Having Fun with Dani Here!

It finally happened! We had a family member come visit us in our home in Belgium! My dear sister Dani came and spent two weeks with us from November 17 to November 30. We had soooo much fun together! My favorite parts of her visit, for sure, were the sister bonding moments while we were busy baking and cooking so many delicious goodies! We actually used more than a whole 5 lb. bag of flour while she was here. Awesome!! Here's a fun account of all we did while she was here!

Thursday, November 17 - Zach and I woke up super early to pick up Dani at the airport. The two lane roads in Belgium are annoying!!! I ended up arriving at the airport almost an hour later than our GPS said we would originally arrive because of major traffic congestion. Oy! Dani and her boy Eric had to wait a while before we finally showed up. I met Eric. He seemed like a real nice guy and was super helpful getting all of her stuff out to my van. They said their good-byes, and Dani and I headed home. Since she was tired from traveling, and I was tired from being up early, we only made one thing (he he) that day: Pumpkin Butter!! AWESOME!!!! That's definitely a recipe I'll be keeping handy for next year!! Rachael was super excited to come home from school and see her Dani =) And, since we were kinda tired and since Adam's such a great guy, he took us out to the Filling Station, a local restaurant that specializes in American food. Yay =) Thanks, Adam!

Friday - Rachael didn't have school, so Dani and I packed up her and Zach and went to the park in Lanaken. Dani agreed that it was probably the coolest park ever, with its ziplines, whistle boards, in-ground trampolines, and fun things to climb on. Since it was a little chilly, there weren't tons of kids around, so Rachael and Zach had an even better time not having to fight with other kids to play on the stuff. When we got home, Dani and I made the most delicious, awesome, amazing Colby Crack 'n Cheese EVER!! That's Mac 'n' Cheese with Colby Jack, garlic, onions, and bacon. To die for!!! We then made up some waffle batter to sit overnight for the next morning.

Saturday - That waffle batter? Well, it was actually for Peach Beer waffles. The batter was made with, well.... Peach Beer! Letting it sit overnight let the yeasts work some awesome magic. The waffles had bits of peaches in them, and we made a peach sauce to cover them. When we added a touch of maple syrup, the whole thing just kinda went Zow-wee!! And it was just yummmmmmy! But, Rachael didn't feel to good that day. So, we kept the day quiet, snuggled up on the couch and watched Dolphin Tale, which was just a really sweet movie about a real live dolphin who was given a second chance with a prosthetic tail. Cool!

Sunday - Sundays in Belgium for us are pretty slow for us, which I love! Adam made us all some breakfast, and then he and Zach stayed home so Adam could get some stuff done and ready for his trip to London. Dani, Rachael, and I went to church where I introduced my sister to some of my wonderful MCCW friends. Of course, no trip to Brunssun is ever complete until we head to Schinnen to get some groceries at the commissary. We had to hurry through our shopping there and at the PX so we could get a few items for Adam to take to London with him. We made it home in time to get Adam on his train, and then we crashed for the night. Monday was going to be a big day!!

Monday - Dang! We woke up waaaay too early today. The kids and I have appointments at Spangdahlem and Bitburg to see the dentist. While their appointments are in the afternoon, mine is as 9am. So, we had to break outta bed early and get the kids ready and in the car so we could make it there in time. I am soooooo glad Dani was here for this day! She was so helpful watching both kids while I had my appointment (no cavities!). We killed some time hanging out at the awesome parks on Spang before we headed for lunch. Oh, was lunch good! They have a Chinese restaurant that serves Asian food and Sushi! Our mouths were watering as we looked at the sushi and sashimi menus and the awesome rolls. We feasted on delicious bites of rice and fish and vegetables while we nibbled away at Rachael's big ol' plate of chicken fried rice. To top off lunch before heading to the kiddos appointments, we stopped by the coffee shop. What a treat! Then, we made our way to Bitburg (about 20 minutes away where the Pediatric dentists are). Rachael was perfectly wonderful getting all of her x-rays taken and opening wide so they could look at and clean her teeth. She loves the dentist! Zachary screamed the whole time we were messing with his mouth. He's too busy to be held still, let alone held flat on his back on the laps of his mom and dentist! Oy!! =) On the way back home, we stopped by Adam's and my favorite frituur, Frituur Tongeren. It's a little hole-in-the-wall kinda place that makes the best friets! Dani agreed that the friets were amazing, though she wasn't too keen on the whole dipping-them-in-mayonnaise thing (I'm ok with it =). She did, however, love the Andalouse sauce, which is also our favorite for our delicious little potato friends as well!! Since Adam was gone, I broke out the Ikea Swedish Meatballs, sauce, and lingonberry sylt I'd been stashing (he's not a fan of frozen cafeteria food =). We loved it anyways. Then, we headed to see the Sayoun's (can't remember why right now) and had a wonderful conversation with them (Sayouns: We love you!)

