At the Club

This morning I brought Mom & Caroline to the club for a coffee and snack after dropping the older kids at school.  After pick-up Lauren, Cole & I had lunch in the cafe since it was the kids' half-day Wednesday.

I've already determined that I eat much more than other moms here.  I eat in public so that's a start.  I really enjoyed my towering chicken club sandwich with a green side salad and chips, thank you very much.

Lauren's class is first.  Last week her teacher was a surly blond woman who resented that Lauren couldn't speak French.  This week, her new teacher is a twenty-something well toned, bronzed Belgian man - the kind of man who should wear his tiny little white Speedo to teach three year olds to swim.  And he cares enough to ask if Lauren understands what he's saying. They are learning to swim here so that's sort of important.

Cole's class started with another swim the distance test which he confidently passed.  Then he had to do the same on his back, which made him nervous, but go mini-backstroke.  Lap after lap, my little dolphin was in his element.

Lauren played in the kiddie pool during Cole's lesson and I was able to speak with a very kind Greek mom watching her son in Cole's class.  

Then out of the pool, down to tennis.  Lauren's first class holding a racquet and it wasn't pink, but Daddy will fix that when he comes home from DC. Success on all fronts.

Alarms

This weekend didn't go exactly as I'd planned and being the planner i am, that usually annoys me. Sometimes the surprises can surprise you.  

I didn't plan on having a chaotic dinner at a '50s diner with delicious burgers and French wine with new friends while the boys played video games and Lauren colored. I didn't plan on places opening late on weekends if they opened at all so we walked a mile or more with the kids around the lake in the Bois de la Cambre on a perfect end of summer day.  I didn't plan on watching Caroline run around the empty plaza in front of the European Parliament when she couldn't stay quiet at church.  I didn't plan on hearing a marching band playing trumpets at a street fair that went on for blocks like a neighborhood garage sale when I walked to a sporting goods store on the other side of the commune.  I didn't plan on ending the weekend at a pool party in our building organized by my friendly upstairs neighbor, her friend from Israel, the French family upstairs and eight kids under 10.  Lastly I didn't plan on watching the kids run around in towels in the courtyard because Cole and his new buddy Anton made the building fire alarm sound by playing with the sauna door by the pool room.  

But then Jesse & I ended up outside Chez Franz late Saturday night, sipping drinks in the cool autumn air, listening to incessant French babble.  And we walked home.

Moments like these are what I'd dreamed of when we contemplated moving to Europe.  Sometimes it's what you expect that thrills you.

Half Day Wednesdays

The kids began school on Tuesday.  Why the Brussels English Primary School begins the day after the U.S. Labor Day instead of the first Monday in September like every other Belgian school is a question for them, not me. 

The kids were so excited.  They dressed up, grabbed their big backpacks and I drove them to school.  Lauren was such a big girl.  She put her backpack in a cubby and sat down to begin to draw.  A big hug and kiss and she was set.  Her first all-day school experience in a class called the Lion's Den.
I walked Cole over to his building, where the second year of Primary school is what we call Kindergarten.  He was confident, said hello to his teacher and then he too sat down and begin to draw.
There is one American boy in Lauren's class, but none in Cole's.  His favorite classmate is from outside Tokyo.  Lauren's teachers are Lebanese-Belgian and Lebanese/American-Belgian.  Cole's teacher is from Cameroon.  Cole says they call jackets jumpers.  He was sad he was placed in the non-Francophone French class and is going to work really hard to be moved up.
Wednesday, their second day, went really well too.  We walked to school which wasn't too hard.  Cole called it exploring as we can walk through part of the Bois de la Cambre on our way.  I went home, went to the park with Mom & Caroline and planned to be early to pick the kids up as I knew there was an early dismissal every Wednesday.  As I was pulling out of the garage the phone rang.  Unknown caller so I didn't answer it.  Then Jesse called and I just knew I'd made a mistake.  I was late to pick up the kids and they were wondering if I was on my way.  So I picked them up a half-hour late on their second day of school in a foreign country.  Not my best moment.  Luckily they were happily playing in the main office, chatting away.  Even luckier, we were headed to swim class and they quickly forgot I'd been late.
Swim classes began at the swim/tennis club we joined - David Lloyd Uccle.  Lauren started first and did really well with a teacher who didn't speak English.  Then Cole took his turn in the next class and swam the entire length many times in a very formal practice.  He (and I) was so proud.
It was a beautiful sunny day.  Amazing for early September.  We played in the outdoor pool, had lunch outside and headed back to join Mom & Caroline for dinner.

