Return to Europe - to celebrate 10 year anniversary!

May 27 was our 10 year wedding anniversary. We decided to celebrate by taking a trip to France and Belgium. It's been almost 2 years since we left Belgium and we wanted to go back to Europe, do some of our favorite things, and see some friends. My parents and my in-laws graciously accepted our invitation to care for their two grandsons while were away.

We set off on the first day flying to Belgium. When we landed, we asked an astonished tourist information booth staffer how long it took to walk to Zaventum center. Most people don't bother to visit the town where the airport is, but it's not that far from our old house and we figured we could make it there within the timeframe of our layover. We had a nice hike to Zaventum where we picked up some croissants and other good stuff at a bakery and enjoyed them by a pond where we saw quite the assortment of ducks. It felt like being home again, in a way.
We next flew to Nice, France where we found our hotel, took a walk, grabbed some dinner and rested up for day 2, when we headed to Villefrance-sur-Mer, a quick 10 min or so bus ride from Nice. (Public transit in this region is quick and inexpensive - 1 euro per person per trip!) It was a wonderfully quaint and picturesque town on the Mediterranean. We happily looked around an old fort that now serves as the center for municipal activities like the police station, the mayor's office, and an art gallery. It had lots of wonderful flowers that capture the light in just that way that artists like. And the blue blue sea was always there to stare at in wonder.

We hiked around a penninsula called Cap Ferrat, enjoying views of the sea and villas with interesting architecture and nice gardens. It was a blissful day of walking, which was my main goal for the trip since I do so much sitting between my commute and desk job.

We saw some lizards and birds, but our most interesting sight was probably paparazzi hiding out underneath someone's balcony to photograph the people on a yacht belonging to someone with the last name Ibramovich. Mystified us as to who he was.

For dinner, we found a place with a second floor balcony overlooking the sea. We had some pizza and just enjoyed being in France. We took the train home since we missed the last bus out of Villefranche. If we'd been with kids, we'd have been back at the hotel hours earlier....

Brookfield Zoo

Not too many families ventured to the zoo on January 2nd, with the frigid weather, but we decided it was worth spending a morning exploring with Eliot. Many animals seemed to have been on New Year's break, but we did see a frisky polar bear, graceful sea lions, and, what Eliot for some reason most wanted to see, a llama. We enjoyed the Children's buliding where Eliot watered some plants, face painted with Grandpa, and dressed up like a lemur.

Sledding!

New Year's Day, although cold, was a great day to get out of the house for a while and go sledding! We went to a nearby park with a good selection of hills. After a couple rides down a gentle hill with Daddy, it seemed Eliot was ready to handle them alone, as he wanted to do! So off he went and had a great time. I was impressed that he walked back up the hills by himself! The really big hill he and Chris did together a few times and there was also some snow angel creating that occured! Then home to a warm lunch.

Pascale visits Chicago!

Pascale started at URS Belgium one day after I did. We sat next to each other in the office and worked on some projects together but, most importantly, had a lot of fun! Making a friend in Belgium was the best part of my time there. And, I was so happy that I would see Pascale again so soon after we left Brussels. She traveled here with her mom. They first went to NYC for a few days and then came to Chicago for a few days. We ate at some great restaurants and toured the city. We had a lot of fun and it was so great to spend time with Pascale and her mom. Eliot had a great time, too!

I don't know when we will go back to Belgium, but having a good friend there means it will not be too long before we return to the land of Dutch, French, charming Grand Places and far better waffles than the frozen ones I showed Pascale in Trader Joe's!

These photos are from a fun restaurant in Wicker Park called "Earwax." We also enjoyed dinner at Wishbone in our old neighborhood and Pizza Duo (gotta try some Chicago deep dish while you are here)! I can't hardly believe Pascale was here and now it will take some time to get used to her being gone again.

Holland... Michigan!

Since we returned to the US, we have been really busy. Moving into a new house, keeping up with jobs, keeping up with Eliot, seeing friends and family... It is a good kind of busy. Last weekend we took a break and went up to Holland, MI to see some fall colors. Although the weather was a bit rainy, we got in some great outdoors time on the dunes and in the woods. We also went to a nature center.

We drove to the windmill island tourist attraction just to get a glimpse of the windmill because the park is closed for the season. But when we got there a volunteer was arriving to do some work. When Chris asked him if we could park and walk in, he invited us to follow him with the car and then gave us a personal tour of the windmill. We even met the miller.

It was a nice chance to enjoy one of our favorite states - Michigan (Go Blue!) - and be together.
I love this picture.

Eliot is a much better walker now - he will stay on a path and make forward progress, but ocassionally he still hitches a ride on Dad's shoulders.

This weekend was busy too!

We had a great weekend seeing more friends. First we went to an air show party at a colleague of Chris's home. (But I forgot the camera in the car.) THen we went to Darien (after a really fast stop in the city to see Ana and Matt and their children) to our friends' wedding. Kate and Pete met when they lived in a house in Ann Arbor that Chris lived in for one year along with a few other people. It was a really fun house. All the residents took turns cooking and made great food! Kate was especially good at cooking up yummy vegetarian dishes. I got to eat over there a lot since I was an honorary house member. One of my favorite memories of that house (even though the outcome of this memory was not so great) was watching the 2000 election returns come in. My Chem Eng classmate Chris Brinkerhoff is standing next to Chris (Dunn) on his right. It was so fun to be at the wedding and reconnect with a lot of Michigan friends.

While Chris and I were driving all over Chicagoland, my parents took Eliot to see Thomas the Train at the Illinois Railway Museum. Hopefully I can post some photos from that. On Sunday morning we met them for church and lunch with my Grandpa John. He and Eliot rolled toy cars across the table to each other at IHOP (bottom photo).

And we're back

I have fallen dreadfully behind with this blog - too much moving, getting caught up, and social engagements. The social engagements have been great since we spent a year essentially on our own and although we enjoyed the sights and culture of Europe, we did miss our friends! Our first two nights we stayed with my parents. Eliot did just fine with jet lag but Chris and I were up very early for a few days. We're just glad no one was sick. Then we headed to South Bend where we enjoyed being with Carol, Pat, Andrea, Jeremiah, Brian, and Gwynn (the dog). And, as an extra bonus, our friends from Ann Arbor, the Mayos, stayed at Carol and Pat's house too while they were doing a bike ride in the area. The first photo is of Eliot with their son Nathan. Their son Ryan was with them, too. Eliot really enjoyed playing in the kiddie pool and even wanted to stay in when Gwynn took her bath!

In a couple of days we will move from the Residence Inn where we are staying in Schaumburg to a house in Arlington Heights. We can walk to the train and to Eliot's school. Slowly but surely we are getting our schedule and living situation in order!