July 4th -- Belgian Style

The Wednesday before July 4th, the kids and I met a friend at the American Women's Club for their July 4th picnic. We had a really nice time -- hamburgers and hotdogs (much better than anything locally!) and rice krispie treats and all sorts of things. The kids had a nice time playing with other kids, and I had a nice time getting out. We even picked up two new videos (Pooh Bear and Spot) that the Women's Club was giving away.

The whole family went to another July 4th celebration, but on Saturday the 7th, at the Brussels American School, which is located on a U.S. Department of Defense compound. At both July 4th celebrations, I was a little nervous about potential terrorist threats (especially when I heard that there was an evacuation of a U.S. military facility south of Brussels on July 4), but the lure of USDA beef was just too strong.

We had a great time at this party, too. Hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ pork sandwiches, Frito pie, country music, Cheetos (the real ORANGE ones), bomb pops and more. Yum! We ate far too much. Amelia got her face painted; Jack took a horse ride on a police horse. There were fireworks at dusk, too, but since dusk is 11 pm, we chose to miss that.

T.J. has been working lots of long hours lately, poor guy. He's really been working hard for us, and we really appreciate it, but we sure miss him! :)

Visiting the Windmills
Last weekend, we drove to the Netherlands to visit Kinderdijk (http://www.kinderdijk.nl/), which has a whole bunch of old windmills, all in a line.



The kids weren't too fascinated with the windmills, but they did have a great time rolling down a hill by the windmill. They have a wonderful bike path along the windmills, and I'd love to return with bike in tow!

Is it September Yet?
We have found a creche for Jack for September. Since he's too young for Amelia's school, we're going to put him in a creche just down the street. I think he'll have a great time playing with the other young kids.

Knee-High by 4th of July
I've been surprised by the lack of some produce, both in the grocery stores and in the markets: corn on cob, sweet potatoes, portabella mushrooms. I really miss them. The local corn is growing by leaps and bounds, so I'm hoping to have some fresh corn soon.