All Clear

Today was Cole's quarterly abdominal ultrasound and physical exam.  By the grace of his fantastic medical team at Children's National in Washington DC, we were referred to an excellent pediatric oncologist at the University of Leuven Hospital in Leuven, Belgium.  This meant Cole did not have to travel back to DC shortly over a month after we moved and also right before starting kindergarten.
The experience in a world of socialized medicine was very pleasant, though to assuage the universal healthcare doomsdayers, there are tiers of service based on what you're willing to pay above and beyond what the state provides.  From a precursory glance at the lobby, everyone present had private insurance or some other wherewithal to pay for the specialists at this medical facility.  Registration was done en masse in the main lobby organized in DMV fashion by taking a number.  The queue moved 36 numbers in 20 minutes and although we do not speak a word of Flemish/Dutch (I use the / because I can't tell which is which), every single person, from the lobby attendants to the radiology staff to Dr. Van Gool himself spoke fluent English.  The facilities were not state-of-the-art, but the care provided was on par with anything we've experienced in DC.  Cole will return home in April and October 2014 to visit his regular oncologist but limiting the trips home while we're overseas is a tremendous help.
After we left the hospital, we drove Jesse to work in Antwerp and as a treat, I rode the train back to Brussels with Cole.  After lunch at McDonald's.  Anything for my amazing baby boy!

Beach Bums

It was supposed to rain all weekend so it came as quite a surprise today when Lauren woke us up last Sunday way too early and we saw the sun.  I was able to fall back on my original weekend fun plan of driving to the Belgian coast.
I remember asking my seat-mate on my first flight to Belgium about the country's beaches.  He smirked and acknowledged that although Belgium did have a coastline, it wasn't worth my time to visit.  But the day I sat for 5 hours on the highway heading north from Brussels going nowhere I stared at the sign pointing to Oostende, a coastal town, and wondered exactly what it must look like - at that point the end of the highway was like a bright light at the end of a long dark tunnel (see Summer Vacations post).
So I turned to the trusty internet for some Google images and learned that the 40 miles of oceanfront included some varying towns and cities.  Oostende, my original search, looked like your typical European, cement high-rise beach front with lots of white people crowding the sand.  On the other side, Knokke Heist, was supposed to be the West Palm Beach town of Belgium.  Somewhere in the middle had to be surf, sand, ice cream and kids riding bicycles and building sandcastles.
Turns out that place was called De Haan and it was even much better than we expected.  One main street with brightly painted, wooden buildings housing stores (open on Sundays!), snack shops and bike rentals.  We parked easily for free right by the beach and spent a few hours watching our kids run around with all the blond Belgian and Dutch kids wearing sweatshirts to protect from the wind on the expansive sandy field.  The tide was far out and small pools of water warmed in the bright sun.  The kids had a blast playing in the sand and collecting shells.  We took turns closing our eyes, lying in the sun in a perfectly comfortable 72 degrees and enjoying this last glimpse of a Belgian summer.
Did I mention this place was only one hour from Brussels?!  We'll be back when the sun returns next year!

