A Family Affair

On September 16th, Jason's parents arrived in Brussels to visit for a week and a half!  Not long after we arrived in Belgium, they mentioned they would like to come visit in the fall.  Jason and I were a bit surprised, and completely thrilled.  We thought September would be a good time as the weather is cooler, but not yet freezing and typically the crowds are down a bit in the tourist areas. 

Unfortunately, the timing of their visit coincided with two very busy weeks at Jason's work and also my contracting a nasty virus that lasted well over a week.  Needless to say, we stayed pretty close to home during their stay.  Even though we did not go on a 7 day whirlwind tour of Europe, I think we all enjoyed our time together and his parents received a very good taste of everyday life for us in Brussels. 


The Burgins were able to see where Jenna and Ethan are going to school, and they even attended the special inauguration event the school held.  It was special for them to meet the teachers and many of the wonderful parents involved at the school.  They were also with us for Drew's 2nd birthday on September 18th! 

Here we are sitting down for Drew's birthday dinner. 

Here Grandma is stealing a kiss from the birthday boy while I was finishing up his cake.

On Sunday we wanted to take Jason's parents to the church we attend.  However, at 9:30 that morning we found out that it was "La semaine de la mobilite et dimanche sans la voiture" - translated that means the week of mobility and Sunday without the car.  Every year, the city has a week of "mobility" where people are encouraged to bike or take public transport in in order to cut down on car traffic, pollution, etc. 

On the Sunday of mobility week, people within the city limits of Brussels are not allowed to drive their cars from 9 am to 7 pm.  This meant, if we were getting to church we would need to take the tram to the metro stop, then the metro to the bus station where we could catch a shuttle to the church.  Sounds pretty simple, right?  Well, what is normall our 10 minute drive to church took over an hour!  However, it was an adventure to take Jason's parents on public transport and allow them to see part of Jason's typical commute to work.

Here we are waiting at the tram stop around the corner from our house.

On the tram headed to the metro.

Thankfully, we only had to travel one stop on the metro.  In the shuttle on the way to church we also ran into a large protest group of Dutch separatists!  It was an eventful morning, and definitely allowed Jason's parents to see first hand the need to "expect the unexpected" in Europe!

We were blessed with unusually warm weather and several days of sunny skies on their visit.  On Monday evening, we took Jason's parents to the Grand Place. 

...and treated ourselves to delicious warm waffles and ice cream!  We found  a great waffle shop with seating in the back.

After we picked the children up from school on Thursday, we went to the Butte de Lion to show Jason's parents the battle field and surrounding areas from the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. 

On Sunday, their last day in Belgium, we took the Burgins to Bruges.  The weather was pretty miserable in Brussels, upper 50's and rainy, but we decided to give it a try anyway.  We are so thankful we went because we found sunshine and beautiful blue skies in Bruges!  We began our time with a boat tour through the canals, went on to lunch over looking the main square, then viewing a Michealangelo original in the St. Mary Cathedral and finished our time with a little souvenir shopping. 

Around 6:00 p.m., we left the city and Jason asked if his parent would like to see the North Sea!  They agreed so we headed 20 minutes north and walked on the beach of the North Sea with them for about 15 minutes.  The children were thrilled to play in the sand and it was the perfect ending to their time with us.  Unfortunately, the pictures we took in Bruges and at the beach are on Jason's phone and we are awaiting the arrival of a cord from the US to be able to download the pics.  As soon as it arrives, I will edit this post and add a few pictures from our time in Bruges and at the beach. 

We were thrilled to have Jason's parents visit and can't wait for more of our friends and family to take advantage of free European room and board while we are in Belgium!