Belgium

This was our second time going to Brugge, Belgium. We only spent a little over a day here, and although time was short, we had a great time and felt we were able to enjoy the city and all of its charm. Brugge has a church that dates back to the eighth century, and many other buildings and churches from the 11th-16 century. You feel like you've stepped back in time with the quaint cobblestone roads and antique architecture. The first thing we did was climb the 330 steps to the top of the Bell Tower. Ella climbed all the way to the top on her own. You go girl!!

Here's Ella after walking up and down the steps in the Bell Tower on her own.



No trip to Belgium would be complete without some waffles. They are so delicious and so much better than any I have had before. I don't know what their secret is, and I don't think they'd tell me if I asked, so we just enjoyed as many as we could find. The kids liked them with powdered sugar (me too) but Sean preferred them plain.


We took a canal cruise in the afternoon to see as much of the city as possible. Our tour guide was Flemmish, and it was fun to hear him recite his tour in Flemmish, French and English. His moustache was super cool too and I wish I would have snapped a picture of it. The kids enjoyed the boat ride through Brugge, which is referred to as 'the Venice of the North'. Thank goodness there were lots of ducks and geese around, so when Mason started getting a little antsy, there were animals around to keep his attention.

Colton and Mason being goof balls on the boat ride.


Now we get to the real reason we went to Brugge: the chocolate. They say there is a chocolate store on every block, and that isn't far from the truth. In fact, I think sometimes there are multiple chocolate stores on the same street. We were determined to find out which shop had the best chocolate, so we loosened our belts and tried as many as we could find. We liked them all and really weren't disappointed with any of them. We decided we liked the big blocks of solid milk chocolate the best, rather than the little squares that were filled with different flavors. And we didn't like the banana filled ones. Oh, and the liquor filled ones; those we discovered on accident. Oops.


We walked around the city and were so impressed with the old bridges and unique buildings. It is just such a colorful, quaint and really charming city.




We met a man sitting on a bridge that was studying to be a priest. He grew up in Southern California, not far from my hometown. Small world.








The kids thought it was cool to stay out late, walking around the city and exploring. They really liked going back to the hotel and instead of going to bed, staying up even later and drinking hot chocolate in the hotel's restaurant. Mason thoroughly enjoyed his.



The next morning we took a carriage ride around the city to learn a little bit more about it's history. Mason and Ella were enthralled with the ride and our horse.









The kids wandered down into this cell all by themselves; (hee hee). They quickly were able to get out though. Made me rethink my current discipline policy though...



We met this man and his musical machine the first day in Brugge. Ella wanted to give him some money and was rewarded wtih a chance to turn the crank and make some music. She was too scared. So, the next day when we saw him again, I wasn't too excited to have a repeat of the day before. But she assured me her courage levels were high and she was ready to 'take the wheel'. She eagerly went over to the musician, deposited some coins, and turned the wheel a few times to make some beautiful music.



The sign over this shop declared it to have the world's best hot chocolate. We were gonna pull a Buddy from Elf and go inside, shouting, "Congratulations! You did it! The world's best cup of hot chocolate. Wow! Great job!" But we realized they probably haven't seen the movie and we would just be labeled crazy Americans, so we bought a few cups to see what we thought. Stick to making chocolate. The hot chocolate was good, but nothing to write home about.



Look how cute Mason is. Doesn't matter that we are in a super cool old town surrounded by amazing buildings and beautiful scenery. Just look how adorable this little boy is.


This is one of my favorite pictures of our trip. We stopped at the side of the road for a bathroom break and found cows. Mason was in heaven. He quickly found some flowers and started picking them for me. What a little ladies' man. I love that kid!