Fall in England

I admit it. I took them to the park today for entirely selfish reasons. I wanted some pictures of the changing of the leaves. The first I've ever really experienced, and maybe some good pictures of the kids for our Christmas cards. I wasn't disappointed. I took so many pictures and we really enjoyed the fall weather, cold and wet. We got stranded under a gazebo while a storm cloud rained down upon us, but it was fun, giving us a chance to talk and snuggle.

Let's Talk About Halloween in the UK

Halloween Past:

Sleeping Beauty and Harry Potter, 2009

Coaches from the past, 2009

Black Eye Pea, Deviled Egg, Luke Skywalker, and Ariel, 2010

Adorable little Bunny and a scary Spider, 2008

So I have to admit that I have been really homesick lately. I miss my parents, and I miss my country and all of our customs and way of life, especially now that the holidays are coming around.

In the past we have done BIG Halloweens. We always dress up, we always make it fun and special for the kids, and we always have a great time pretty much for the entire month of October. We go to Schnepf farms, we go to or have parties, we always go Trick or Treating. Typically on Halloween night, we have a firepit, an outdoor movie, our house is completely decorated out front, and we hand out GOOD candy.

So that pretty much doesn't happen here. We were invited to a party, but Jon is out of town in Bulgaria until just one day before Halloween. There are many people that just don't do Halloween at all. Most of them think it's an over-commercialized American holiday, and they're right. But, I say, who cares? It's about having fun, it's a necessarily a true holiday, just an excuse to have fun. There are zero outdoor decorations, and there is very little to buy in the stores. What there is to buy is very...cheesy, kind of like what you would find at Walgreens. We live in a neighborhood with a ton of kids, so we have been told that there is lots of Trick or Treating and we have been told not much, so we aren't really sure what to expect there. I did buy some candy, but again, not nearly like the candy that we would hand out at our house in Arizona. So, I bought good Christmas candy, chocolates, etc.

Here, we've gotten lots of comments about the kids' costumes. Joe is going as his new obsession, Dr. Who. Joci is going as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Typically, when people hear what Joci is, they make a comment about it not being scary at all. From what I've seen in the stores, most of their costumes are of the scary variety, and more traditional, witches, zombies, etc., lots of blood and gore and fake limbs.

So we are adapting. We aren't doing many decorations, except for a few little arts and crafts inside the house. The kids are still dressing up and going Trick or Treating, and I hope it works out and they have a good time. We are going to a little amusement park that is having a haunted Halloween party, and I am letting the kids wear their costumes to that as well. We have already bought our pumpkins, and so we will also carve those. We bought the biggest ones we could find, which still seem like a medium to small size in the states. We will absolutely still make roasted pumpkin seeds...yum.

So, we will still have a lot of fun, just different. We're bringing some of ours, and taking part of some of theirs, and meeting in the middle. Hopefully, it will help with the homesickness and with Thanksgiving around the corner, we can find our groove with the holidays.

Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

The best Broccoli and Cheddar Soup ever. Perfect for those cold nights at home.

1 lb. broccoli cut into bite size pieces
4 Tablespoons of butter
2 large carrots, finely diced
2 medium chopped onions
8 Cups chicken broth
1/2 Cup flour
3 Cups milk
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4-5 Cups cheddar cheese

In the butter saute the onion and carrot until soft. Add two cups of the broth and cook until onions and carrots are very soft. Using a hand mixer, blend till semi-smooth. Add the broccoli and the remaining broth. Whisk the flour and milk together in a separate bowl, then stir into the soup. Add the seasonings. After the broccoli has cooked down to the doneness that you like, add the cheese, but DO NOT bring the soup to a boil after adding the cheese or it will curdle. Serve.

Brussels, Belgium

So, Brussels was...interesting. We had a very difficult time just getting to our hotel in downtown Brussels. Their main roads in the city are interesting, to say the least. They have these tunnels that run down the middle, and then it can be very confusing how to get out of them, etc. Our GPS was having a difficult time with our translation of the hotel's address, also. My parents were COMPLETELY lost as well and Mom and I were texting back and forth trying to get them to where we thought we were going.

Once we got to the hotel, 'The White Hotel', well, it was an interesting place to be sure. Everything inside was very modern and as you might guess, all white. Jon had a difficult time checking in and then we found out that their parking garage was full. After a frustrating drive there, and finding that out, then walking to their very strange elevators, we weren't very optimistic about the interiors of the room, and for good reason. The rooms were ok, but certainly not over-accommodating. The funniest part was in our room, where the 'art' was three orange street cones with a string of lights in them. They were sitting in front of the air conditioner, which did not work, and so we thought that it was a barrier telling us not to use it. So we called the front desk and were told that it was the art...hmm. We weren't impressed with the hotel, or the service, but their breakfast was fantastic the next morning.

The biggest tourist attractions in Brussels is The Grand Place, Manneken Pis, Belgium Chocolates, and Belgium Beer. We did all 4. The Grand Place is big, very big, extravagant, and seriously ornate. There are thousands of statues and carvings on the center square buildings with so much Golden accents on them that they shine in the sun. Originally, this was a center of the town where they would do their markets, and it's still used for that today. Manneken Pis is the tiny fountain of a young boy literally pissing into the fountain. The kids loved it, and we all got tiny statues as keepsakes. We even bought chocolates in the shape of Manneken Pis. When we visited, he had clothes on when we visited, we were assuming for Soccer, but apparently they dress him up for different things all the time. and, finally, yes, the beer and the chocolate was amazing. Jon liked the beer, we liked the chocolate.

Other than that, we weren't that keen on Brussels. It was busy and loud, and not really, well, our speed. We all agreed, been there, done that, no need to ever go back.

From Brussels we moved on to Luxembourg, which was a beautiful surprise for us.

The Manneken Pis.

He is everywhere in Brussels. Eating waffles, made of chocolate, EVERYWHERE!

Our hotel room...

The 'art' in our hotel room. No, I'm not kidding.

Waiting patiently for Grandma and Grandpa.

Joe wanted his picture taken in front of the flowers, and he was right to do so, this picture turned out great!

We ate at a great little side street cafe. The stew was AMAZING!

It was obvious that this pretty lady was being touched, a lot, for luck. We must have watched 20 people do it while we were there, so we did too!

Joci loved the sweets store, especially the one with a barbie in it.

Brussels, Belgium, September 16th, 2011