Yesterday we went to Brupark for the grande opening of the newly made-over Atomium, Belgium's Eiffel Tower. Apparently famous all over Europe (though we had never heard of it until we moved here) it is shiny and new but not at all people or children friendly. But at least it is a no-smoking building...wow, what a miracle, finally something in Belgium that is completely no-smoking! We enjoyed a picnic up top looking over the city and could see mini-Europe down below. Frunty wanted to bring his binoculars and it was fun watching him use them. Someone took our picture for his school newspaper. Afterwards, we played on the pirate ship and had a little picnic. Frunty had fun playing tag with some kids from Malaysia. A nice day all in all followed by a wonderful dinner of champagne and oysters, Daddy's duck a la apple/walnuts and a brownie with cream cheese icing that Frunty and I made together after Atomium. Kids in bed by 8 pm, we watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
Better late than never!

On Friday night we took dinner over to K and E's and watched some olympic sports, namely skeleton. Great for Frunty and we were able to put Peauteau into their bed to sleep which was a first ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do you do when your child wants icecream for breakfast? You give it to him/her, that's what!

Puree 1 cup yogourt (low-fat, plain) with 1 cup mixed, frozen berries. Add honey or refined cane sugar to taste. Scoop onto a cone and make your child smile first thing in the morning! Frunty made it the other day, ate two scoops and was so happy.

Nonna gave us a recipe for "breakfast cookies". Frunty and I made them this afternoon while Peauteau played with oranges. They were really good and when they were cool enough to touch, Frunty started pushing pumpkin seeds into them and ended up eating 3 or 4. It is so fun to bake together and especially something very healthy. And what kid doesn't like cookies? Next time we'll add raisins and nuts to these wholewheat/orange cookies to make them even tastier and healthier.

Peauteau and I went to a market today with friends while Frunty stayed at school for lunch. We found a Moroccan stall with excellent dried fruits/nuts at half decent prices. Despite the horrible weather, we had fun!

Chocolate: the world's most acceptable addiction. Dark chocolate is great for your cardiovascular health. One of the latest studies found that eating 3.5 ounces a day lowered blood pressure in people with hypertension. So it's a bonus that it does your romantic heart good.

Compliment your chocolate fix with a glass of wine. Don't worry, a little bit won't hurt your running--if you're smart about it. Find out how in What Are You Drinking.

Runner's World.com

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Last night Daddy and I celebrated by going to Brasserie St. Georges, quite a swanky place and it was fun to dress up. Nonna babysat and the boys were greata! Today I found some chocolate from my secret admirer. Hold on while I grab some! Just came back from a run. Very mild here. Didn't go running in Turkey. It's the first break I have had from running since June when I took three weeks off after Peauteau was born. Have a great day!

Beware the barrenness of a busy life.

-Socrates

Last night we returned from an excellent holiday in Turkey. Nonna and I got last-miinute tickets from Tui Travel and flew down there with the kids while Daddy worked in Dubai/Saudi Arabia. We were able to enjoy the children very much without worrying about market/cooking/cleaning and also had lots of fun at a snake park, Phaselis (Ancient Roman ruins, incredible) and the "hamman". Have you ever had a Turkish bath? I had always thought that it was just a steam room. But it is an entire experience which includes being scrubbed/washed/massaged and then it starts all over again. Nonna treated me to a 1 1/2 hour treatment and I thought I had gone to Turkish heaven! If only I could have one treatment like that a week! I will go back to Turkey just for that alone.

We had some awesome rain/thunder/lightening storms and power failures in the hotel and at other times, we had sunshine and enjoyed a warm breeze by the ocean. We drank in the sea air as much as we could. Our hotel was surrounded by mountains and we could see the snow. We took the bus here and there on our adventures and experienced some of the local comings and goings.

The Turks in the hotel really love children and made a fuss over ours everyday and helped us with the stroller when there wasn't a ramp. Frunty made friends with the animateur, Becko, who in turn called him "Sharky" because Frunty wore a shark shirt.

Frunty and Peauteau enjoyed a bath tonight...Daddy is in Milano/Torino. I looked at these two little guys, splashing away, laughing, sharing toys...I am still in awe that they are mine. Then they ate dinner and went off to bed without almost no complaints. I think they know that they have to help me even more when Da da is away. Before bed, Frunty told me that I have to like pink because I am a girl. I really laughed. Where did he get an idea like that? I asked him and he said, "I think you told me that. I heard you say that yesterday." Well, I definitely don't remember ever saying that but it was just too cute for words.

We enjoyed a nice visit with Daddy's sister who visited us for the weekend. We went to the city of Spa and Daddy babysat while Z.E and I soaked in the hot springs, enjoyed the saunas and hamman. I liked when a worker, looking a lot like a maori, came into the sauna and poured water on the rocks. There was an orange scent that followed which was very relaxing. My whole body felt relaxed afterwards even though I was quite tired. The night before, we enjoyed a 4 course, gourmet meal at the hotel by the hot springs. It was delicious and we took a picture of the bottle of red wine so we would remember the name to purchase it again. It was excellent. And the dessert was exquisite...a chocolate brownie-type cake on the outside but when you cut into it, warm, melted chocolate oozed out. What a wonderful weekend and with snow all around, we got a little taste of winter too.