Better Than Mom's Pot Roast? ...Nay

I tried out a new recipe today. It's called Better Than Mom's Pot Roast. Apparently their Mom likes cider vinegar. My house smells. Not nearly as bad as that Stoofvlees fiasco, but bad, just the same. And in case you were wondering... no. It wasn't better than my Mom's Pot Roast. If you like a sweet roast with more than a hint of cider vinegar, then be sure to try this one out. Maybe it's the one for you. I think I'll return to my old recipe. You can't blame a girl for trying to liven things up.

Tuesday Tidbits

Fall is in the air. I know, it's just August, but the weather has been playing silly games with us for a while now. Did you know that we just experienced one of the wettest summers in Dutch history? Over 360 millimeters of rain, to be exact. Not only that, we had about 150 hours of sunshine all summer. Compare that to the 700 hours we had last summer, and you'll see that this was a very unusual year for us. On the positive side, my grass looks maaaahhhhvelous!

Smiles From Unexpected Places

My house is a mess, I broke a nail, and I spent way too much at the grocery store today, but on the way home, I passed a Porsche Cayenne... with my mini van. And I hate to admit it, but I smiled. I like to think that maybe he was a more than a little impressed as well. Hope something makes you smile today.

When It Rains...

This has been a summer of very strange weather. Yesterday was no exception. We woke up to beautiful blue skies, but by early afternoon, it was turning a tad cloudy. No biggie, right? I decided to head over to the local grocery store to pick up a few things before the rain started. The sky was filled with light gray clouds. I shopped for less than 15 minutes, and as I was checking out, I realized that it had gotten quite a bit darker outside. When I reached the parking lot, I saw a huge wall of black clouds rolling toward me. Was this the end of the world? The apocalypse? Will the zombies be attacking soon? Should I have bought more speculoos cookies and paste? (Zombies love speculoos, you know.) I ran for the van and high tailed it back home. I just made it through the door when the sky turned as black as night, and the bottom dropped out. Luckily no zombies showed up, and I was able to enjoy the speculoos all by myself.

Firsts And Lasts

Today is the first day of school. As you can see, we all have mixed emotions about today. It's because this year is a mixture of firsts and lasts for all of us. It's the first day of the last year of school in lovely Belgium. It's also Jess' Senior year, so it's her last first day in High School. It's Brandon's last first day of Jr. High. And it goes on from there. This time next year, we'll be living somewhere back in the US. Brandon will be starting High School. Jess will be starting college. Soon everything will be changing. Big changes, too. And as exciting as that all is, it's also very sad. When on earth did my babies grow up? I'm not ready for them to start going off on their own. Heck, I wasn't ready for them to go back to school. I like having them around. So as they are off in school, diving into the excitement of seeing friends that haven't seen in the last couple of months, meeting new teachers, having new experiences, I'll be here at home... pouting. I'm keeping busy, though. I even have a check list. (You know how I love my check lists!) I'm slowly working my way down it. Have a cup of coffee and catch up on FaceBook... check. Update my blog... check. Scrub the bathroom... well, maybe I'll have another cup of coffee first. No sense in rushing things.

BAF Day... And Grandma Heads For Home

All great things must come to an end, and so... Grandma heads for home. After a whirlwind 6 week European vacation, we woke up one morning and it was all over. It was time to take my Mom to Brussels to catch her plane back to the states. (I swear, it feels like we just picked them both up yesterday!) Hopefully she had as great a time as we did, and is as sad to see the Summer Of The Moms come to a close as we are. Gone are the days of lunching at castles, and it's back to Sonic and Applebees. Is it wrong that I'm a tad jealous of that?

Anyhoo, after getting up at 4 am, hopping in the car at 6 am, driving to Brussels, checking Mom into airport, and heading back to KB... you'd think it was time for a nap. Not so. Today is also BAF Day. (That's Belgian/American Friendship Day.) Each year, we invite the locals who are an important part of our lives here in Belgium (landlords, city leaders, etc.) to come out to KB and celebrate with a good old fashioned cook out. It's just our way of saying "thanks for all that you do!" The gang at the base did most of the set up work yesterday, but there was still a lot to do to get ready. As Melissa and I put up the decorations...

the guys all stood around and pretended to be "management". Apparently this is very difficult work. They were very good at it.

A few hours later, and the festivities began. I didn't take a lot of pictures, because I was a little pooped at this point, but here are some of the highlights. There was a lot of pie in the face activity. This raised quite a bit of money for our annual Christmas party. (Not to mention, it was lots of fun.)

Then it was time for the dunking. Russ took his turn in the tank...and suddenly Jess took an interest. After all, how many opportunities do you get to try to soak your Dad? You have to take advantage of these times. It took a few tries, because that target it pretty small. But her determination paid off and Russ hit the water. Score! We had a great time at BAF Day, and Mom had a smooth flight home, so we'll call it a success. Just think, this time next year, we'll be on a fight back to the states, too. And one of my first stops will be at Applebees. I'm just saying.

