On Sunday I was able to help out in AJ's and Michael's Shining Stars (their church). I have to say I really, really like it!! It is for K-5th grades (I know Michael is a little young, but he does really well in there). They start with some songs and a lesson. They have a great video that is teaching them about Jesus and what he did for us. They do it to a level that all ages learn. Once the first part of the lesson is over they break into grade level groups and then the lesson is taught to their level. I have done the 1st graders both times I was in there. It is so wonderful to see the young learning and catching what the lesson is all about!! They also have a really fun review quiz where they try and catch the monkey (part of the movie) and they get really excited about it!!! I am so glad we found such a wonderful church that we all enjoy! After that we took a brief lunch and headed to AWANAS - where the boys memorize verses and get to play games and make crafts! We have had a great week!! On Tuesday Michael and I went to have lunch with AJ at his school. AJ had been begging me to bring Michael. So we stayed for lunch, then for recess and then we ended up staying an hour and a half after that. Michael fits in with the class so well that AJ's teacher Mrs. Richardson didn't even realize she handed him one of the homework sheets that the class was doing for math. So much so that he actually turned it in (I didn't realize he did that, I guess he saw the other kids doing that so he thought it was the right thing to do). When Mrs. Richardson was grading them the next day she couldn't figure out who it was. It finally dawned on her that it was Michael so she graded it for him and sent it home with AJ. Michael sat through story time and another teacher coming in and teaching the class. I think he is more than ready for Kindergarten! :-) So tomorrow David and I are going to head to Italy. We have two wonderful friends who are watching the boys for the weekend and we are taking a bus down to Italy for Carneval!! We will only be there for the day because it is about a 12 hour-ish ride, but it is going to be wonderful!! And the boys are sooooooooo excited for the sleepover they keep asking if today is the day and that was over a week ago! Their children are just as excited!! I am glad that they all get along so well!! On Monday hopefully I will get my pictures uploaded and show you the beautiful town of Venice!!!

Pine Wood Derby 2013

Well as most of you probably know from Facebook, AJ won the pine wood derby for Tigers!!!! We are sooooooooo proud of him!!! We didn't have a ton of time especially with us going to Belgium the weekend before and getting snowed in the extra day. Not that we didn't LOVE being there the extra day!!! But we were able to get it done in time, we painted it on Wednesday, picked it up Thursday from the arts and crafts place, had a scout meeting that night. Friday was busy with bowling and Bingo and when we got home David put on the wheels and then AJ put on the weights. They are very specific about the dimensions and weight of the car. It has to pass inspection and be legal or it can't race. It also has to be there on time. There was one car that didn't make it and wasn't eligible for the race. Then on Saturday morning the Tiger's weigh-in was at 8:30 am, so AJ was up early putting the finishing touches (stickers) on the car. Whatever he did, he did it right!! They do four heats for each car so they race down each track once and then they take the combined score and see who is the top winner. The top four move on to districts. In the first heat AJ took first place and I couldn't believe it!! The smile on his face was sooooo awesome!!! Then he took second by .001 of a second, it was a close race! All in all he took first of the Tigers. I didn't realize how long of a day this was going to be. We got there at 8:30 and didn't leave until 3:30 pm. They also wouldn't let anybody even near the cars. Once you weighed and checked your car in, you could not touch it again until the race was over. They brought in some boy scouts to help and they were the launchers. It was definitely an experience. After they did all the races, there were 5 different scout groups, the siblings and the adult group (which there were a lot of heats in the last two), they took the top two out of each group and raced for the overall winner. Out of 12 cars AJ was 4th over all!! Every time he did well he came over to me and gave me a high five!! It was so nice to see all of his work payoff and he also was a great winner, he didn't gloat that he won or hold it over any of the others. I am really proud of him!!! It was such a great day!! Afterwards we headed to the KMCC (the big mall on Ramstein) and celebrated with ice cream and play time at the kids area!! We all came home tired, but what a great day!!!

We put some graphite on the wheels and told the kids to run the wheels back and forth to make them go faster.

AJ's car getting checked in, he named it Monster Driver

Michael being a goof while eating lunch

AJ being a goof also while eating lunch

They had some games and such for the boys since they had to be there for so long. The opening ceremonies didn't start till 12:30 pm (they were supposed to start at 11:30 am)

Getting ready for the races. We had all the boys sit there and then found out they couldn't be on the inside of the tables - it was strictly off limits. :-) Like I said they were serious about their pinewood derby.

Michael and his friend Alex going head to head :-) LOL

AJ's first race, his car is on the far left looking at them - it had the blue and green of the Seahawks for Daddy!! And a little bit of gold - not sure for what, but he liked it!

