Movies

Yesterday Leah, Jennifer and I went to the movies. We saw Paul Blart Mall Cop. That movie was our only choice because no other kid friendly movies were in English. The movie wasn't bad and made us a even laugh a little. The best part of the day was that we were the only people in the theater. We had the whole place to ourselves. Here are the reasons why the theater was deserted:
1. It was 2:00 in the afternoon.
2. It was a Monday.
3. It was sunny and 85 degrees outside, which isn't all that normal for Belgium.
4. The location has 25 different theaters and chances are everybody else was in one of the others.
5. The movie was just so-so and not worth 9 Euros per person.
6. The movie was in English and we live in a country where everyone either speaks French or Flemish.

Whatever the reason, we enjoyed the freedom of having the theater to ourselves. Leah and Jennifer put on a little show and danced all over. No one stopped them. I was laughing so hard I forget to get a picture of them acting so silly!

Maria is in Cambridge, UK, for 2 weeks!

Last day of school....finally!

The picture above is on the first day of school. Don't the girls look happy? Actually, they were mad at me for taking their picture. All of those smiles are fake. They were apprehensive and nervous. Below is the bus they took to school. Our bus driver didn't speak English, but he was a great guy and waited patiently if the girls weren't quite ready when he arrived at our house.

Now here is the picture on the last day of school. The girls really do look happy in this picture and not because they put on fake smiles. While waiting for the bus, Maria said, "Aren't you going to take our picture on the last day?" They were happy to be celebrating the last day of school but also self assured and secure with the school they attended. All three acclimated well to ISB and had a great year. They have big plans for the summer. Check out the blog frequently to see where they go!

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was more beautiful than we thought it would be. Bicycles and canals were everywhere. The people and the food were excellent.





We went with Nana and Papa to the Van Gogh (pronounced Van Gock in Holland) Museum and the Anne Frank House. Van Gogh worked hard during his short life and sometimes produced 1-2 paintings per day! We really liked his Almond Blossom painting the best. You can see it here http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/vincent-van-gogh-final-paintings-24.jpg

This statue is in front of the Anne Frank Museum. Just like Van Gogh, Anne Frank worked tirelessly throughout her life. We learned that during her time in hiding, she kept the diary in hopes of writing a book about her experiences. Her writings were indeed turned into a book by her father, the only member of her family to survive. I am so happy we were able to tour the Anne Frank house and highly recommend it to everyone who travels to Amsterdam.

Click on this picture and make it bigger to see a really cute picture of Jennifer and Leah with Papa. They were sitting on the "I amsterdam" sign right outside of the Van Gogh museum. Below is a larger picture of the huge sign.

Delft

The twins and I took Nana and Papa to the Delft factory. We saw how they make the beautiful Delftware in Delft, Netherlands. EVERYTHING was painted blue, even the toilets!!!

Hey Aunt Mary and Aunt Ruth....Look who came to visit us in Belgium!!!!!!

Videos from the Strings Concert

Maria, Papa, Leah, Jennifer and Nana after the Strings concert at ISB.

The concert was fabulous. Our girls hadn't even picked up a musical instrument before school started this past year. They have turned into little musicians and are quite good. Leah plays the bass and Jennifer plays the viola. Next year they will even get to play in The Hague in the Netherlands. I am so glad Papa and Nana where here to see them play!

More activities...

We have done so much with Mom and Dad! The picture on the right is of Dinant. Unfortunately, we had the worst meal we have ever had in Belgium. Luckily the scenery was beautiful!
Grand Place is on the right. Bob ducked down for the picture so he wouldn't tower over the rest of the family. Below, Mom and Dad are eating the best meal we have ever had in Germany at a cool restaurant in Düsseldorf.

Picture Credit

Leah and Jennifer took the new picture at the top of the blog while walking in the Tevuren Forest with Papa.

Mom and Dad arrived!

On Wednesday, June 10, Mom and Dad arrived at the Brussels International Airport. Do they look tired?

They were ready to go! We had lunch at a favorite bar/restaurant and headed off to ISB to tour the campus and see the girls.

Golf facts

1. Bob is getting really good.
2. Julie is still really bad.
3. It is so light here, you can play until 9:30pm.
4. Our course is in the French part of Belgium. We aren't sure what you say in French instead of "Four" when your ball is headed in the direction of the players ahead of you. Bob is the only one who has to worry about this because his shots are soooooooo long.
5. There are no golf carts so you walk the entire 18 holes.
6. It rains so much in Belgium that the course is green all the time. This also means that you will start your round in the rain and end it in beautiful sunshine. Or the other way around, of course.
7. We play with some great friends who are easy going and ready to let me take an extra drive if I need to.

I can't believe we have already played so much and it is only June 8!

Jennifer's pics from Trier

Leah and Jenn are back from Germany

Leah and Jennifer arrived today back at ISB after their 4 day field trip to Trier, Germany. They had great stories of shopping on the square, buying their own lunch and sleeping in a youth hostel. They also learned a lot about architectural and historical facts. It turns out the city of Trier is quite interesting and holds the story of the Roman leader, Constantine, along with remains of Roman baths, aqua ducts and amphitheaters. (Bob and I have also seen traces of Constantine, including his brain encased in gold, in other parts of Germany.)

These are Leah's pictures. Jenn's will follow soon.

Prom!!!!!!!!!!

Four day field trip

That's right, Leah and Jennifer left this morning for a four day field trip to Trier, Germany. They will see the remains of a Roman city and study the infrastructure and architecture. They will stay in a youth hostel with the other 120 5th graders, eat lunch on their own in the town and gather information to produce a power point presentation upon their return. They sure have taken some pretty big steps this year! I will share pictures as soon as possible.


This link will take you to a very short movie from the ISB website showcasing a visiting artist who spent the week with the 5th graders. He taught in the outdoor classroom emphasizing the importance of nature as an art form. The last student you see working with leaves on the video is Leah!http://www.isb.be/cf_media2/index.cfm?g=169

Busy with Baseball

This past weekend was the Baseball ISST championship at ISB. Of course we have no boys so we don't have anyone actually playing in the games, but that didn't stop the family from participating to the fullest. 12 teams from countries as far away as Cairo arrived on Wednesday to participate. There are so many players to "house" that we volunteered to take care of 2 players during their stay in Belgium. I have written about "housing" before. Families provide beds and meals for the visiting players. In return, we meet kids from all parts of the world.

We took care of 2 boys from the American International School in Vienna, Austria. Having Phil and Ryan around for 4 days was loads of fun. They played Wii with the girls and ate every morsel of food I cooked! We went to watch their games and cheer on the team from Vienna. They didn't do too well in the tournament so they needed some fans.
During the week there was a home run derby. Jennifer and Leah where fielders during the contest.

ISB did very well in the tournament! We have become true baseball fans cheering on the team throughout the season to a 19-1 record. The team's only loss came in the last game of the ISST series where they lost to UK Cobham for the championship title. It was sad to see the boys lose, but great to be involved in such an American sport over here in Europe. We ate hamburgers and hot dogs and sat in the glorious sun. They even served beer at the high school games!!!!

Here is Maria and our favorite player, Matt. Watch for the two of them in my next post since Prom was also this weekend and we have tons of pictures. We will call this the "before" picture! The "after" pictures should be great because they cleaned up quite well!