Update from the field: they're having fun on their trip! The boys are excellent little travellers - without being asked, Frunty immediately carries extra luggage, he slung the tent over his shoulders, plunked his day pack on top of his trolley suitcase and wheeled away. The camp ground is great and they have met some friendly people. After the boys were asleep in the tent yesterday evening, The Mommy was invited for some rosé with the German couple next door who have a full facility RV complete with fridge, kitchen and flat screen TV. It took some time for the boys to stop horsing though probably because they were over-tired from the long day trip in the lavender fields. The boys said they loved the lavender and Frunty was the first to spot the rows and rows of flowers. They were the only children on the day trip so the Japanese ladies wanted their pictures taken with them and everyone admired their good behaviour. The weather is dry but cool so they’re wearing their sweaters and are looking forward to their next day trip tomorrow to see castles and quaint villages. More updates as they come.

Most mornings, Pit will wake up and look at us with a big sheepish grin like someone who indulged in too much of a good thing - sleep. Or maybe he’s ashamed for waking us at various points in the middle of the night while he feels well rested because he was in bed for 12 hours. Today was no different except that his first words were, "Good morning mommy. Good bye daddy." Then I got big hugs and kisses while I suffered through his horrible dinosaur breath. How can someone so small have such bad breath - must be the hummus from last night. Anyway, after a few final errands and packing, I took the family to the airport for 11am and they were off. I received news after they were settled in their camp: the trip went without a hitch but it did take a long time - about 9 hours door-to-door. They’re tired but excited.

In preparation for their month long journey across France, I gave the 2 boys haircuts. Their short hair makes them look very sharp. Later in the afternoon, The Mommy took them to see Ice Age 3 in the movie cinema and then went to a Lebanese restaurant for dinner. The boys really enjoy the falafels, hummus and baba ganoush.

We came back from a really good day in the west of Belgium. We went with Matt Hill and his 3 oldest children to see the Koksijde Airshow. This means there were 5 kids between the ages of 7 and 4. It’s amazing how the time passed. By the time everyone was settled down and had a chance for food and potty - it was time to go. I suppose it didn’t help that the kids were anxious to go to the beach rather than sit on the grass and watch planes and helicopters in the sky. We did manage to convince the kids to hang around long enough to see some skydivers, a helicopter or two, a Belgian F-16 and a Swiss F-18. We then headed off to the beach.

The weather was perfect for a little beach time. Not too hot and sunny with intermittent light clouds, a breeze from the shore that was strong enough to fly a kite, but not enough to make it chilly. The beach is very wide, probably 100 meters or so, and as long as the eye can see. Frunty and A took off to tide pools and found shrimp and tiny fish that some other kid caught for them with a net. S was the only child really interested in wading in the shallow waves while Pit and E stayed behind to play in the sand or with the kites. No one slept in the car on the way home despite the long day. I suppose it’s because everyone really got along and had fun.

Summer vacation has started here in Belgium and the streets in our neighbourhood are getting progressively quieter. I am excited about leaving on the 7th and am finishing up packing now. We are really looking forward to meeting Michelle in Provence and then the cousins in Corsica.

Frunty and I have been practising "dictations" and Hooked on Phonics and Pit and I, the alphabet. Today we'll meet some school friends, Antoine and his brothers, at the park for some play time. Otherwise, we are taking it easy.

Yesterday we went down to the Sablon for a medieval show. The fighting amongst the men in armour was great and considering how hot it was, good for them. We had Lebanese afterwards and I am grateful the kids like this kind of food which meets our requirements and is delicious. In the evening, the babysitter came again and Daddy and I rode our bikes to the comedy show. There were some good laughs though the humour was quite dry!

The weather is changing with more wind and grey skies now. Perhaps we'll have to leave the park early...off we now go! Happy weekend everyone!

Happy Canada Day and our first day of holidays.

How nice to wake up when we were all ready! What a luxury to stay at home and not rush off anywhere. We made pancakes, later on a cake for our celebratory bbq with some fellow Canadians, played games, went to the park to play touche-touche and practise riding bikes, did a few errands (pick up contact lenses and throw all the glass jars into recycling...crash!)...you know, passed a lazy, summer day with gorgeous weather at about 31 degrees Celsius.

First thing after breakfast though, Frunty did a dictation in English, practised spelling words and some math as well. We plan to do some work each day and I got him a Cars notebook! It is really fun to watch Frunty progress and with the summer here, it is time for him to improve his English formally. Probably in Provence he'll be speaking French again and then in Corsica, a lot of Italian but we'll try to keep his English progressing as much as possible.

What a great day!

To celebrate the last day of school, I took The Mommy last night to see the Ommegang in the Grand Place. Ommegang means "procession", derived from the Flemish words "omme" (around) and "gang" (walk or path). It is a recreation of the 1549 “glorious and majestic procession of Emperor Charles V”. We went first to eat some Lebanese food before sitting in our perfect seats to see the show which had some very talented actors showing great skill with flag throwing, equestrianism, stilt-walking and more. They had increasing height of stilts and it was incredible how tall the last stilts were. They had the shorter stilts walk underneath the stilts of the tall ones. The clear sky warm day and late sun made the evening very comfortable and it was great to see such a recreation in the grandeur of the Grand Place.