Comic Book Hot Air Balloon Festival 2013

We thought Ryan would have to work this weekend so we didn't have set plans on Saturday.  So when he got his work done half way through the week we realized we needed to do something fun.  Ryan figured out that the comic book hot air balloon festival was happening downtown.  The kids love the bus so we jumped on and headed downtown.  By going a little earlier, the kids were able to do all the ids activities without standing in line.  It worked out perfectly.  Kherington had recently been asking to get her face painted and jump on a bouncy castle so being able to do both for free was pretty sweet.  She decided she wanted a butterfly.  Kevin didn't want anything...not even a glitter tattoo.  They also made comic buttons by choosing a picture from a comic book and having the worker snap the button together right then and Kherington started on a dog mask but didn't finish it.  The bouncy toys were way more fun than coloring pictures.

They had some of the hot air balloons already tied up and ready for the parade.  The kids thought it was pretty silly to walk under them and let the wind blow the balloon into them.  We also got to watch superman being blown up.  We opted not to wait the couple hours for the parade and instead headed home for naps.

The evening we went back downtown for a comic screening.  It didn't turn out as expected though.  First we were 30 minutes off on the start time so we had to wait an extra 30 minutes on top of our early arrival.  Then when they started they were just drawing cartoon.  Pretty disappointing since when they were working on the lighting they had the building all lit up (see pic) for a comic movie.  we held out a little while before calling it quits and didn't even get to see the comic show.  We do a lot of random things...sometimes they workout and sometimes they don't. This was definitely one of our fails.

Ryan's Big 3 - 0 Celebration

Ryan hit the 3-0 milestone this week. 

Since he's been busy at work (and I had an activity on his birthday), we decided to celebrate a couple days later.  Kherington and Kevin were in the charge of the cake.  Kherington did the eggs all by herself.  Kevin was charge of dumping the mix in and adding the water.

The kids also decorated.  I just got down the birthday box and let them choose what they wanted to use.  For dinner we had jalapeno cheddar burgers topped with a bacon weave and guacamole.  I'm not a big burger person, but these were delicious. 

After dinner we broke out the pinata that the kids filled earlier that day.  We started out with the kids blindfolded, using plastic bats to hit a dangling pinata.  That was way too difficult.  We dropped the pinata to the ground and let them hit it there without a blindfold. From there we went to Ryan hitting it with a broomstick.  The broomstick broke in half.  Haha.  That was one rock solid pinata. We eventually got it open, then we'd hit some candy out and let the kids gather it up before knocking some more out.  I think this should be a new birthday tradition.

Next up was cake.  It ended up being a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting that I had been saving in the freezer.  The kids were in charge of sticking all the candles in and helping blow out the candles.  After cake they gave him his presents we picked out when were in the states. 

We all had a fun time celebrating Ryan.  I initially felt a little bad for not doing something big, but looking back at these pictures we had a lot of fun together as a family and that's what counts.

Pinata Progress

Our pinatas finally dried and the sunny weather continued so I set the kids up outside to paint them.  Kherington painted her 100% on her own, I helped Kevin thin out his clumps of paint.

A couple days later once the paint had dried, we decorated them.  They got to choose pom poms, feather or leaves to glue on then any stickers from the sticker box (best thing ever to have if you have little kids).  I just propped each of the pinatas in a bowl so it was easier for them to work with then let them have at it.

Faith in God Activity - Tervuren Park

For Faith in God we normally meet the same days/times as mutual, but both the YM and YW had other activities planned throughout the week so they we're going to meet.  That meant it was a perfect day to do something a little different.  I had the kids meet me at a forest in Tervuren, Belgium then we walked up to the the spot where 12 paths meet.  This is the location that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland dedicated the lands of Belgium and Luxembourg for the preaching of the gospel on May 26, 1998. 

 

We had a little spiritual though including reading part of the dedicatory prayer in which he said, "Now, as these nations move to become a powerful force in a united Europe, please, Father in Heaven, may the Gospel of Jesus Christ go forward in Belgium, Luxembourg, and this new European community. As part of our prayer and our dedication here today, we ask that thou would weld and link, inextricably bind the power of the gospel to the economic and political influence that will move out of Belgium into all the world. We think it not wrong, we think it not unfair to ask that the gospel message be central to the new European community because of our prayer today." 

 

It was a good reminder of how important Brussels is as a city and how many people from all around the world  come here to live and how many more are making decision that affect the entire world.  I forgot to take a picture until we were about 500 yards away.

Little Man on a Mission

This morning I spend the bulk of it planning out or UK trip and finding/booking hotels which is quite the process if you want to spend a ton of money.  After that I was doing random housework things and while I did that, Kevin gathered all the sand toys together, packed the stroller and asked if we could go to the sand park after we picked Kherington up from school.  Pretty cute of him.  So I threw some food together from lunch and got a quick shower before heading out to get Kherington and walking over to Geroge Henri park.

It was nice to be the only people in the park for awhile.  It made it a lot easier for the kids to try new things.  Kevin learned how to climb up to the top of the blue slide which is pretty impressive for a 2 year old.  He had to climb up one side, then go around the top under the slides (it's kinda of steep and a little scary), then grab a rope and climb the rest of the steep path up to the slides.  He was so  proud of himself.  Once bigger kids came though he was too scared to do it with other climbing all over and around him.

On our walk home, we stopped at a patisserie that randomly sold ice cream cones.  I figured it was Ryan's birthday and even if he couldn't celebrate that day we could for him.  Kherington picked out a pink and brown cone while Kevin went for a chocolate cream filled crescent. 

Kevin Starts School

Kevin is going to 'home school' twice a week now.  At least that's what we're calling it.  My friend Jenny and I are each 'teaching' once a week and just alternating houses.  On top of that, that means when we're not teaching we get a morning to ourselves.  Sweet deal.  The first day was at our house.  We learned about the letter 'A', decorated an 'A' with stickers, had recess, made an animal puppet, had apples, applesauce and almonds for snack and had more recess.

Then they went on a 'field trip' with me to the store since I had to run grab something for dinner that night and they helped me pick Kherington up from school.  It was fun.  Kevin loves his little buddy Benjamin.

Kherington: Another 1st Day of Maternelle

Summer vacation finally came to a close and Kherington started school again.  Her old teacher, Madame Sandy, is no longer teaching there which is pretty sad.  Kherington loved her.  On top of that, her last English speaking friends changed school so now she is on her own.  She did awesome at drop-off the first day and was still happy when I came to pick her up.  She said she made a new friend but I can't pronounce how Kherington says her name.  Her new teacher is Madame Caroline.  We'll see how school goes for the next couple months til we move.