Belgian Immersion

I've had the kids alone with me all day all week.  Luckily Jesse's been working from home a bit which helps a lot.  We've picked a new Brussels destination every morning and relaxed at home, sometimes in the pool, each afternoon.  I've been cooking meals and the kids are playing with their toys, very normal.
Today I signed Cole up for a sports day camp for the last week of summer.  I am so proud of him for wanting to try a completely local French-speaking camp.  He knows one counselor speaks English but he's not even that concerned, saying they all understand me a little and I can learn.
The girls and I take him every morning and then run errands or just go to Parc Tenbosch near our apartment.  We stop and buy a baguette each day and then the girls play/fight until naptime.  We've been stopping at the Renier Chalon playground every afternoon as Cole & Lauren scoot back from camp.  They've played hard but everyone's ready for school to start next week.

First day of camp

Parc Tenbosch

Renier Chalon

Checking out the BEPS playground

Waiting for the bus

Summer Vacations

We've been in Europe over a month now.  Our international shipment has arrived and is unpacked.  We live in a furnished apartment complete with toys from home and Miele-acceptable cookware (had to buy that all new at Ikea since nothing from home worked).  I've figured out that groceries do cost more than in the US, but if you plan ahead and shop at bigger stores, its not that bad. Everyone still loves the bread.

Lara came to visit.  Tia Henteleff (Cole's teacher from Concord Hill) and her family stayed at our home while they visited Brussels, Mom was here for 3 weeks and Dad came for the last week and a half.

With my parents, we drove to Normandy, France and back again.  Lessons learned: small kids need a bigger rental house, outdoor space, and toys.   French people do not like kids in restaurants.  Caroline did not like restaurants.  Eating out was not pleasant but the scenery was beautiful.  I saw my white cliffs and rocky beaches, the kids played in the patches of sand exposed by the tide, we visited Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery and ran through the rain drops at Ponte du Hoc.  We stayed in St. Valery-en-Caux, visited Veules-les-Roses, Etretat, Rouen (Joan of Arc) and a handful of tiny seaside villages that served ice cream.
Jesse left France and went to the US for work, my parents stayed for a few days after France to explore Bruges and Brussels before returning to the US and I had the kids on my own for a few days so I took them to Ghent, which was, while rainy, a lot of fun.  

When Jesse's return flight was derailed I packed up the car, the kids and drove to London to try to keep our family vacation on track.  This should have taken about 5 hours, but due to some unforeseen, unexplained traffic nightmare, it took 9 hours to reach the French departure point for the Eurotunnel Train to England.  The kids were amazing troopers, given their lack of comprehension of why we were in a car for so long going nowhere fast.  Jesse finally made it to London and met us at our hotel and we prepared to see our friends for the first time in over a month in Scotland.
Tyson, Renee, Helena & Thatcher Redpath all flew to Europe for our Scottish adventure and we met them in a tiny village in Perthshire called Aberfeldy.  We found a pub and enjoyed a loud, fun evening.  Shocking difference from Normandy - the Scots loved our children!  A welcome surprise which totally set the tone for a fantastic week scouring the Highlands and Lowlands.
We stayed in a beautiful valley in the town of Kenmore at a resort called the Mains of Taymouth, by Loch Tay.  Every other day we drove someplace different.  First was Loch Ness by Inverness.  Then St. Andrews, which was so wonderful we went back again before we drove home.  Our last road trip within Scotland was Edinburgh which was majestic with its hilltop castle, but the best part was always cresting the peak into the valley and seeing the midsummer's light reflecting on Loch Tay.  We were blessed with great friends, great weather and safe traveling.
The Redpaths flew on to Paris and Jesse and I drove the kids back home, by way of Stratford-upon-Avon and Stonehenge.  The former a worthwhile literary diversion, the latter an impressive pile of rocks in a field.  The Eurotunnel worked perfectly in reverse and we both sighed with relief upon driving on the right side of the road again.
It felt great to be "home".

The Atomium, Brussels

St. Valery-en-Caux, France

St. Valery-en-Caux, France

Brussels Park

Loch Tay, Scotland

Aberfeldy Playground, Scotland