Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Long Winter, New Family Pet

We were warned that the weather in Belgium would be cold and rainy but our first winter here apparently was one of the longest, snowiest, and coldest ones.  The last snow storm brought a few inches, which is a lot by Belgium standards.  






Just before this storm, we discovered a snail living in one of the plants on our terrace.  Because of this late storm, we decided to take in the snail so it wouldn't freeze to death.  The kids decided to name it "Gary", a nod to the only other snail they know - Gary the snail from Spongebob Square Pants.




 




 


 And so the snail lived happily ever after!

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Back in NJ (April 2013)

We were super excited to be back in NJ for our first time since we moved last August.  We could not wait to see everyone again.  And most exciting of all was meeting Bo Bo.  We have been fawning over her pictures and videos but we just couldn't wait to meet her in person, squeeze her tight and take in all of her deliciousness.  Another priority was to hit up all my favorite stores and to eat some home cookin'.

Jersey Fierce
We're back in NJ and we have a mini J-Lo.  

Meeting our cousin Bo Bo for the first time









Catching up on 8 months of fun




Bed head crew!




 Permanent smiles for 2 weeks straight, besties for life!



Preparing for Teem Teem's first Easter Egg Hunt







Loving the Easter egg hunt


Seeing candy for the first time :)







Another perq of being back...hand fed by Gong Gong with one of their favorite dishes!



A Visit to the Zoo







The Liberty Science Museum

Wind Tunnel with 70 mph speeds!


Giant bubble maker



We saw this lizard get his feeding and watched him devour a whole mouse in 5 minutes.  No chewing, just gulped him down.

Ethan and his twin brother


We also met up with our friends, James and Dylan for a wonderful pizza lunch!







Bo Bo had no choice but to play dress up with me.  One of the many outfits she tried on for the day.





Matching smiles




Nightly feasts




Makeover Party on the last day. The girls loved this!


Love this pic!



Ethan and Ava loved being "home" in NJ.  For Ava, it was bonding time with her bestie and for Ethan is was having a yard and being able to play all his favorite sports (even if sometimes it was using Teem Teem's girly sports equipment).  It was so hard to leave!  






Tooth Fairy (March 2013)

Yes, I know I'm way behind in my posts...it's been a busy couple of months with my surgery and traveling.  Now it's time to catch up!


After weeks of having a loose tooth, Ethan's tooth finally fell out!  He was so happy to have the tooth fairy come.  She even left some "fairy dust" which Ethan quickly pointed out that it looked like glitter :)

The Tooth Fairy was really generous.  She left 10 euros which we found out later was 10x the going rate of other families!  Ethan was confident she would leave more next time.  I nipped that in the bud quick.



Ava gets Tooth Fairy money too.  Yes, we are suckers.



Sunday, March 3, 2013

Berlin (Feb 2013)


The kids were off on "Spring Break" (yes, it's still winter) for a week and so we took a road trip to Berlin for a few days.    

Berlin is a city rich with history and diversity with an "anything goes" attitude.  There is a lot centered around the WWII and the Cold War.  I'm not a history buff by any means but it was fascinating to be in Berlin with the memorials and the landmarks.  It is so much more impactful being there than learning from books.  The city was filled with graffiti art all over.  With Ethan's recent interest in art, we had a fun time admiring the different pieces that would randomly pop up.  We also were surprised to see the diverse mix of people in Berlin as well.  The city had a great selection of Vietnamese and Korean restaurants, and we completely took advantage of it!  I've really missed Korean food and there are none in Antwerp.

The drive was 6-7 hours but after our trip to Austria, anything under 12 hours is easy.  Especially driving through Germany without the speed limits.
Chloe sleeping like a piglet in the front


Ming Ming had a great system for the ride.  She invented a word: "Busha", which means "more chips".    So without looking up from her movie, she would say "Busha" and it would be Geri's cue to place some chips on her hand.



