Oops, over a month since I last wrote. Time sure flies. Will try to sum up what has happened this past month.
- We have had several instances of very nice weather. A weekend of 20 degrees a few weeks ago and then again this whole week. I'm very envious of Peter who is not working and is free to spend all day outside if he wants to. The kids seem to enjoy all the time outdoors too, and not having to wear a jacket.
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| Harald at our local playground |
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| Nature's beauty |
- Peter's sister with family visited in mid-March (unfortunately it was pretty cold on the Saturday but Sunday was pretty nice). It was the first time they visited us (not Brussels though) so it was nice to show them our home here and our neighbourhood. Isolde and cousin Olivia (2 years old) played really well together, and Harald was almost keeping up with their pace (it will be fun to see all three of them play together in the summer when Harald is a bit older).
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| Three cousins and little artists |
In March we made several visits to Parc Malou playground with the neighbours and also hung out at each other's place, including tapas lunch at their place and waffles at ours. P. and I also try to take the metro home from work together (in the morning she leaves earlier than me as I drop off Isolde at school).
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| Hanging with the neighbours in Parc Malou |
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| Parc Malou |
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| Buddies |
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| Waffles! |
Our get-to-know-new-people drink on 8 March was a success. I think we were 22 adults and 12 children (under the age of four) in the end. It looked like people were enjoying themselves and I have played family match-maker following the event. I took some pictures with the regular camera (all photos in this post are with the iPhone) but haven't not uploaded them yet.
I went on an overnight work trip to Sweden and there was no storms or other mishaps this time! That is fortunate because otherwise I'm not sure the Commissioner would want to travel with me again! We stayed at a beautiful hotel in Uppsala that I can really recommend. Very nice name too ;)
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| My room had a cosy window niche with views of Uppsala cathedral |
Peter attended a job hunting seminar the Commission organises for spouses and met some new people at the same time. If we stay here after this year, which we hope to do, he will need to find a job here (but working remotely for his present employer could also be an option). I had the day off to take care of Harald and I chose a day of beautiful weather with 20 degrees - the next day it was miserable and raining!
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| Magnolia blossom on my day off |
Our flat in Sweden is free now from April and we're looking for a new tenant in case anyone is interested?!
My mother visited the very last weekend of March. My aunt was supposed to come along but unfortunately she has problems with her back and needs surgery and had to cancel. Hopefully she can visit in the autumn instead. My mum arrived on Thursday evening (a bit delayed after having been rebooked via Copenhagen) and Friday she was home with Peter and the kids (I had to work unfortunately), and while Peter took Harald for his weekly swimming session she baked cinnamon buns with Isolde. Isolde had been talking about baking with grandma for weeks, so she was very happy. They also made some Easter crafts and went to the playground. Saturday we went to Gent, a town about an hour's drive from Brussels. It was a lovely day weatherwise so perfect for an excursion. We had lunch outdoors at one of the restaurants in the square by Saint Bavo cathedral. Sunday we checked out Bois de la Cambre, another big park in Brussels, and then spent the rest of the day in our regular haunt Parc Malou where we were also joined by the neighbours.
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| Story time with mormor in the balcony |
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| Pretty canals and houses in Gent |
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| More houses along canals |
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| A bottle in a barrel of ice can be lots of fun! |
Isolde went to her first proper birthday party last month! She has of course celebrated little friends' birthdays before but I mean the first real kid party where she's invited and parents are only invited as chaperones really. Her classmate Félix had invited Isolde and one other girl from the class. Félix's mother tried to do a few games with them - and I was surprised that Isolde accepted to be blindfolded for one of them! - but mostly they just wanted to play freely. Isolde lasted about 75 minutes and then she wanted to go home :) I'm really happy she was invited and I hope to organise a playdate or get-together again soon. Félix's parents seem very nice, and it would be good to know some Belgians as well (the father is Belgian and the mothre German but moved her as a child or teenager).
We were thinking of booking some holiday activities, so-called stages, for Isolde for next week, the first week of the Easter holiday, in order to try what it is like as we will probably need it during the summer when school's out (mainly August as we'll be in Sweden in July - school starts again in September) and Peter will have started working. However, in the end we thought about it a bit late and the most obvious one, which is held at Isolde's school (which I just found out about actually), was fully booked. So she will stay home with Peter and they will have to think of some activities on their own.
Last time I wrote that we were going to do a daytrip on one of my days off, but we ended up having colds all of us so we stayed at home and also missed a colleague's carnival party. We did pop into our neighbours for their "neighbours' fika" for their friends living in (or soon moving into) our building or in the neighbourhood. Now we have at least been to Gent but we still want to go a bit further away and stay overnight somewhere. Top three on our list I think is the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Haarlem and the Hague), Luxembourg and Champagne in France. And it looks like we will be doing a roadtrip to Münich in Germany with our neighbours over the Ascension weekend at the end of May.
Harald is completely CRAZY about computers and he has already broken the screen of Peter's work laptop and both iPad screens, one of which had to be fixed but the other one is just a crack underneath the glass in one corner. He gets absolutely miserable if he can't play with them. It is annoying and cute at the same time. He also really likes to help out with the cleaning :)
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| Favourite toy |
My friend H. who I actually met for the first time here in Brussels almost 12 years ago was here for a work trip again and we went back to the pub where we met!
Lately Isolde has not wanted me to leave when I drop her off at school in the morning, but at the same time she is very happy about going to school while we are still at home in the morning and also on the way there, and everyday she tells me "it is fun in school, mummy", so I assume it is just a matter of missing me and finding it a bit difficult to say bye, even if it is just for a few hours. She's been in a very cuddly mood lately and telling me she loves me. They have a substitute teacher right now as well, who seems to be very good, but she doesn't help the children to stand in the window to wave to the parents like the regular teacher used to do. However, this week Isolde has been Miss Mischief at home and has also had trouble sleeping (I think it is partly growing pains), but she doesn't mind me leaving her at school in the morning. Maybe she's tired of us and just happy to be away from us parents for a few hours, these parents who try to rule over her and tell what she can and can't do! :)
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| Bois de la Cambre |
Finishing with a picture of Harald and me!
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| Promenade Verte |