AJ in the "pit" awaiting the first race

That is AJ's car that already crossed the finish line, check out how far ahead he is compared to all the rest!!! If you look at the sign that says Finish that is the electronic device that measured the speed and the time to one thousandth of a second

They printed out driver's license for all the kids, including the siblings - I thought that was really cool!

So with all the heats and how long they were there, I broke down and let them play their acers. I think both boys were loving the attention!!

Not sure if you can see it here, but this is the placing of the Tiger's group with Albert in the number 1 spot!!!

This is the overall one showing him in 4th!!!

These were the top three from the Tigers and their trophies!!

AJ is very excited to put his pine wood derby trophy next to his bowling trophy!!

AJ has been working hard on earning belt loops, they finally arrived and he is showing off all the belt loops that he has earned!! He is really doing such a fantastic job with scouts and it is such a great program and we were blessed with a wonderful leader!!! Can't wait to see what adventures it holds in the future. Stay tuned for districts - it will be much more challenging, but I am sure lots of fun!!! They even said we could do something to AJ's car, change it if he wants, try and make it faster, but we asked him and he is pretty happy with how it is!!! As he should be! :-)

Yabadoo

On the Monday when we were driving home from Belgium I received a text from Cedrick's (one of AJ's classmates) mom and she invited the boys to a place called Yabadoo. I have heard about this indoor play area but had never been. She was so nice and took the boys while David and I went home to unpack. It was a great energy outlet after being in the car for over four hours that day!! They LOVED it and can't wait to go back!! Luckily it was only an American holiday and not a German one so it wasn't really busy. I guess on the weekends it is packed, especially during the winter. We have been having lots of snow and temperatures around 3 degrees F when we walk AJ to the bus and not too much warmer when we get him, usually around 20 degrees F (I like to say F still because then it is not in the negatives). I do have to say with the wind-chill factor I am sure it has been below that. We definitely have been bundling up. But the boys didn't want to leave, I finally had to drag them out of there. It was really a neat place. Huge trampolines, a little train ride, big swings, bouncy slide and quite a bit more. We will definitely go back, maybe on another American holiday.

AJ and Cedric on a ride

It goes upside down - and there is no one there to make sure you are doing it right or safe. It is amazing and the kids LOVED it!!!

Michael's turn, both boys didn't want to stop

This is the only one I could catch them upside down, sorry it is so dark

This was in the middle of the huge room. You had to run up this without any help and then you could slide down if you could make it to the top. We were trying to have them keep their socks on because there was a few sicknesses that were being passed around that made this one difficult with socks, but they prevailed!! Michael was using his knees to get up.

Michael coming down the bouncy slide

That is AJ up at the very top - I wanted to try and get a perspective of how big this really was, it was quite a climb.

AJ and Michael went down the bumpy slide together. They had things that look like cardboard with handles on it that they sat on. On Friday of this week the boys didn't have school either. It was a short week for them. So we decided to go and enjoy some outings. I took them to my German class that I have started taking first. This is a great class, put on free by Army Community Services once a week for an hour. I am getting pretty good at speaking, but can't read it yet. So I am learning how to read it and conjugate verbs, etc. It will definitely help me build my vocabulary. I have gone two weeks now. The boys were great! So after that we went and picked up one of their friends and went bowling. AJ did great the first game, breaking a hundred and then Michael beat AJ the second game. They all had a great time!!! Then they had family bingo night on Ramstein. So the boys and I decided to go and try it out. I have never been to one. The only bingo I have ever played was Lion's club bingo at our local county fair in Cashmere. It was quite a bit different and a lot of fun!! The boys were a little disappointed that we didn't win anything, but a good time was had by all.

They had a person that was making balloon animals. AJ decided he wanted a hat and Michael a snake.

Later that night Michael decided that he wanted a hat like his brother!!

AJ decided he wanted a mouse for his second one. :-) It was great evening and nice to get out and do something a little different.

Beer Museum and Manneken Pis

One of our last two stops was strictly by luck. We were headed towards the famous Manneken Pis and Steve saw a Beer Museum, so of course we had to go and check it out!!! It was a great little find. They had the old way and the new way of making beer and the best part is with your price of admission you got a beer. Luckily we didn't have to pay anything for the kids so the boys got Kellee's and my beer and were able to taste both kinds they had on tap. A few interesting facts: The Brewers' House at 10 Grand Place was built between 1695 and 1698 and is the seat of the trade association, the 'Belgian Brewers.' Beer culture has its origin in ancient Mesopotamia, a stone plate from around 6000 BC was found there showing primitive illustrations of the brewing process. After the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of feudalism and Christianity, the abbeys became the center of the beer culture. The use of hops was imposed in 1364 by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. The overall consumption of beer is about 1 1/2 milliard of hectoliters (2007), which in the charts of drinks consumed, puts it in second place (after tea). And last but not least on an interesting facts: Beer is good for your health. In ancient Greece and throughout the Middle Ages, beer and alcohol were used for various medical applications, such as for treating fevers, wounds or sleep disorders. In todays world, the main health advantage of beer relates to cardiovascular diseases. Studies have shown that people who drink no alcohol are at slightly higher risk of cardiovascular disease than those with moderate consumption (up to two drinks a day). Those drinking over two or three drinks a day are at a higher risk in proportion to their consumption. So the message (as the beer museum tells us) is clear: drink in moderation.