Tuesday: This day turned out very different than we had planned... and that's a good thing! We were supposed to just go out and get some veggies and chocolate real quick and return home to start our big Thanksgiving Bakedown. Well, that didn't happen! We did go out, and we did pick up our veggies (yummy!).  Instead of returning home to begin our bakedown, we decided to drive around a bit. Dani had biked past a place called Mergel Grotten and wanted me to check it out. Crazy! There are caves all around here. Mergel Grotten means "Limestone Caves." And we have an entrance to one only a couple kilometers from our house! We walked down to it (there were emus and other animals along the lane; weird =). It seemed kind of deserted. Dani went in and checked it out. I guess there's art down there and cool stuff. But, she came upon a guy working, so she quietly snuck back out. Then out comes this huge black and white Great Dane. He was wildly wagging his tail and making growly happy noises (almost unnerving, but you could tell he was just super happy). An older man came out of the cave. He didn't speak any English. We eventually figured out that we could visit the caves if we made an appointment with Riemst tourism and came in a 'groupa.' It was just so surreal! Then, we headed into Tongeren. I wanted to show her how delicious the cappuccinos were at Activ (the gym/bowling/pool/restaurant that our landlords own), but they were closed. So, we stopped by downtown, looking for a specific chocolate shop that had been advertised at the NPC. In trying to find this shop, we ended up driving on some pedestrian-only streets (oops!). But, we found a bakery with tons of people around it. I made the quick decision to pull the car over real quick and get something yummy (waffles and pastries, yay!). Getting back in the car, an old man on a scooter was giving us a 'look,' all because we were parked on the sidewalk he was driving on! We had a laugh and moved on as fast as we could! We did finally get a good parking spot and found our chocolate shop. The lady who owns it has a husband that works for the Belgian radar station co-located with the NPC. That's why the advertising was there. She made the most delicious Turkish delight! We continued strolling along the beautifully decorated streets, walking in to two other chocolate shops. One of these was very modern, and we actually got to talk to the chocolatier! Then, we stopped by and ogled at the amazing Tongeren Basilica. Lovely! We did finally head home and began our baking, though we didn't get as much done as we should have. The items we finished were our Belgian New Year's Waffle Cookies, Easy Yeast Rolls, and Hot Buttered Rum batter =) Dani got on her bike and picked up my notebook that I'd left at the veggie shop. She then brought back from there some chicken from the Kip 'n' Rib truck for dinner. Yummy!

Wednesday: The day before Thanksgiving! Dani and I had so much baking to do!! First, we had to get Rachael on the bus. Then Dani and I took Zach up to Brunssum for my Wednesday morning meeting with the lovely MCCW women. We had a great discussion about our book "Our Lady of Kibeho." I know my friends enjoyed Dani and listening to what she had to say, and I think Dani got a bit out of it, too. I personally can't get enough of these MCCW meetings and wish most days were Wednesdays! Anyways, after that we headed to Schinnen to get some more cooking supplies. Then we scurried back home to begin the rest of our bakedown! I made a very cool looking Cinnamon Roll crust for our Pumpkin Pie. Dani and I worked together to make a beautifully decorated Cherry Pie. And while I was working on the Strawberry Pretzel Salad, Dani made a most delicious Cream of Tomato Soup out of my wonderful cookbook "Everybody Eats Well in Belgium." While we were baking and cooking, we enjoyed some hot chocolate made from the chocolate spoons we picked up at the modern chocolate shop in Tongeren. Then, after eating dinner, we put the kids to bed, and I went to go pick up Adam from the train station (Yay, he's home!).


