http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Mom23/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Mom23 en-us Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:55:19 BST Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:55:19 BST Today we went to nearby Tongeren. We had plans to meet friends for dinner in Leuven but we thought we deservedneededcraved one last little trip. We were going to bike to the station as usual but Jonathan had another flat tire. Even the bikes know it is time for us to hand in our gear pack up our stuff and bust out of here. So the bus to the train and a peaceful hour long ride to Tongeren. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-235129.html Happy New Year Everyone http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-231648.html We had no plans when we woke this morning. All of our motivated house guests were out the door early and the girls were happy to stay in their pajamas until noon. It was nice to have a lazy morning of course this is the kind of lazy morning you are expected to have after a meter of beer the night before. When I returned from my run Jonathan and I looked at each other and decided we needed to g http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-231527.html Our first house guest was Jonathan's cousin Eric. Our last house guest or one of them is my cousin Molly. Accompanying Molly is her friend Sarah and overlapping their visit is one from my brother Pat and his girlfriend Elisa. The girls and I did our final trip to Gravensteen yes that makes it six times for the kids and they still get a chuckle out of the knight's toilet and helped th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-231448.html When we last reported we were freezing in Florence. We are now nice and warm and a lot has happened. We found celebrating Christmas in Belgium to be an inspired experience for the whole family. We were able to invent new traditions that will hopefully stay with us for years to come and additionally we were able to escape a lot of the harried chaos that usually accompanies holidays in the Stat http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-231435.html After a wonderful night's sleep we all dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. We certainly got our money's worth here. They had a terrific coffee machine and I personally had four cups of cappuccino The girls feasted on cereal croissants and juice. The previous day we had to decide how to spend our day today. I lobbied for a trip to nearby Lucca. But yesterday when we saw the cathed http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-228790.html When we first discussed our European adventure with the girls we showed them pictures and maps and tried to get them excited about travel. Luckily our efforts have panned out and they are as excited as we are when we go someplace new. Of course it may prove harder to leave them behind with friends and grandparents should Mom and Dad find a way to escape once we get home During our studies with http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Pisa/blog-228767.html Here it is serious holiday time in Europe. When we were planning our trip we had the option to return home before the holidays but decided that it would be a great opportunity to enjoy a different way of celebrating if we stayed through mid January. Christmas time in Europe is so beautiful with all of the lights and particularly with all of the Christmas markets. Last week marked the beginning http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-226766.html Yeah more friends visit Belgium We can't get enough entertaining We are very happy to have Maura and Bill visiting us from greater Boston. Maura and I used to work together the girls can't believe someone used to pay me to do things and we have spent many hours reminiscing a shout out to declass right here. They arrived from Amsterdam despite the scheduled Belgian train strike occ http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-226757.html Saturday in Barcelona. Wow. I can't believe it is only our third day here. I went for a quick run down La Rambla to the beach. The buildings on the coast were beautiful and very ornate. I finally feel like I know my way around the city a little bit. One of our goals with our whole time here in Europe was to teach the kids that they can get around any city if they can read a map and that if th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-224804.html A cheesy title Yes. But it was entirely appropriate for our day of Gaudi hunting. Two weeks before we went to Spain I did a little homeschooling lesson with the girls on the letter G and on Antoni Gaudi in particular. I thought they might appreciate this rather interesting architect and it would also help to get them excited about another big trip. It worked and their excitement was unabashe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-224725.html Another travel day. Today that meant getting up at 6 getting the kids up at 645 and biking to the train station. We then two took trains to Charleroi and a city bus to the airport. The kids were thrilled that there was once again a little plastic house to play in near the terminal. Sometimes happiness really is the simple things. The flight to Girona was about an hour and forty minutes. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-224686.html ...or otherwise titled The Weekend of Perpetual Motion.Wow. I don't know if at 11pm on Sunday night I can do justice to the weekend that punctuated with an exclamation point the week of excess but I will try...Since our friends Stephanie Dan their daughter Amelia and babysitter Aimee flew in and out of Amsterdam we thought it would be a fun opportunity for all of us to take a trip together. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-222657.html Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that is easy to enjoy. All you need is good food and good company and you suddenly feel lucky. We had a great time working together with our friends to create a memorable feast that we were able to share with friends here in Leuven.The Menu Green Bean Casserole this was not your mom's version with cream of mushroom soup but instead the richest dish ever co http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-221969.html From now on our new rule goes as follows you are more than welcome to come visit us where ever we are BUT you must bring a babysitter Our friends from home Stephanie and Dan arrived last weekend with their daughter Amelia and THE BABYSITTER. We have been having a terrific time with everyone. The girls are so excited to have a playmate around and the grown ups are excited to have some good http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-221429.html We purposely planned our time in Europe so that we would be able to take advantage of the nice summer weather for travel and use the fall to entertain visitors. We thought this would give us the opportunity to explore many places so we could give any guests informed travel advice. Aside from the fact that the weather was miserable this summer this plan has worked really well. Now we are knee de http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-217885.html I can't believe it is over.It has been an amazing seven and a half months living in Europe. I feel like we were able to fully take advantage of our time here. We did just about everything that we hoped we would do and did about a million things that were new and unexpected. Setting out for this trip I had a few specific travel goals most of which we did. I was able to see three new countries http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-217603.html I am putting this blog together purely for the enjoyment of our friends who can't be here with us and for Bill and Wendy's family so they can enjoy a taste of our adventures.Bill Wendy Sophie Collin had a whirlwind 24 hours in Paris. They saw the Eiffel Tower Sacre Couer Notre Dame and Luxembourg Gardens. They tackled playgrounds metros and massive amounts of stairs. They returned to us http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-214872.html The long awaited much anticipated arrival of friends from our hometown is here The girls have been beside themselves with excitement for weeks diligently marking off the calendar we made and trying to plan every minute of their playtime with their pals. Friday October 19 our friends Amy Patrick and their son Cole arrived. After a quick nap we made them forget about their jet lag with a tri http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-213577.html Everyone slept well last night and this morning we had the idea to bath the kids before breakfast that way we would ensure that the dining room would be open. On the weekends they provide toast and cereal as well though I had bought some yesterday. I opted to skip the morning run hoping that I would feel better this afternoon. Everyone had a huge breakfast surrounded by lots of young Irishme http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/blog-210901.html