Cooking Catch-up

I’ve been experimenting with some new recipes since moving here. I like to cook (well, more bake than cook) and there are some thing you just can’t buy here. For a couple weeks I had a friend to bake with (baking Friday’s), but they moved back the US so I’m on my own again.

So here’s some pictures of a few of the yummy treats I’ve made here:

And here's some treats that I wish I could make:

Gardening Attempt #1

When we moved in half our backyard was torn up because they were working on the pipes that happen to run right there. Since it was already torn up and had no grass, we sectioned off a piece and kept it as dirt so we could plant a few things. I missed the most opportune time for the tomatoes but sprinkled the sees our anyways. It wasn’t until we pulled up the plants this last weekend that we saw we actually had about 30 tomatoes on the vine, oops.

We did get a lot of Zucchini. The downside being that they came and went in the 3 weeks I was in the states for Dana’s wedding so Ryan was nice enough to pick chop and freeze them. We also got 14 pumpkins J. The vines invaded a lot of the backyard. Next year I’ll translate the instructions on planting instead of just sprinkling the seeds.

Bike Riding in the Netherlands

Ryan did a little research, packed up and we drove up to the National Park de Hoge Veluwea in the Netherlands. Kherington slept most of the drive there and when she woke up we stopped at McDonalds for a break. We got Kherington a happy meal that included chicken nuggets, fries, a bottle of water, a cup of fruit and a toy. The only thing that she would eat was the cup a fruit! What a healthy girl!

You pay to enter the park (7.50 euro per adult, kids under 6 free), then there are different bikes that you can use for free to bike around on the trails (white bikes are free, blue bikes cost additional money). The idea is that you bike up to the museum or playgroup or where ever you want to go and park your bike. Once you park it, it is up for grabs and anyone can take it.

We found some tandem bikes and this super cool wheelbarrow like bike (pictured below...I told Ryan that's what I want for Christmas). We passed a guy with 4 kids in the wheelbarrow and covered wagon type covering over the kids to keep them dry. There were also bikes with two kid carriers (one on the handle bars and one on the rear wheel) so it's doable to have 1 adult with two non-independent biking kids. During our ride we stopped at a pond to relax a little. Next time we'll have to bring bread to feed the ducks and a little picnic.

The playground in the middle of the park was really fun...it would be even better with older kids. Kherington was happy to chill on the swing.

We didn't do the museum, but really enjoyed biking around. We found the scary looking mushroom below (doesn't it remind you of the smurfs?). On the way out, it started to rain and was really cold, but we weren't very prepared. We ended up putting my jacket on Kherington over the seat...it did the job.

Dana's Wedding

Dana got married in the Washington D.C. Temple on August 21st! 7 kids down, 1 to go (no pressure Michelle). All the siblings and spouses were able to make it including RYAN! I had flown over on my Birthday and border control even wished me a happy birthday. At the last minute he was able to get off work so he flew a day later (on Friday), got in just in time to make the end of our family gathering at the Bergeron's and surprised everyone by showing up there. Then he flew out Sunday, but because of weather issues he ended up sitting on the runway in DC, missed his connection in NYC, got re-routed to Chicago, delayed there, sat in London for awhile AND they lost his checked luggage....so really he should have just stayed an extra day and enjoyed the family :).

Anyways, the wedding was AWESOME. We are excited to have Guillaume in our family. The morning of the wedding Elise and I did Dana's hair (okay, so Elise did all the curling and I just hair sprayed and bobby pinned). It turned out great!

We have all the sibling in age order (Dana should be moved down a couple slots, but since it was her day and all...). My favorite picture is the grand kids pic (Ez and Kherington were the only ones there from the Dixon side and as you can see they added a little noise).

Inside the temple it was nice and cool, BUT outside it was HOT. Kherington enjoyed playing with the little cold water bottle that the Bergeron's were smart enough to bring along. Dad was ready to shed his suit coat as soon as pictures ended and Tricia had her personal air conditioner.

The night before the wedding we crammed into one hotel room and presented the winner of our Banana competition with the prize (Elise won, with Lani come in just a couple miles behind). We got a sweet picture of everyone there!

Ryan's Mom was able to come up and spend some time with me and Kherington also. His Aunt Kathy let us stay with them in Virginia and we had a great time. We took Kherington to a park nearby and she loved sitting on the tractors and wandering around at her own pace.

(pictures to come once I'm back in Belgium)

Kherington and I then headed over to Washington for the reception. We had the very berry salad (like Zupas), pita's filled with chicken salad (yummy), ice cream sundaes and of course Belgium chocolates.

(pictures to come once I'm back in Belgium)

We stayed for a couple weeks, enjoyed spending time with the parents and friends while Ryan finished out his busy season. It was another great trip back to the states.

August 21?

Father’s Day Present

For Father’s Day for my dad this last year I put together this fun collage (the idea came from a picture Ryan’s mom told me about that had just one kid with different body pars). We have dad draft #1 on Father’s day, but I never actually got around to cleaning it up until the night before I left for the states. Well, after Dana’s wedding I got it printed and framed (one from home and one for his office). Here’s the final product:

Brussels Flower Carpet

Every other year Brussels does a ginormous flower carpet at the Grand Place. We went down on the last day of it so the flowers were a little wilted. Kherington enjoyed finding little ledges to climb/sit on.

We also enjoyed these delicious waffles. I must say that the best waffles are still down at Stockel Market, but the topping on these were pretty good (strawberries & whipped cream and white chocolate syrup). We also visited the Manneken Pis for Ryan's first time. The first time I went there it took me a while to figure out what all the little things moving in the windows were...after raising 4 boys, we figure that some day Ryan's mom should be the proud owner of a big statue that she can proudly display in their front yard (she could even dress it for different holiday's and season).

African Museum

The first Wednesday of each month is free museum day (after 1pm). In August we joined some friends for a visit to the African museum. Kherington didn’t make it through the entire inside, but really enjoyed the steps and the elephants outside.