Thursday: Thanksgiving Day! Since dinner was going to be late (the kids actually had to go to school), we were able to take it easy most of the day. I finished the Strawberry Pretzel Salad (very wrongly, actually, but it still tasted good!). As per our family tradition, we watched "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." We made our way out to the Sayouns and just had a blast. The guys all hung out outside frying three turkeys! The Sayouns had invited a family they'd known previously in the States, so we got to know them. The Maynards showed up, too. Oh, my goodness, we had soooo much food!! If I'm counting right, there were nine adults and eleven kids! What a fun-filled feast we had! The fire outside lent a nice atmosphere for conversation afterwards. And John's boss even stopped by. He's a funny guy =) After feasting and drinking Hot Buttered Rums and beers and tuckering everyone out, we finally said our goodbyes. But, wow. That was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Friday: What a fun day today! After sleeping in (or sleeping off the night before =), we gathered ourselves together to make the trip into Cologne, or Koln, however you want to say it =). The city was hosting a big, beautiful Weihnachts Markt (Christmas Market) right in the shadow of the most magnificent and amazing Kolner Dom, the Cologne Cathedral. This was such an incredibly fantastic day. We toured through the Cathedral, which was just incredible in its own right. The Christmas Market was a joy to wander through and perfect for buying all of our holiday presents. Dani introduced us to Gluhwein (a warm, mulled, spiced wine; yummy!). Adam tried some brats and a steak sandwich where the steak was 3 times as big as the bread! Later that night we meandered off the beaten path towards the Rhine River and found another Christmas Market. This one was on a boat and advertised itself as "Europas Grosste Schiffs Weinachts Markt" (Europe's Largest Christmas Market on a Ship =). We had to pay to enter this market, and we were greeted by a sweet little lab dressed as an angel. This market hosted some very unique and different vendors that you wouldn't find in the main market. There was even a palm reader! Cool! Dani then treated us to some Apfel Streudel, Cocoa, and Coffee before we left for the night. What an incredible day!

This is the huge, massive, impressive, and utterly humbling Kolner Dom. I took 12 pictures to try to make this image. The perspective on it is so wrong because it's just such a huge structure. Amazing.

Gluhwein. Yummy!!

Inside the Kolner Dom. This houses the remains of the Three Wise Men. Incredible.

Mosaic work on the floor. Beautiful.

The choir stalls were so ornately carved.

How beautiful is the Christmas Market!

Adam's steak 'sandwich' =)

One of the super fun vendors

My Dani!

Rachael loved the carousel =)

The backside of the Kolner Dom. It was dark out. The pictures were very poor. Photoshop made them look kind neat though!

The Christmas Market Ship!

Picture of the Rhine taken from the ship

The sweet angel dog =)

Tabernacle in the Aachener Dom

Saturday: Today was fun because we spent it at another Christmas Market!! This time, we stayed a touch closer to home by visiting Aachen. The first thing we did was check out the Aachener Dom. Though this structure isn't as formidable as the very intense Kolner Dom, it sure was beautiful!! I'll let the pictures do the talking! The market itself was cute and quaint and wonderful. It seemed like there was more variety here than in Cologne, and the prices seemed a little cheaper =) The permanent shops in the city were really neat, too. We sure loved this market. But, boy, after Thanksgiving Day and all day walking around Cologne, all of us, kids and adults, were getting pretty tired, so we finished our shopping and returned home for some much needed rest.

 

We could see three levels of this amazingly beautiful and intricate mosaic work on the walls and ceilings of the Dom. Remarkable!