Saturday in Maastricht

Maastricht is the oldest city in The Netherlands. They have different market just about every day of the week there. Every Saturday, they have the antique/thrift market on the main road in front of the train station. Mom has to head back to the states in a few days, so we decided to head over there and show her around.

They also have lots of interesting statues. This guy was very entertaining. Apparently they have pretty brutal winds in this part of The Netherlands.

Mom and I did the tourist bit, and took some pictures in front of beautiful buildings like the Town Hall. Russ and the kids spent their time cracking goofy jokes. To each his own. (I just can't take the people anywhere, can I? Don't they understand that touristing is serious business?)

Apparently they were having a big Petanque tournament in the main square today. It was pretty interesting to watch.

The whole square was covered with gravel and marked off into lanes.

Mom, Brandon and I left Russ and Jess to watch the games, while we walked over to St. Janskerk. It's the red steepled church just off of the square. St. Janskerk (St. John's Church) was built around 1200, and we were going there on a mission. The last time I came here, the family and I climbed over 300 steps in a tiny spiral staircase to the top of the tower. Mom wanted to give it a shot. She's one brave and determined woman.

St. Johns Church is also right beside St. Servaas Basiliek, whose original structure dates back to 550. We admired it on our way through.

Actually, it didn't take us very long at all, and we were at the top of the church. You get a great view of the games from up here, too. And if you look very closely...You'll see the lazy people who didn't brave the staircase to the top. OK, maybe not lazy, but definitely not as adventurous as we were. Even in bad weather, the view from the top is spectacular.

You even get a close up view of the clock. Very cool.

It was starting to rain again, so after a quick lunch at the American Embassy (McDonald's), we went back to the train station and over to where our van was parked. Just another day is magical Maastricht.

A Rainy Day Spent At The Molenheide

It's been raining a lot again. Luckily, there are a lot of fantastic places around here where you can hang out inside and let the youngins burn off some energy. Mom and I took Brandon and his friend Joseph to one of these places... the Molenheide. They have a great upper deck with tables, so you can hang our, have a cup of coffee, and watch the kids run all over the place. The kids love the multi story ball pit (complete with air cannons to shoot the balls at each other). Wait a minute. Those two kids look familiar. They also have lots of climbing things, as well as tons of interesting slides. Are those arms sticking out of that platform? They look familiar, too. Maybe I'm mistaken. They also have a pretty cool tower, where you pull yourself up, and then let go to slide back down again. The tower slowly rotates the entire time, so you get a great view of the park from the top. OK, I definitely know those two kids on top of the tower now. The boys had an awesome time running all over the place and acting goofy. After all, that's what summer is all about.

Land Commandery Alden Biesen

The weather was so fantastic today, the kids and I decided to take Grandma to see another castle. (Poor Russ had to work.) Actually, it's a Land Commandery more than a castle. Alden Biesen, to be exact.

She's a beauty. This was the first castle our family visited in Europe, so she'll always have a special place in my heart.

I can't believe it's already been two years since we moved to Europe! We're on our final countdown already. Less than a year to go, and we will be on our way back to the states. Grandma only has a week or so, and her visit will be over. Time is flying by!

After a quick check of the map, we decided to head for the Water Castle. (The main building here is surrounded by a moat, and is called the Water Castle.)

You can't even see the moat as you approach it. It just looks like the grass goes right up to the edge.

Here is a side view of the entrance and the moat. At first glance, the building appears to be solid, but when you enter the front, you see that there is a covered courtyard inside. The sail like covering is pretty cool, and gives the courtyard a cave like feeling. Apparently they have special events in this area. There are only 3 rooms that you are allowed to tour inside the castle. These are the original floors, so they ask you to put slippers over your shoes before entering this section.

After wandering around a little bit, we left the Water Castle and headed back to the outer courtyard. To the right in this picture is the Information Office and a small museum. It's free, so be sure to check it out.

This is the Church and Gallery. The last time we visited, there was a wedding taking place in there.

Here is a quick look inside the Church. It was constructed between 1633 and 1635.

For a few euros, you can go inside the French Garden. It's worth it, because it's very pretty, and it also gives you another great view of the castle.

This is the view of the Church through the French Garden. This is the other entrance of the Water Castle, facing the parking lot and street.

There were lots of interesting statues in the French Garden. I'm told that these exhibits change all the time. This one looked a little familiar.

What did you do today? I hung out at the castle. Just another typical day in Europe.

Soon, it was time to go. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the castle restaurant and headed for home. Grandma won't know what to do soon, when there aren't any castles to visit and eat lunch at. Applebee's just won't be the same.