Amelia Visits the Royal Palace ... or Tries to

We had another good weekend. Saturday found us going on another car shopping adventure. We headed to Antwerp to look at a car, which turned into a disaster. The garage wasn't too forthcoming about showing us the car (when we arrived, we were told it was at another location a few miles away, and we were supposed to go there). It all seemed a little shady, so we decided that looking for a McDonalds seemed like a better idea.

We finally tracked one down (they sure aren't as prevalent as at home!), and we were thrilled to see that Big Macs tasted just the same as they do at home. Lunch was fantastic!! The kids had a McNugget happy meal, and they came with carrots and applesauce in a pouch. Definitely more healthy than at home.

So Saturday proved not very fruitful in the car department, but Amelia was happy to pick out two desserts at the bakery...



Amelia has been practicing dressing herself. She's been doing a great job, for the most part, though we've had a few inside-out shirts.

Grand Place
On Sunday, we went down to the Grand Place in Brussels. It's just beautiful, and there was a lot of activity. Open shops, lots of restaurants, lots of activity in the square. The picture below is of one of the sides of the Grand Place. There was a small market (crafts, rather than food) going on, and we had the kids' silhouettes done. There was a gentleman who did them lickety-split -- under a minute -- it was amazing to watch. And only 5 euros for the two of them. I had been looking to do them at home, and one place was going to be charging around $30 apiece. A great little keepsake.



We also stopped by the palace to see if the king was home. Amelia was really hoping he could play. Alas, we were not allowed in, but the kids had fun running around anyway.


We did buy a second car yesterday, so we're off to go through the paperwork cycle again for this car. With luck, we'll be able to pick it up by the end of the week -- or maybe early next week. We are going to look at a school tomorrow for Amelia. They have an opening starting now, so we're going to see what the facility is like. It's 5 days a week, with the option of going in the afternoons, too. I'm not sure I'm ready to have her gone so much. And I'm sure Jack won't know what to do with himself, either. But I know it would be good for her, and she got excited when I mentioned visiting the school.

I'm afraid this isn't the most exciting of posts, but we can't always be full of exciting news!