Flashed on our way to Brussels...

I thought that would get your attention!! I'm gonna make you read more before I tell you about "the flashing"!
We decided this weekends trip would be to Brussels, Belgium. We didn't tell the kids we were going and took the day off Friday. Molly woke up frantic on Friday morning because it was already 6:30 and they needed to leave by 7 to get to school on time. It was fun to tell them we had already talked to their teachers and dad had the day off!
So we set off on our 5 hour drive. On the way there we were "flashed". Now you would think Michael would be excited to be flashed, but this time it wasn't a good thing. The German police have these things that look like a miniture street light set up on the sides of roads. They "flash" cars (there is literally a flash of light). It takes a picture of the driver/car license plate and send ya the ticket for speeding in the mail. Right away the trip started out expensive! Lesson learned ( I hope).
We arrived in Brusssels at about 4 and decided to take the bus down to the center of Brussels. French and Flemish is spoken in Belgium, but Brussels is mostly French. Luckily Michael remembers some of his French so he was able to get the bus tickets.
The bus ride was about 20 minutes, and of course the kids kept asking how much longer it was going to take. Finally we got downtown. It was funny because my first impression of Brussels was not a good one. There are beautiful old buildings in the center and then surrounding this medieval architecture are modern buildings that ruin the skyline...very strange. But then we came across St. Michael's cathedral (pic number 1). Of course Michael told the kids it was his church...blah, blah, blah...:) We came back to see the church the next day because it was so impressive.
On the way back to the hotel on the bus Jack insisted on holding Michael's hand across the aisle while the girls goofed around in the back. After about 10 minutes of the bus ride Jack looks at Michael and says, "dad if the bus driver misses our stop, I'll be a broken man"! Michael asked him what "broken man" means and jack said, "sad dad". Have NO idea where that came from . He says he learned it in school, but I"m not thinking the Germans are teaching him about being a broken man.
Saturday was a rainy day to begin with. We had plans of heading back into Brussels to hit some shopping and catch some of the sights. So we started out with rain jackets (all but Jack, poor kid forgot his) and prayed for good weather.
Once we got to downtown the weather got better. We hit the markets and Molly shopped for her Belgian doll, while I checked out some of the Belgian jewerly (out of curiousity only, just wanted to compare the quality to American jewerly:) Jack and Gracie got another stinkin' stuffed animal to bring the total number of stuffed animals in our house to 78,634. For the love of god, please no more! But how can you say no to getting a stuffed animal in Belgium? I mean that's something you can't get anywhere else in the world!
Michael's church, beautiful. It started as a chapel in the 9th century. We got to go to the basement of the church which was dug out recently to reveal what they believe to be part of the original chapel! We also lit a candle for Big John!!! (Get well soon Big John)
We walked around more, took in some chocolate (1 chocolate bar, and 6 pieces of dark chocolate = $14, but dear god is that good stuff), couple beers (yes, there are 400 National beers in Belgium, one of them is 12% alcohol), and a little more shopping.
Gracie's highlight was the street preformer dressed as a statue. He was great. Molly and Gracie loved him and Jack was terrified of him. The first time we encountered him Gracie gave him 1 Euro and he gave her a high five and motioned for Michael to come over so he could shake his hand. The rest of the day Gracie insisted we pass by him again so she could give him a high five. Everytime he remembered her and kept giving her high fives and blowing her kisses. First thing this morning she asked if she could go back and see him.
By the end of the day the kids feet were hurtin'. They were troopers. I don't even know how far we walked but we saw soo much! WE stopped for the kids to get an ice cream and Michael and I decided to split a Perrier...check out the picture...that little bottle was 2,80 Euro!! Insane!
One of the greatest food decisons was made by Gracie. There was an ice cream truck next to one of the places we were. She asked if she could get something other than ice cream so I agreed. She picked out a waffle...oh dear god, home of the Belgian waffle!! We had to go back for two more. Words cannot describe the deliciousness of that. However, I think I felt the bite I took go directly from my mouth to my hips. Honestly, there was a waffle print on both sides of my jeans when I peeled them off last night.
This morning we headed back after an awesome breakfast at the hotel. What kid wouldn't love what Gracie and Jack had...hot chocolate, cocoa krispies, Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread) on toast, and chocolate sprinkles on the toast. There were other things too, but it's obvious that chocolate is a staple there!
Once we got home the weather was nice so we headed to the park near the house. The kids had a great time. All the neighbors were out with their kids riding bikes and playing. When it was time to leave Jack got on his bike like a bat out of hell. There were a bunch of people out on the sidewalk so Michael pulled jack aside and said, "hey buddy, don't run down any of the Germans". Jack took off to catch up with his sisters and said, "AHHHHH run down the Germans". I wonder why no one has invited us over yet?