Catching Up During COVID!

Hello Everyone!

It's been over a year. It's been one really crazy year. I've finally come to a place of understanding and acceptance, that life with teenagers is just, plain, different. It will never be like it was when they were young and innocent and I had the ability to control most of their time and environment. All of that has changed now. (As it should.) It's just taken me a little while to adjust. I love my teenagers and I am still very much needed, it's just more as a cheerleader and directory guide now. They need to have more freedom than before and I need to work hard to set a good example more than I lecture. It's funny when you recognize a glazed look decending on your child's face as you are in the middle of some brilliant advice that would help make their life happier and better and you realize that they no longer hang on your every word. I used to have all of the answers. Now, my knowledge is apparently out-dated and irrelevant. Who knew? Now that I have accepted my husband's and my lack of control, we are plugging along nicely. Praying that all of the hard work we have put in (and continue to put in) will pay off and our kids will grow up to be good people, pay their bills, get an education and hopefully not move back in when they are thirty. Am I being sarcastic? Yeeesss ... sort of. Am I going crazy? Definitely. I blame that on them.

ANYway, while the past year has been busy, it has also been a lot of fun. I do feel very blessed. I've been working now for two years and learn new things everyday. I've got to photograph some exciting places and people, and have been stretched and pulled and all of that uncomfortable stuff that comes along with change.

Logan is about to finish 11th grade. It has been a doozy. He is in his school's IB program. He chose a career program that focuses on sports science and it has been a great fit for him. To get through COVID he has been eating meat and exercising (in between lots of school work and binge-watching Netflix of course). I can't believe I only have one year left with him at home. I am not ready to talk about that.

Linc has been really busy with school. He participated in his school's Model UN program and represented North Korea. It was harder than he thought it would be due to lack information. I told him he should have picked one of the countries we have lived in but he though NK would be funny. Sigh. He still loves to sketch and create comics in his spare time. He still brings calmness and peace to our home!

Owen is finishing up his first year of middle school. He did really well. He's into music and loves to play his trombone and sing. He has a quirky sense of humor that needs a filter from time to time and gets him in trouble often. His heart is big and he can now breathe through his nose since he had turbinoplasty surgery and his adenoids removed a month ago. He dreams of winning America's Got Talent or becoming a champion gamer.

Ellie has changed the most over the past year. She is really growing up and I am happy to say that she still has one year left in elementary school. I don't want her growing up too fast now. She loves anything tactile. Slime is favorite thing in the world and she is quite an expert at it. If you have any slime issues, she is your girl. We love to spend time together watching cheesy Hallmark movies that boys wouldn't watch with us if you offered them bin of popsicles. Good Witch is our current favorite.

As for Dan and I ... well, we are hanging in there. COVID gave us the blessing of slowing down a bit and spending more time together. It was stressful in some ways, but overall a good things for us. We went on lots of walks and got to know our neighborhood pretty well. Belgium is wonderful at being full of accessible nature. There are trails and forests everywhere within walking distance. I will miss that when we leave next year. Speaking of that, we will be bidding this summer and find out our next "home" by October or November. There is always a funny stress that comes with the anticipation of wondering where your next place will be. I try not to think about it and live in the present, but its always there in the back of my mind. I guess we will see. At this point in the game, I say, "Bring it On."

I'll leave you with a few pics from our recent family walks and hopefully, it won't be an entire year before I update you again. I hope everyone out there is staying healthy and happy!

Our Summer Trip to France

I can't believe I actually get to type that title in. My entire life I have dreamed about what it would be like to visit France, especially Paris, and to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up and sparkly. It seems so strange, because now that we are living in Brussels, a trip to Paris is only about a 3 1/2 hour car drive away. What was once such a far-away dream has now become a pretty convenient road trip.
Life is weird like that. So, even though we are pushing close to next summer, I wanted to take a few moments today to catch up and post a few pictures.

We spent eight days total in France, dropping in on a few other villages and cities along our route. Our first stop was to the city of Rouen (well known for being the city where Joan of Arc was burned to death). The cathedral there was breathtaking and they had a 14th century, astronomical clock called 'The Gros-Horlage' that is known to be one of the oldest, working clocks in Europe. After our quick stop there, we continued on to another fantastic side trip (and one of my favorite stops), Etretat. Located on the north coast of France, Etretat is known for its rocky beaches and amazing rock formations naturally carved from white cliffs. My family is a beach family, so this little stop was such a breath of fresh air, not to mention it was gorgeous. Some of my favorite pictures are from Etretat.

Finally, after a full day of driving and stopping, we arrived at Caen and settled into our early 18th century AirBnB there. Caen is a coastal city in Normandy that was heavily involved in WWII (think, battle of Normandy, D-Day, beginning of the liberation of France). It was strange to think about everything going on there in 1944, especially since the house we were staying in was around at that time. While there, we visited a few of the D-Day beaches, the beach of The Battle of Normandy, the Bayeux Catherdral, the Tapestry of the Normand Invasion, and the fairytale island/city, Mont St. Michel. I'll let my pictures tell those stories!

A few days later, we all piled back into our van, waved good-bye to the coast, and headed off on the next leg of our journey... Loire Valley. I can't explain Loire Valley without mentioning the amazing Chateaus there. Dan and I could have visited them all without hesitation, but we did have the kids with us, and to be fair to them, there were SO MANY chateaus. So, we picked the very rural/quaint city of Amboise (with an adorable BnB run by an even sweeter old French couple) as our resting place and made our way around to our top three picks. Château d'Ussé (think, 'Sleeping Beauty'), Clos-Luce (final home of Leonardo de Vinci), and my favorite, Château de Chenonceau (just, wow).
In Amboise we spent one evening having a picnic near a slow moving river at sunset and I couldn't have painted the scene better, because as we were eating and exploring a bit, three hot air balloons floated by. It really was perfect.

Okay, so, after a few lovely days in Loire Valley, it was time to head to our final location (the highlight of our trip), Paris. We made a quick stop in Chartres to see the cathedral there and then, before settling into our AirBnB in Paris (a cozy apartment appropriately housing a Parisian kitty, which was a mistake because Dan and Linc are allergic ... oops), we stopped in to visit the Palace of Versailles in all it's gold-trimmed glory. To be honest, it was beautiful, but I think I preferred the chateaus more. They were less grand, but had more ... I don't know, personality? Maybe it's just that I'm a small town person, so I was in heaven in Loire Valley. Anyway, the palace was spectacular. Very Royal. Yep.
In Paris, we walked A LOT. We were able to see the Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame (outside only), the Sainte Chappelle (a must-see for stained glass lovers), the Mary Anoinette Prison, the Louvre (loved!!), the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, and of course, a canal tour ending with the Eiffel Tower at dusk. (My absolute favorite part of the trip and a magical evening we will never forget!)

I guess that about covers everything. I'll just finish by saying that we saw a lot in a short period of time, and we were worn out when we finally made it home again, but it was such a beautiful trip and I don't regret one exhausting moment of it. (Even when Dan almost got arrested by a pushy guard in the cemetery... but then, I'll let him tell that story, he might not agree with my version.)

Alright, time to let my pictures do the rest of the talking!

Rouen:

Etretat:

Normandy:

Mont St. Michel:

Loire Valley:

Clos Luce (Davinci):

Chateau de Chenonceau:

Chateau d'Usse (Sleeping Beauty's Castle):

 Chartres:

 Paris:

Au Revoir!