue that's maybe 3 feet tall of a boy peeing. "Mannekin Pis." Folklore has it that this naked toddler put out a blazing fire with his urine, saving the town and thousands. Hoards of tourists were there to take a photo, which included us. Frankly, I don't really get it.

A segment of the original wall that protected the city in Medieval times. Just randomly on the side of the road. Kinda cool to make up stories about knights and dragons. All very believable.

Pierre Marcolini chocolatier. By far, the supreme chocolatier. Crazy good.

(excuse the lousy photo-this was a quick photo that I took right before getting reprimanded for having a camera in the chocolatier. Like I'm Slugworth or somethin')

http://www.marcolini.be/

The day ended with a wicked close game of Sorry (nothing but French television, no DVDs and a rather sporadic laptop) so good, old fashioned card games, board games and staring contests ended our day. With some Benadryl for the kids (since it's now 10:36pm and they are still wide awake).

Settling in....post script

Here are some really helpful tips on how to deal with an exceptionally spirited and energetic pair of kids (aged 6 and 8) when travelling out of the country.

1. Play the game, "Legos Marathon"

Really useful when a parent hasn't quite adjusted to the time change and needs a 'little rest'. Rules include; who can build the biggest structure, who can be the quietest and who can build without touching any siblings in the room.

2. Play the game, "Blending In"

Again, very useful when a simple walk to the grocery store requires some distraction. Rules include the obvious: quiet, mannerly walking. Points taken for any infraction, including spinning, jumping, loud yelling, and spontaneous flip outs. The first to 100 pts. wins.

3. "Don't Touch Challenge"

Very simple. No one is allowed to touch another person or thing while walking down the sidewalk. No tempting or no pointing. Instant disqualification for accidentally falling.

4. "Dance Off"

Raging 70's and 80's tunes. Points for creativity and not touching other siblings. Extra points for avoiding the glass table of death (obscured by butt-in-the-air competition). Best played with a dreary, rainy day that. will. not. end. ah yeah.

And when the rain stopped, we dashed out to the park next door.

Cool, weird Seuss trees. I'm gonna say they're some kind of pine. Very cool.

Bizarre, disturbing theatre poster on the Avenue Louise (=Boylston or Commonwealth Ave., if we're talking Boston).

The park next door. Apparently an abbey. For quiet people.

Neighbors. Quiet, controlled, well-behaved neighbors.

Evidence that when it's all said and done, we can still have fun without pain and injury and pay a little homage to Sammy Hagar's awesome hair (which may not be entirely seen here. But trust me, without an adapter for Euro outlets I'm all about burn-out Hagar).

Settling in....

Our front door of #48 rue de la Vallee'. Reminds me of Boston's Back Bay. Very well-maintained hood with a park next door. A manicured park that has some issues with dog poop. It's been a bit rainy and dreary but we've managed a day of this and that. High point was waking up with the whole fam-damily in Brussels and having a wonderful cup of coffee. Low point was begging my whirling dervish kids to become invisible (or just quiet and calm, fergodsakes) while poking around in a grocery store. Hands on everything, loud, bouncy....nothing like the controlled 'youngsters' you see here. May have to finally hire that big, hairy person to scare them straight.

Lovely, lush view from our dining room and kitchen. Ground floor opens onto a courtyard. Not for us but awfully nice to look at.

'Small cars in Brussels! Are Brussels peoples small, too?'

Scott, with a map. With some kids. And chips.

"How did we get here?"

Mmmmm. Goood times (the extra 'o' is for the Flemish that's all about. All sorts of extra vowels milling around). Let's see......left Brookline at 2 for a 4:30pm flight out of Logan to Philadelphia that was scheduled to leave at 8:30pm, arriving into Brussels at 10:30am on Thursday, June 28. Our flight out of Logan was fine and uneventful. Kids were a dream.

And then we waited at Philly for a while....

and after 6 hours on the plane, on the runway, in Philadelphia we finally took off (at 2:30am) and landed in Brussels at 4:30pm, Thursday. Goood times.

!Bonjour rue de la Vallee'!

So Long 33 Kent.....

Our bags are packed. I'm ready to go.....(w/apologies to PP&M)

Kids are excited. Everything's organized....just gotta get there now.

Oh, the anticipation....

I now have Colby's passport, without adding stitches to my head.

I have shipped out essentials (shoes, books, board games, more shoes).

And I have planned our week's vay-kay in Sorrento, Italy, during our last week over there. Goofy, sweet but clean and friendly (with the plus of having it recommended to us by a super-reliable source) hotel. http://www.sorrentohotelmignon.com/ I'll let you know.

I'm thinking small and that's okay if we're at the beach. In my mind I've already flown through the 5 weeks in Brussels and am swimming with the kids in the Mediterranean. I guess Sorrento, according to Scott (he of the Milan and Florence living experience, i.e., snob of all-things Italian), is a little like visiting Alabama. Friendly, southern, and cheap. Perhaps lacking in some culture...but that's okay if this is what will be within walking distance:

Bats, lines, and stitches

School ends....summer begins....that sweet easy feeling ensues, or so one would think. First, just a couple of things: Wednesday, June 20, 1:30am wake-up to a bat. No. Two bats. Caught inside our home. Circling about. One in our bedroom. One in our livingroom. Neither get caught in my head of bat-tempting hair but still, blick. They are furry, fanged, clawed, boney, chirping little creatures that eat bugs (a good thing) but I can't imagine being awakened by anything yuckier. Scott gets both out.

One trauma down, two more to go.

Then, on Friday, June 22, with only 5 days to go, we still have not received Colby's passport. After following all the rules, guidelines, deadlines and policies down to a tee, we still don't have it in our hands. With a little gamesmanship and strategy, it's decided that Scott, Colby and I have to head down to the Boston Passport Agency to re-apply. We arrive at 12:30, we leave at 3:30. No passport but one will be ready on Tuesday, the day before we leave. We waited in lines to wait in lines. And all Scott and I could do is blame our current administration on this absolute nightmare-debacle. We applied 13 weeks ago. Colby's application got 'lost'. But we'll have it before we go.....ah well.

Two traumas down, one to go.

And after the 3 hour tour at the passport agency, the three of us (Maia's with her best friend for the day...godbless the Abrams!) head to a playground with me dodging into a grocery store that's conveniently just across the street. In no less than 10 minutes, me in my produce-scanning zone, Scott calls and says that Colby's had a fall and that I need to meet them at the car. Do you know how bloody head injuries are? Crazy bloody. Luckily, it was the back of his head so Colby had no idea but a trip to the ER was definitely necessary. We arrive at Children's Hospital at 4:30pm, we leave at 7:30pm with four stitches on the back of Colby's head. And some french fries from McDonald's.

In two weeks

In two weeks we'll be on a plane. Scott will sit with one kid, I'll sit with another ("divide and conquer", words to live by). We connect through Philly and arrive in Brussels the next day, 4am EST. I waiver between total exhilaration and total anxiety-ridden panic. Kids are completely unaware of what the trip/transition/time away from home will be like, but that's probably a good thing. They have no idea what to expect. I have no idea what to expect. And our last two weeks are loaded with every kind of end-of-the-year-swan-song-school-activity imaginable. All good things, right? and yet I feel like it's panic in the disco.

Shake it off. Just shake it off.

"When do we leave?"

We depart on June 27. Details to follow.