Here are two of the kind folks we chat with each week at the Old Age Home

one street over. Yesterday we played "Farmyard Dominoes" with them. We

always ask them to sing songs to us and now we are singing along too!

Yesterday and today, Frunty has been calling me by my first name! It is very adorable but he doesn't do it all the time. It must be a stage. Mostly he still calls me "Mommy" though. I took the pets to the park despite the drizzle and did some running and Frunty played after on the jungle gym/slide etc. Even though it has been rainy and cold, we still have been having fun. If we don't get out of the house, cabin fever quickly sets in. We also enjoyed chatting and singing with the old folks after naptime. Daddy can home with yet another new car. A Volvo Sedan and the boys have gone out for a spin so that I can have some time to write. We have finally decided on a car and are waiting for delivery. You'll have to wait to find out!



We also received a special package in the mail. Thanks very much to the Nonni for the Barney video and book. Frunty held onto the DVD the whole time while in the stroller. When we got home, we watched a little bit in Spanish. Frunty just loved it. I am able to get over my guilt at putting on a show sometimes while I prepare lunch or dinner if I select another language because I think that at least Frunty is being extra-enriched.

Happy Birthday, Gramma! Hope you have a wonderful day and hope your wedding anniversary was nice yesterday too!

Today we visited a 12th century castle in Ghent which Frunty really enjoyed as did we. The torture chambers were scarey. We just finished reading TimeLine so it was fun to go back in time ourselves and imagine what life was like in this medieval town. We really had a wonderful day with shopping at the Grande Place of Brussels in the morning to get a birthday gift for our little friend whose party we will attend today. We were sorry to miss C's birthday yesterday but were there in spirit and had a fun chat the day before and was overjoyed to hear little C's voice for the first time in many months!

Having fun with his "little sister" at the park, Frunty enjoys monkeying around

and shouting in Mandarin too.

Today was a special day since the Tour de France came through Belgium! Daddy phoned me while we were at the playground and told us to get ready for an adventure. He picked us all up (J&J) and took us to the Butte de Lion to see the cyclists. Even though they came through fast, it was still fun and the kids were amazed. We had a nice picnic with blueberries, raspberries, ham and nice buns.



Later Frunty and I had our third visit to the old age home one street over. We go once a week to spend an hour or so with some elderly people. The look of joy on their faces when they see Frunty could light up any room. They have a wonderful fishtank and a cute, little cat as well so Frunty enjoys visiting a lot. We also get to practise some French and we ask the ol' folks to sing some songs for us! This week, one of the women remembered the date of Frunty's birthday!



Tomorrow we are looking forward to the "cable guys" coming because it means we'll have cable in time for the Olympics. Since we are housebound for 4 hours while we wait for hook-up, our friends are coming over to play with us in the morning. J from China will teach us how to make dumplings and we'll have lunch together!

Happy Canada Day everyone!

We went to the Ambassadors', Monsieur and Madame Bilodeau, for champagne and nibblies but no cake or fireworks. Not to sound ungrateful but...and the band was scarey. Well, hope you all had fun. The highlight of the day was a wonderful phone call from J and getting to hear our god-daughter's cutie voice!