The kids love everything about vacation and one of their favorites is to immediately explore our vacation apartment.  This was one was especially cool with an underground pantry/laundry room.  They loved the idea of the apartment having a "secret hideout".





Ethan was thrilled to find a real guitar at the apartment!



First night sampling the Vietnamese food.  Authentic and delish!


Berlin Wall

The history of the Berlin Wall was prominent throughout the city.  After WWII the city was divided and one night in 1961 a fence was put up isolating East Berlin from West Berlin.  Family and friends lost contact and communication overnight and for many years beyond that.

We tried to explain to Ethan and Ava about the wall and how families were separated because of it.  We gave the example of other brothers and sisters, like them, who were not able to see each other.  Immediately they came up with ideas on how they would get around the fence so they can be together, which sadly was how many lives were lost by trying.









Berlin Bear

We saw these bears all over Berlin, painted differently and in all different sizes.  They are apparently deemed as global ambassadors of Berlin and came about after an artistic event in 2001.  

Ming's fave



This was my favorite - Statue of Liberty bear at the US Embassy








TV Tower

The tower was 200 meters high and gave us a 360 degree view of Berlin.  We went at night and luckily  it was not as scary as the Eiffel Tower.








The kids invented their own game of "Face Painting Salon" one night.  They took turns as the painter and customer.  Amazing how creative they can get with a paintbrush!





Legoland








Ming Ming was spinning so fast on this, I can't believe I caught a pic of her face!
It actually looks like her head is detached from her body.





Final product, their own life size lego home!



German Food

One of the great things about Germany is that there are a few American chains and brands that brings small memories of our home.  Not to mention the super size theme found with their food.  In Germany, there is Toys R US, Burger King and KFC.  The kids prefer BK over McDonalds so they know when we are in Germany, we're going to hit up the BK.  We have yet to go to KFC but in some weird way it brings a little connection back to the US.  In Berlin we even found a Dunkin Donuts, A&P grocery, marshmallows, and mac n' cheese.  
Ming Ming in all her glory with the mac n' cheese

The DD donuts were in all crazy colors and shapes,
just like Berlin's street art





Here's Ethan about to tackle a monster size burger.  And a giant Fanta to go with it!


Yes, it's as big as his face
Ridiculous!

Berlin was so diverse, especially with their cuisine. They had many Korean restaurants so of course I had to get my fix.  It was so good, I actually forgot to take a photo until we were almost finished with the food!


Ming was enjoying her Korean food too



Yummy German pretzels

First time using a fork & knife
Jabbing his food with the knife

Geri was in her glory - Bratwurst, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut!

Ming said this was her favorite meal of all time - sausages, pretzel, and fries

"Currywurst" - this was a traditional Berlin dish.  It was all over Berlin, they had currywurst fast food stands and even a currywurst museum.  Of course I had to try it but I was expecting something completely different. It is basically a sausage cut up with ketchup and curry powder thrown on top.  I didn't get the craze but at least we gave it a try!

East Side Gallery

This is the biggest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall which is now the world's largest outdoor art gallery.  It's 1 mile and they had invited artists from around the wall to paint murals on it. 



My favorite piece


Random graffiti art


Graffiti art in the metro station

Their best impression of the bug eyed bear


Random old guy kissing my kids





Brandenberg Gate



Holocaust Memorial

This was a memorial to all the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The memorial is made of different sized concrete slabs built in a grid pattern over sloping hills.  The design is intended to create a disorienting and confusing atmosphere.  This was certainly true because a section of the slabs towered over you and after a while it felt claustrophobic being there.  We did not explain the meaning behind the memorial to Ethan and Ava so they both had fun hiding from each other.  

Can you spot Ming in this picture?













Checkpoint Charlie

This was the crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War.




Obviously a big tourist spot with McDonald's in the back and a souvenir shop!




Berlin was a great place to visit.  It was recommended by many Europeans and now we can understand why!