Growing T.

Here's a little month-by-month comparison of our baby boy:

MONTH O: 9lbs 6oz

MONTH 1:

MONTH 2: 15.66lbs

MONTH 3: 18lbs

Month 4: 20+lbs

Month 5: 23lbs (note: the max. weight on the car seat is 22lbs)

Month 6!

Month 7

 

Month 8

Month 9

Month 10

Month 11

One Year!

Champagne, France

Four years of marriage have seemed to have just flown by. To celebrate we took a long weekend trip to France. Along the way however, we had to make a stop at one of our favorite monasteries, Orval. Situated on the Belgium- French border, Orval is one of the 7 remaining trappist monasteries in the world. We have been here before, J., W., and I but we didn’t have time to tour the place. This trip we did; and we had a wonderful time exploring the ruins of the old monastery.
We were then off to stay the night in our chateau B&B in France. Situated in the tiniest of villages in the Champagne region, Harricourt the chateau La Montgonière was a rustic home built in the 1700’s. http://lamontgoniere.free.fr/indexeng.htm
J., T., and I took a trip from our chateau to the heart of the Champagne region, Reims and Épernay. In the town of Épernay, we were able to visit the champagne house Moët et Chandon and tour their cellars. What a great experience we had, and the sampling at the end of the tour was most welcome. We both learned a lot about champagne making and why Dom Perignon is considered to be the best champagne in the world.
After a fun-filled day of champagne tasting, our next day took us to the town of Sedan, 10k from the Belgium border, located in the historic Ardennes. Sedan is the home of the largest fortified castle in Europe, which now is home to a hotel as well as a museum. This area of France is well know for the important battles played there, not the least of which was the WWII battle which involved the Maginot Line.
Oh, and least I forget to mention, the food was fabulous! We have no idea what we ate, but we really enjoyed it.

Here’s a link to our photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=141299&id=758239743&l=a417d2e3c9

First day of School!

First day of school, First day of school, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
W. started the kindergarten year on August 19th this year. She goes every morning for five days a week. We thought that be immersing her in the German kindergarten she would be able to learn the language faster. And guess what? She is!

Zeeland, NL

A little over two and a half hours is the Netherland coastline called Zeeland. It is a beautiful little beach spot, perfect to spend the afternoon with your family. The water was warm enough to wade and swim in, and the sand was perfect for basking; as long as you brought some shade! We enjoyed clear blue skies and a cool breeze. The ice cream man even made a little money off of us... yum, cold ice cream on a hot day! After our outing on the beach, we traversed over the dyke and filled our bellies with the biggest pot of mussels J. or I had ever had set before us. W. had her normal 'juice and nothing else' and T., well you all know what he eats!

Here's a little information about the place if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland

And more photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136524&id=758239743&l=47e7eb0d90