Old time beer process

CO2 process

the boys up front in front of the movie, not watching but watching the crowd.

The boys and their beer.

Some neat old bottles

The boys with the patron saint of beer. After that we headed over to the famous Manneken Pis. It literally means "Little man pees in Marols." It is a fountain of a little boy urinating. I was really surprised at how small it was. I was expecting something a little bigger. The 61 centimeter high bronze statue has been stolen several times and the present statue is a copy made in 1965. The original is kept at the Maison du Roi at Grand-Place/Grote market. In Kellee's travel book it said that the original was taken down because it was being anatomically manipulated. :-) I thought the phrasing was pretty funny. The statue also gets dressed up in many different outfits, there are over 850 outfits for the statue. I have heard you can pay to have an outfit put on it for 24 hours. David was thinking a Seahawks jersey. :-)

As you can see the day we went he was dressed up like Robin Hood

A view of the whole fountain - there were a ton of people around it when we got there. It is just on a random corner, nothing real special about the corner, except that this statue is there.

David and I in front of the famous statue

The three boys, Michael was really cold and over trying to stay warm with Daddy

So I had Daddy bring him over, have to get a picture with the statue ;-)

We found many chocolate statues, etc that are waaaaay bigger than the original. Here is one with a famous Belgian waffle. You can see the height with AJ standing next to it.

Couldn't help this, I thought it was too funny and it is David's favorite color!!

This is a statue that I saw a lot of people coming and touching and I couldn't figure out why. It is because it is a statue for luck. Depending on where you touch, it is for luck in love, travel, health, etc. So many things. This is not the original, but the original was almost all but warn off because of all the people touching it. For love there was a little heart that you can barely see anymore.

Gotta love this shop!! I think maybe one of my favorites!!!

Michael was dancing in front of a mirror waiting for the big boys to be done with their souvenir beer shopping. It cracked me up!

These were a little different, I have never seen them before. They are restaurants and hotels built over the autobahn. There are people in them just looking down at all the cars driving by. Not sure if it is the view I would want, but to each his own.

We had such a WONDERFUL time in Belgium and we can't wait to go back!! There are quite a few more places to see and more beer for David to try. We had wonderful hosts and it was great to be able to see them and some new places!! We already have our next adventure booked!! And we can't wait!!!

Grand Place - Belgium

Continuing on from my last post, after the Atomium we headed for the Grand Place. We didn't make it there before we had to have lunch, we were all really hungry, so we stopped at a place that served many things including....Belgian waffles!!!! They were sooooooooooo yummy!!!

AJ enjoying his Belgian hot chocolate!!!!

All the boys with their hot chocolate anxiously awaiting their waffles!

Michael wasn't too sure about his. He got a little different kind then the normal Belgian waffles. His had sugar in the dough and it did taste a bit different, but I figured with all of the whipped cream on it, that it wouldn't matter :-)

All the different types of toppings for the Belgian waffles that you can choose from. I did just Belgian chocolate on mine for the first one, but I see many trips into the future for taste testing of more!!

My boys told me I had to have one of these, I can't say that I argued with them :-)

Diet assortment chocolates - I think I would rather just have the full fledge chocolate. After we had our lunch we headed to the Grand Place. It is just that, my jaw dropped when we walked around the corner. It is truly breathtaking. The Brussels City Hall was built on the south side of the square in stages between 1401 and 1455, and made the Grote Markt the seat of municipal power. It towers 96 meters (315 ft) high, and is capped by a 3 meter (12 ft) statue of Saint Michael slaying a demon.

T
o counter this symbol of municipal power, from 1504 to 1536, the Duke of Brabant built a large building across from the city hall as symbol of ducal power. It was built on the site of the first cloth and bread markets, which were no longer in use, and it became known as the King's House (Middle Dutch: 's Conincxhuys), although no king has ever lived there.

It is truly a breathtaking square with buildings on all four sides with gold and such detail in it.
 

I can't take credit for all of these pictures, some were taken by our friend Kellee who is a fantastic photographer!!!