The Aachener Dom is amazing because of its most fantastic, colorful, intricate, sparkly, everywhere-you-look-for-three-stories mosaics covering the walls and ceilings. Beautiful! It houses the remains of Charlamagne, Jesus' swaddling clothes and loincloth, the Virgin Mary's clothes, and the decapitation cloth of John the Baptist. Wow!

One of Rachael's new dresses =)

Sunday - Oh, no! We're all feeling kind of sick (except for Dani!). We've been getting some pretty significant colds since moving to Europe and having Rachael in school. This one is no exception. We couldn't muster the strength and energy to make it to Mass. However, throughout the day, we did manage to put the Christmas tree together, decorate it, and put a few things around the house, all while watching Buddy the Elf and a Christmas Story. It was a kind of quiet day, but we did lots of bonding and resting and loving =) We picked up a live wreath in Aachen the day before to make a beautiful Advent Wreath this year. At least we could celebrate our religion a little this way. Later that night, Dani gave us a few gifts she'd picked up for us while in Singapore. She said there was a market where all fabric pieces were $5. So, for Rachael's birthday and Christmas presents, she bought her 4 beautiful little dresses. She then gave me two dresses of my own, and two very lovely scarves. She also bought a very nice shirt for Zachary, too! Thanks, Dani, for the very sweet, pretty gifts!

Monday - Well, since we didn't go to church on Sunday, we didn't get to go grocery shopping either! Zach was running out of milk, so Dani and I had to go buy some on the economy (the Commissary is closed on Mondays). We stopped by the Ad Delhaize and had fun checking out the local grocery store. We both agreed that the ultra-pasteurized shelf-stable milk is gross, but it worked for Zach. We found in the refrigerated section a whole slew of containers filled with meat salads for sandwiches. Yummy!! Together, we agreed to get the Kip Met Pepperoomsaus (Chicken with Peppersauce). Then we found some little sandwich breads in the bakery section. These would make a perfect little lunch! Instead of heading straight home, we drove around a bit. I saw a sign leading to Alden Biessen, a local castle that I knew of and hadn't visited before, so we followed them. This castle was Amazing! Of course we didn't have our cameras with us (bummer!!). But, we sure enjoyed walking around. There were courtyards and gardens. Something special had obviously happened not too long ago. In one of the courtyards was a stage with a huge ten-foot-tall ball gown on it. Dani got underneath and climbed up into it like a Barbie doll. Silly girl! The castle was moated, with water in it. So cool! We even got to check out the visitors center. However, since we weren't planning on being away from the house so long, we didn't have much food for Zach, and he was getting cranky, so we had to go back home and put him down for a nap. We feasted on our little sandwiches and lazed about the rest of the day.

Tuesday: Still feeling sick, we had another lazy day today. We needed some real groceries, so Dani and I loaded up Zach and headed to Schinnen. We really wanted to go to Eben-Emal or find a group going into the Mergel Grotten, but we decided that staying home and resting would be better. Dani did, however, make the super delicious Corn Chowder recipe that Angela Terhaar shared with us. Oh, it was sooo good! If we weren't going to do much, at least we were going to eat well!! Dani then had to get as much lovin' done on my kiddos as possible because she was leaving in the morning. Wow. The time just goes so fast! We had so much fun making food, reconnecting, and exploring. I don't think any amount of time would have been long enough!

Wednesday: Well, the day is here. Dani and I had to get Zach up early so we could head to the airport. Driving into Brussels just sucks, so we needed to make sure we had plenty of time. Jill (our GPS) noted that there was severe traffic delays and took us off the freeway through city streets to finally get us there. That was kind of cool. Eventually we found the airport and got Dani checked in. Saying good-bye is never easy, but I'm glad to know she's going back home, if only for a little while =) We'll definitely miss her and wish her the best wherever she ends up =) After sending her off, I headed back home. Today is Adam's birthday! I made him his favorite: German Chocolate Cake. My computer card-maker didn't work, so I made a hand-made card with Rachael's crayons. She colored on it, too, when she came home. Then, we had a little celebration and settled in, just the four of us again =)