A year has gone by (in Belgium)

It's true, we're in Belgium for about a year now,
and so much has happened....

- Kids went to a new school. It was a bit rough at first, but they have adjusted really well.
- Wim started working for a new company. Same as with the kids - a bit rough at first, especially when he has to commute all the way to Merelbeke. But recently he has been able to work from home about 3 days a week which is working out perfectly.
- I started a new job as well. Very different from Cisco/Siemens, but I enjoy my time there (limited as it is).
- We have gotten to know most of our neighbors in the street, very much so in the last few months when the weather got better and we love it here.
- We have made several new friends, some really great friends, some school friends, but all in all it makes adjusting to a new life so much easier.

I remember when I just arrived in Belgium, the weather was gloomy, I felt alone, and I was so afraid that we had made the wrong decision about moving back to Belgium.

I am happy to say that we both feel we made the right decision, and even though we do miss California and our friends there, our future is here...

Progress on the backyard

is none ....

On the contrary, we have decided to start all over again, with a new garden designer.

We will meet the new guy this Sunday - I have high expectations of him, I really hope he doesn't disappoint us.

As a result, we will tear up the original design and fill up the big hole in the backyard that was meant for the pond.

Sounds like I'm winning the bet as well (where I was betting we won't have grass/lawn before summer)....

Mendel can ride her bike

She hasn't been very interested in riding a bike by herself, but when she asked whether we could ride the bike to the soccer field instead of taking the car, I told her she should be able to ride without her training wheels before we could do so.

She responded that she can almost do it, and I followed her into the garage, out into the street, and ran behind her while holding onto her for just a bit.... and she was right - she could do it.

We tried for a few more rounds and yep - she got the feel for it and is now officially "riding her bike".

I'm the "Hunchback of Notre Dame"

I already noticed something weird when I woke up this morning - and my first thought was "Did I forget to take out my contacts?"

Nope, wasn't the case, and by the time I reached the bathroom, I realized what was wrong: My left eye was swollen so much I could hardly open it.

I looked for an insect bite but couldn't find one, what the hell is this (and to be honest - with a droopy eye like this, I look like a complete retard, so no way I'm going to work looking like this).

Mendel seemed a bit worried.
Elias just explained that I now looked a bit like the "hunchback from Notre Dame". But not to worry because in the end, his eye would open just a little bit and finally he was able to open his eye completely again - very reassuring :)

I looked it up on the internet and it could be an allergy. That's because Wim has me working the backyard every night I'm sure - haha!

------

It's getting closer to lunch time and the swelling is getting less, I hope to be able to put in my contact in an hour or so, so that I can get to work after all.

Coming from a child

just a little something I want to remember..

Mendel and Elias were sitting in the back of my car and I asked Mendel something.
She obviously didn't know the answer and responded:"Look at my head - it's a small head - of course I can't think with a small head like this".

I hope she will grow out of these "blond" moments :-)

Designing a backyard

-> A very simple hand drawn picture of the current backyard design.
(trampoline at the top, pond right underneath, left is the shed and the top right corner has Wim's vegetable garden, between the veggie garden and BBQ we'll put a playset for the kids, in the middle we have the lawn)

We have been working on our backyard design for months now.
Our basic requirements are:
- area for the trampoline
- area for playground
- area for Wim's vegetable garden
- shed to store bikes and garden tools
- area for the BBQ

We "hired" someone to draw a design which incorporates all of the above, but to our disappointment he didn't make many changes to our own ideas. We changed his plan and went back to have him draw it up again.

As a result, we got a very detailed design:
- price for each and every single work/job
- list of plants
The price tag is of course over our budget.

Wim started his investigation of prices (on the internet) and if we coordinate everything ourselves (and even do a bunch of things ourselves) we can cut the cost in half. Of course it will probably take more then twice as long, but I already gave up on a lawn by summer anyway (which Wim claims will be there before summer - let's vote).

Another obstacle is that we keep making changes. A bigger pond, the orientation of the path, the kind of stones we will use, now we just decided to add to our existing patio,... it seems like it will never end.

This Thursday however, someone is going to come and scrape off the top 7 inches of dirt in the backyard. We need to know pretty good by then where the trampoline and pond is going to be, because that machine will dug the holes for those as well.

So.... we spent all evening measuring pathways....

Almost there.... for phase 1 that is.

Visit to Amsterdam

Very last minute (because Elias was sick) we decided to go to Amsterdam with Luc and Nivea.

It might not happen, but rumors are that "the walletjes" or better known as "the red light district" might disappear, so we had to make sure we got a chance to see it at least once.

Because of the "last minute" decision, but also because of the Holiday "koninginnedag" in the Netherlands, almost all hotel rooms were booked.
So we didn't know better but to book a room with 2 single beds, for the 4 of us. We would deal with the problems when we get there.

We ended up sleeping in one big bed (haha), Luc and Nivea with their heads one way, Wim and I with our heads at the foot end of the bed.

Oh well.. it wasn't luxury, but it was affordable and kind of fun (for once) :)



During the day we explored all Amsterdam had to offer: Van Gogh museum, Coffee shops, souvenir shops, "the walletjes", "outside seating-watching the crowd-while enjoying the weather",...

Of course we checked out one of the live sex shows and I have to admit that it wasn't as disgusting as I had expected it to be, it was actually nicely done with good lighting and music. Almost a bit classy :)