I guess when she can sing AND ride at the same time, the riding skill is well on its way to mastery.
Day 3 of riding a bicycle, and Amelia is clearly doing well. Few wipeouts, and endless circles. It was much easier than I thought it would be (and for her, too).
I bought Jack a bubble blower at Aldi today -- he was out on the terrace this morning, blowing bubbles and he yelled "This is the best day of my life." so cute!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Amelia Rides a Bike
Here's a video of today's accomplishment: we took Amelia's training wheels off! She did really well on the terrace, so we took her to Tervuren Park (the former summer palace of the king), and off she went.
A little wobbly, but she was amazing. Now she's excited because we've promised her a big girl bike when we return to Virginia this summer! Her current Walla Koala bike is pretty small and has seen better days. We've seen a (pricey) Littlest Pet Shop bike here, but she seems interested in a Barbie bike. Time will tell.
The Beginning of the End
Today, we made our last trip into Brussels. For all my talk about moving home, it was a little sad. Of course, it started raining as soon as we arrived, but we did see a really pretty rainbow coming out of the clouds.
The kids and I, thankfully, got bumped up to Economy Plus, and to an empty row at that! So they got to stretch out on 2 seats each and got some good sleep. I was even able to sleep, since I didn't have heads on my laps the whole time.
We arrived home to 2 good pieces of news:
1. No one had broken into our house (I had received a voice mail early on in our trip and I couldn't decipher it at all. I was worried that perhaps it was the alarm company calling but had decided it was probably just a wrong number. But since I couldn't understand the message, I spent quite a bit of time worried about the house.)
2. My car started right away. After 3 batteries in 1 year, several misdiagnoses and a 350 euro trip to the dealer the day before we left, we weren't confident they had fixed the problem. But amazingly, it started right away.
Oh, and our fish were still alive. I guess that's good news, although the poor things are pretty much ignored around here.
After a brief bit of unpacking, I walked down to the market, wheeled shopping cart in tow, to fetch food. Of all the things I will miss here, I will REALLY miss the walks to market on a day like today. The sun came out, the temperature is nice, and the flowers are blooming. After stocking up on chicken and ribs and tiropitaki and sweet peppers stuffed with cheese and waffles and Moroccan bread, I headed home.
I was listening to my iPod, and a Duran Duran song was on (no shock to those who know me well) and the lyric "A thousand Sundays seem to have drifted right by, I could've sworn, in one evening." That seems to sum up our stay here. It's been a long time, but it's gone by so fast.
So now, we have just about 6 weeks left, if you can imagine. So I start to think "Only 6 more Saturday markets." And I think of all the things I want to bring back. I will miss many things about here, but I will be happy to get back to all else that is familiar.
A man with a mini calliope just puttered down our street. We heard this charming music but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Eventually, a man with a little wheeled calliope appeared. He had a basket on top, for donations, and we did run out and give hime some coins. It was just such an unexpected moment!
On Saturday night, we kept the kids up late -- until about 10, and we all slept until nearly 11 Sunday morning. Hooray! Of course, we tried the same thing last night. Jack woke up at 6 and wasn't really able to got back to sleep. Amelia didn't fall asleep until nearly midnight, but she's still sleeping now. Hate jet lag.
More soon, I'm sure!
The kids and I, thankfully, got bumped up to Economy Plus, and to an empty row at that! So they got to stretch out on 2 seats each and got some good sleep. I was even able to sleep, since I didn't have heads on my laps the whole time.
We arrived home to 2 good pieces of news:
1. No one had broken into our house (I had received a voice mail early on in our trip and I couldn't decipher it at all. I was worried that perhaps it was the alarm company calling but had decided it was probably just a wrong number. But since I couldn't understand the message, I spent quite a bit of time worried about the house.)
2. My car started right away. After 3 batteries in 1 year, several misdiagnoses and a 350 euro trip to the dealer the day before we left, we weren't confident they had fixed the problem. But amazingly, it started right away.
Oh, and our fish were still alive. I guess that's good news, although the poor things are pretty much ignored around here.
After a brief bit of unpacking, I walked down to the market, wheeled shopping cart in tow, to fetch food. Of all the things I will miss here, I will REALLY miss the walks to market on a day like today. The sun came out, the temperature is nice, and the flowers are blooming. After stocking up on chicken and ribs and tiropitaki and sweet peppers stuffed with cheese and waffles and Moroccan bread, I headed home.
I was listening to my iPod, and a Duran Duran song was on (no shock to those who know me well) and the lyric "A thousand Sundays seem to have drifted right by, I could've sworn, in one evening." That seems to sum up our stay here. It's been a long time, but it's gone by so fast.
So now, we have just about 6 weeks left, if you can imagine. So I start to think "Only 6 more Saturday markets." And I think of all the things I want to bring back. I will miss many things about here, but I will be happy to get back to all else that is familiar.
A man with a mini calliope just puttered down our street. We heard this charming music but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Eventually, a man with a little wheeled calliope appeared. He had a basket on top, for donations, and we did run out and give hime some coins. It was just such an unexpected moment!
On Saturday night, we kept the kids up late -- until about 10, and we all slept until nearly 11 Sunday morning. Hooray! Of course, we tried the same thing last night. Jack woke up at 6 and wasn't really able to got back to sleep. Amelia didn't fall asleep until nearly midnight, but she's still sleeping now. Hate jet lag.
More soon, I'm sure!
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