Creative Kids...

The girls were thrilled to have two whole days to hang out with Zoe and Patrick. After a lot of random imagination games and some board games, Sophie focused their attention on learning lines for her version of Cinderella. All the kids did a great job, but Patrick was especially funny as the Godmother. It was hard to say good-bye as we have no idea when we’ll see each other again. With dreams of visiting them in Australia and hiking together in New Zealand, we’re confident that our paths will cross again someday.

Back to Brussels...

As our Aussie friends were soon to move back Down Under, we went back down to Brussels to spend a final weekend with them there. We stopped for dinner before heading to their house and came across some snow, which was an unusual sight since it was a clear fall night. Turned out that a fast food commercial was being filmed and the snow was actually soap bubbles. It was funny watching the main actor take a bite of a burger, then spit it out over and over.
The next morning, Jane took us to an open house at the Cantillon Brewery, founded in 1900. It specializes in brewing organic lambics utilizing methods from days long gone by. We took a morning tour, so we missed seeing the beer piped into this copper tray in the attic where the yeasts in the air will naturally ferment the brew. Although I normally like Kriek, a fruity lambic, I wasn’t fond of this one, but did enjoy learning about the process.

Another Halloween in Wassenaar...

The girls really wanted to get back from Cologne in time to go trick or treating in Wassenaar with friends, so we caught a morning train back. Veronica actually sewed both her Roman and Ashlynn’s medieval costumes. Jimmy’s was just a simple conversion of a toga from his 40th b’day party. Unfortunately, I had a fever, so I was stuck home alone. Veronica went to a sleepover at Ma’ayan’s and went out begging for candy with some classmates. Jimmy and Ashlynn went to a party at Jim and Nina’s. Ashlynn enjoyed helping pass out candy to the sugar-hungry masses after gathering a lot of treats herself.

Happy Holidays!

You probably already know that I gave up sending out Christmas cards a few years back, partly to help the environment, partly to save money and partly because I’m too lazy to hand write notes to everyone anymore. Besides, you’re already reading the longest holiday letter anyone could possibly write. So, this year, I asked the girls to design a card I could post here and on Facebook and here’s what they came up with.

Wishing You Peace, Love and Happiness in 2010!

A Busy Day in Cologne...

While we didn’t manage to actually smell any cologne in Cologne (where in fact eau de Cologne originated), we did visit the famous Chocolate Museum. We loved seeing chocolate being made in the factory section and couldn’t resist buying some freshly-made truffles before settling down for lunch complete with fantastic hot chocolate. We also enjoyed visiting the Olympic Museum and the cathedral, which was one of the only buildings left standing in the city center after World War II. We ended the evening at the Claudius Therme, a spa with a huge pool fed from a thermal mineral spring.

Puts REI to Shame...

When I saw that the Cologne tourist guide mentioned an outdoor adventure store in the Attractions section, we figured it was worth checking out. Boy was it right! Globetrotter was totally amazing! Four stories packed with adventure wear and gear. In addition, there was an aquarium with jellyfish, a pool for testing kayaks and taking scuba classes, a climbing wall within a bridge to an adjacent store, and a full-service restaurant (where we ate dinner). When Jimmy said he was going to test out the Goretex testing machine, Ashlynn quickly volunteered to join him. Unlike her daddy, she was smart enough to put on rainproof trousers and boots in addition to the coat. She managed to stay dry underneath the waterproofs in the storm cabinet, but silly Jimmy’s jeans and hiking boots got soaked.

Our Little Daredevils...

We were all really impressed with Phantasialand. The park was beautiful and the rides were of a high quality. We loved the ice skating show so much that we went to see it twice; hard to go wrong with this family when the music’s from West Side Story. The girls were thrilled to have an entire day with Jimmy so they could go on the daredevil rides that I was too chicken to ride. Ashlynn was greatly disappointed when she found out she was too short to go on the Tabocan shown above, which you couldn’t have paid me to ride. I did go on three of the rollercoasters, but skipped the Mambo, which did multiple twists; even Jimmy said he was dizzy after he got off. It’s interesting to see everyone’s tolerance; Ashlynn was too scared to go in the haunted house, but didn’t hesitate to go on the freefalling elevator, which Veronica and I skipped.