I've wanted to visit Lisa and her family in Belgium since the moved there, but was never sure if we could afford it.  Then we found this house at a decent price, fixed the roof and replaced the windows.  And realized that if we let it, our new home would consume our savings account.  Then Adam started researching new cars.  And I knew, that no matter what we did with it, the money would soon be gone.  So, we thought about all of our desires, and went to Belgium!  It was worth every penny.

Remember how hurricane Sandy shut down the JFK airport in New York City?  It opened the day before we flew out.

Day 1:

We arrived in Brussels around 8:30 am.  We went to the market and bought delicious fresh waffles.  Then we went to Lisa's and took a nap.  Later, we went to the park and played soccer with the kiddos in the rain, and I learned that my coat is NOT waterproof.

Day 2:

We went to Monschau, Germany... a cute little town on the river.  It was raining, but luckily we found some cheap umbrellas, and managed to stay dry.  Plus, I finally found an inexpensive hat that covers my ears (which you will see in nearly every picture of me from this trip... it was cold).  Adam had real German bratwurst for lunch, and I ate some snitzel.  I really loved this town.

Day 3:

We went to church, and relaxed.  We played soccer in the pretty fall leaves.

Day 4:

We visited the Castle of Bouillon.  Pretty cool.

Day 5:

Adam and I ditched Lisa's family and went to Paris.  We saw the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, and a cool little alley street full of shops.  Plus a lot more of Paris, and of course we ate a crepe.

Day 6 & 7:

We explored Brussels, and ate way too much chocolate.

Day 8:

We were glad to hear that after a snowstorm, JFK was back to business as usual and caught our plane home.