On The Ninth Day of Christmas...

I was a good little elf and got all of my Christmas boxes into the mail. Yep, I know. You're welcome.

On The Eighth Day Of Christmas...

We watched The Amazing Race. This is one of my favorite shows (along with Psych and Burn Notice), so we try keep up with it every week. Some weeks are more of a challenge than others. We actually watched two episodes back to back this time, and guess what? They showed Brussels, Lommel and Ghent. As I'm watching the participants run around and compete at places like the Atomium and a canal in Ghent, I'm pointing at the TV screen and yelling "Oh My Gosh!!! I've been there! I've been there!!!!" Russ looks at the screen and says "Have I been there?" "Um, no. Those were Dawnventures (adventures where Dawn and I took off to explore on our own). My bad. But I'll take you! I really want to go back!" "Don't bother," he says. "I'm good." Now do you see why I went on Dawnventures? Sigh. I have my eye on some Christmas Markets, though. He might be going on more adventures than he thought he was...

On The Seventh Day Of Christmas...

It rained. And rained. And for a change of pace, it rained. We had a brief 23.7 minutes of sunshine this morning, during which I ran out and took care of some errands, and then (surprise, surprise) it rained. On the positive side, my grass looks maaaaahhhhhvelous, dahhhling. My windows, on the other hand, are a complete mess. I'm sure the neighbors are cringing. The spots! Oh, the spots! Now that I am over the worst of the crud, I am spending the day cleaning up the house, addressing the last of the Christmas cards and packages to be shipped, and listening to Ben sing away each quarter hour. The kids named the Grandfather Clock Big Ben, because they said not only did it sound like the clocks in London, but if King Kong and an anaconda had a baby, it would be the size of this clock. You can't argue with the logic of teenagers. Mostly because I can't even begin to understand it.

On The Sixth Day Of Christmas...

I am still under the weather, so to speak. No one wants to see what I look like when I'm sick, but a vending machine that sells fresh sandwiches? That's cool stuff. Enjoy.

On The Fifth Day Of Christmas...

This time last year, we had about a foot of snow on the ground. This year, Mother Nature has been playing some games with us. Today started out like any other day... But around 3 pm, the sky suddenly turned to black. Then I heard a strange rat tat tat on the window. Hail. Lots and lots of hail. Luckily it was pea sized, so it didn't do any damage, but it was impressive none the less.

It kind of reminds me of the time I refilled the Poef Poef chairs. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

On The Fourth Day Of Christmas...

I woke up feeling rather icky, myself. Before you start talking Karma, and how we shouldn't have left our baby home sick last night while we went out carousing and GoKarting and all, let me just say... Thbtttttttttt. That is the level of my intelligence today due to my congestion and crankiness. I am no where near as good a patient as my kids are when they are sick. That said, I'm going back to bed. Have a lovely day. Or not. Whatever.

On The Third Day Of Christmas...

We were supposed to be having a Birthday party for one awesome young man, but things don't always work out as planned. Poor Brandon came home with a cold on Friday, and woke up feeling rather icky on Saturday. So, the party was postponed for a little bit, and he decided to eat the cake to console himself. Due to the germified nature of the morning, we decided maybe the candle blowing ceremony should be contained to one small portion of Birthday cake.

I know the next few pictures have you thinking "What the heck? I thought the party was cancelled?!?!?" Yes, it was. But with Brandon under the weather, Russ decided to connect with the KB Go Kart crowd and take part in this weeks competition. Since it was a new track to us, I figured I would tag along and check the place out. We left Brandon happily stationed in front of the PS3 with two new games (Birthday presents) and the company of his lovely sister (also into PS3 games), and went to Maasmechelen. Check out what else we found here... an awesome indoor playground. You can see if through the window at the back of the Go Kart Bar.

They were shutting down for the night, but I snapped a few pics of the place before they turned the lights out.

Brandon and his friends would love this place. Almost as much as they would love the GoKarts on the other side. We will most definitely be back to check it out.

Back to the GoKarting place, here are a few pics of the bar. I was impressed.

It's a great little area where you can get snacks and drinks, and one wall is made of glass, so you can watch all of the action out on the track.

Well, most of the action, because the Maasmechelen track is two stories. And very, very action packed. Just look at all of those curves! Everyone had a super time racing around, and we will definitely be going back here as well. As soon as Brandon is back to health, we'll take him and let him check it out. As you can see from the video, it rocks!