"Who wants to go to Belgium???"
...And this shows a few of the answers!
We could not have asked for better flights over: on time, much of the time smooth, uneventful.
Indubitably boring, yes, but with that much continent and Ocean to cover, there is not much more to expect.
The kids are used to it now, thankfully. Lots of waiting.
The first flight a baby started crying shrilly right off the bat. I glanced back and saw a nicely dressed gentleman shifting uncomfortably in his seat while next to him a young mother juggled a toddler and the noisy baby. I knew that if I sat by her I could help keep the baby quiet, and that he was a stranger to babies. "Do you want to trade seats?" I asked him. He looked like he won the lottery or something. He was almost in my seat before I was out of it. I did help keep the baby quiet during our first five hours flying, and was able to enjoy talking to the mother as well.
The next flight was an overnighter, but with the fine entertainment system on the new 777, we slept little. Not to say we did not try, but wow, it's cramped. We were glad for the movies, they made time pass easier. Lukey was very pleased with one or other of the movies, and somewhere over the dark north Atlantic his laughter was echoing all over plane. We had to remind him to keep it down a little, but at the same time thankful it was noise resulting from a merry spirit, not from fussing. (Let's not talk about travelling with twin toddlers! Travelling with our family six/seven years ago was no picnic.)
Fast forward: We met our loved ones in Brussels! here is the first picture of us together in an elevator. I am in the picture too, behind the flash!
The best way to deal with jet lag: Jommeke comics
The next week afforded us lots of cousin time!
The littlest cousin gets a dolly house, and here I believe, the dolly is coming out to meet her for the first time...
Here is a photo of a game we played at the family party... Pieter reads two addends, and you must run around and find the correct sum posted upon the wall, which you then whack with the fly swatter before your opponent does. Reese and Teo are pictured here, with Reese seeming to find that Pieter himself is the correct sum.
Another game we played: "tiddlywinks tennis tournament," created by British branch of our family on an adorable tennis court, and with real tennis scoring and a tournament chart. These family games all have one prize for one winner, which may partially account for the absorbing interest of all those present. (-This, I assure you, is the ONLY time you will ever catch these two playing tiddlywinks. Pa normally does not play games, and Marc normally plays games with less randomly generated results.)
We then make it to the resort in Lommel where we most of us get the aches and colds and coughs flu... but end up rallying enough to still make it worth our while!! Notice (by the palm tree in the dome) the outline of Luke in a pipe up by the ceiling.
J-Man looks out for anyone who might be after him on the rope bridge high above during a game of hide and go seek tag. This is truly the best place to play tag ever! With life-size "sunken pirate ships" a cave, and a real river flowing through a sand bar and slides with stop lights and live parrots flying around... a waterfall maze and a raft to float on and a high rope bridge that spans the vast room, there are endless places to hide.
The following picture is not to demonstrate any particular photographic quality but is just there to commemorate a spectacular ride to the station. The Belbus driver was satisfyingly violent, especially when there was a speed bump involved. We all completely left our seats while the bus went over each one with a terrific bang. I am sure the driver has no idea what it is like to ride in the back of the bus over one of those bumps. If he did, he probably would go even faster so we could go into orbit.
...more another day!!
The Cooks (we had a wonderful time at their lovely home!)
And at a childhood hangout of mine... the Bambauers! The old home is gone, except for the guest house (we heard about Uncle Ernie's engineering abilities) but the pool is the same, the river still rolls by peacefully and the loving, warm hospitality and sense of home-away-from-home is still the same.
Marc's parents are soaking up the sun!
This was Santa Monica Beach
Aunt Lou and Uncle Phil teach and entertain the twins to no end. Here an Archery lesson by Uncle Phil and a lesson in German pronunciation by Aunt Lou satisfy their curious hearts.
The lesson here is in the use of Braille. The bookshelf contains the entire Bible. Brother Graham's reading and writing skills held a lot of fascination for the kids. He was gracious and gave them each a card with their names and the alphabet punched in them.
Kathy and Annie really hit it off! (but what would you expect? two of the world's nicest people meet...)
We did Sea World, visited the Brockmeiers and Hemet (really enjoyed that Lord's Day very much.)
and saw the spectacular fires that made our trip back to Burbank VERY SLOW.
Little Miss William Tell shot a lemon straight out of Aunt Lou's lemon tree! (That's not to say that's what we were aiming for though, now, is it.)
Santa Barbara
San Simeon
Hearst Castle... honestly, I think that's one of the prettiest places I've ever seen. The inside of the Castle is a little strange with its over-the-top roaring twenties european-wannabe slathering Randolph Hearst wealth, but the grounds and location is something you have to see to believe. The picture is lovely, but being there is really something.
The famous Elephant Seals! The wind blew strong which was good because they, uh, they don't smell so good...
The scenery was spectacular! We went up the coast and profited from every stop. Haven't even gotten to show Big Sur or San Francisco yet!
