Missing Child

Today I found out that if you are going to lose your child, don't do it in Brussels, or rather, the Cora on Woluwadal in Woluwe Saint Lambert. The reason I say don't do it here, is because if you do, no one will care.

I'm sad to say that I'm not a stranger to losing my children, or rather ONE of my children. In Landon's 3 years of life I think I've lost him about 6 times, 3 of which involved frantic searching leaving me seconds away from alerting the store, the other 3 times resulting in full store lock-down as myself and countless employees combed the store. You'd think after these experiences I would chain Landon to myself or a shopping cart anytime we go anywhere, but it's been a while since our last "missing child" experience and I thought he was getting better about wandering off.

To make a very long, emotional story readable, I will tell you the short version of this story. I was walking down a side aisle when I suddenly realized that Landon wasn't with me. At this point I figure he had been "missing" about 15 seconds and by the time I had flipped my cart around to the main aisle he was no where to be found. I searched "calm on the outside, panicking on the inside" for a full 5 minutes and when I couldn't find him I went to the closest store employee, which happened to be the produce man. There were 2 guys actually and they not only showed no concern whatsoever, but they directed me to customer service. I hurried to the customer service desk and they, also unconcerned, sent me to another desk where I HAD TO WAIT IN LINE. I tried to interrupt but was told to "please wait my turn" and I stood there watching troves of people walk out of the store, trying to not let the worst case scenarios enter my mind. Landon had now been missing a full 12 MINUTES and when I finally got to talk to the woman behind the desk, I just started crying. That seemed to spur some action and she took Landon's description. Troves of people were still leaving the store and this woman and her colleague's solution to my missing child was nothing more than a brief "just so you know" message across the intercom. After this was done, the woman went back to helping the people behind me as I sat there....which I didn't do for more than about 30 seconds, because I realized that no one was going to try and find Landon except myself and Brayden. So, 15 minutes since I had seen Landon's little blonde head, Brayden and I set out to find him ourselves, completely frustrated that I had wasted any time illiciting the store's help. After many prayers and several minutes I found Landon at the total opposite end of the store where I had last seen him, standing at the end of an aisle, trying to open a gum package (giggle,giggle). From a distance he looked calm and when I said his name he threw the gum on the ground and burst into tears saying, "I didn't know where you were!!!!" and we stood there and cried together.

For always being wary of looking like an out of place American, I'm pretty sure I more than fit the bill at that moment. The whole experience was very unsettling to me, mostly because of the store's non-reaction to my missing child. I took Landon over to the desk to show them that I had found him and they gave me nothing more than a nod and a smile. No follow-up announcement, "The boy you have all been looking for has been found...." because I know, the message sent over the intercom was not paid attention to any more than a message talking about the daily special on aisle 5.

The whole situation shook Landon up quite a bit too (which I am thankful for) but that didn't keep me from stopping in the "hardware" section of the store before we left for a nice big chain and padlock for our next outing together. Crazy American? You betcha.

My baby?

I can't believe how quickly time is flying by in so many regards, but I have been hit with the realization recently as Charlotte has officially turned 18 months. I don't know what it is about the 18 month mark that somehow signifies "big kid" to me (maybe it's that I'm usually about to have another baby at this point....) Charlotte is definitely turning into a little lady, or rather tomboy, and I just love watching it all. Charlotte has been a dream child and I adore just about everything about her. I'm trying to stay grounded in reality about the fact that someday very soon she is going to wake up in the morning and suddenly have immediate, fierce opinions about everything around her and my baby will be gone, but for now, I'm just enjoying my pleasant little friend.

Here's a couple of things ala-Charlotte these days:

1. Charlotte adores Ryan and Ryan will do ANYTHING Charlotte wants him to do. She has him so wrapped around her chubby little finger. (However, I'm wondering if this is going to be a lifetime thing - hopefully NOT the chubby finger, the wrapping)

2. Somehow she gets by with a vocabulary consisting of about only 10 words and lots of pointed fingers. I figure she has reasoned that with 4 people at her beck-and-call, there is no point to overdo the talking thing....

3. She immediately starts crying foul anytime one of her brothers LOOKS at something she has.

4. She loves animals, cars, trucks, balls, balloons, "cookies", and her doll (7 of her approximate 10 words)

5. Despite attempts to make Charlotte presentable, she looks homeless 99% of the time. She HATES to have anything in her hair, she always has something on her face, and she digs her "play shoes", Nike hand-me-downs from Brayden and Landon.

6. Charlotte is a laugher. She thinks so many things are sooo funny and she is easy to reward with riotous laughter.

7. Charlotte is not a fan of sippy cups and usually demands to have a normal cup like the boys.

8. Charlotte is very social and loves other kids.

9. Charlotte is a great sleeper at night, not so great in the napping department.

and last (for now), but definitely not least:

10. I swear Charlotte can read. Anytime we pass a sign that says "Pâtisserie" (aka: The Bakery) Charlotte gets all sorts of excited and starts saying, "Mmmmm, Mmmmmm, Mmmmm." Maybe she's just mimicking me, but I swear it's that she read the sign!

España

If Paris was the ultimate, indulgent, grown-up paradise, then I have found the ultimate fun, family-friendly destination: Spain. We just returned from 6 days in this family-friendly paradise and it was incredible. We were able to take advantage of a Belgian holiday mixed with a weekend and a little vacation time to go on a long family trip. Ryan and I have decided that should we choose to live in Europe again after our time here is up, we want to live in Spain. We spent the majority of our time in Barcelona, and although I am glad to be home, there are still places I want to go back to visit, or rather places I want to eat. There were just not enough meals to adequately experience all of the good food. Landon must share my affection for food because last night when we were talking about our favorite parts of the trip Landon said, "My favorite part was waking up and eating breakfast, and lunch, and dinner..." As if he doesn't get those meals at home....

One of my favorite places we went - everyday - was La Boqueria. It is a food market that was indescribable. It was the largest food market I have ever seen and the variety of food was amazing. We bought kilo after kilo of fresh fruits and vegetables and kept it all on hand for snacking throughout the day. I could go back to Barcelona and only shop at the market and stand in a kitchen and discover new exciting meals with fancy ingredients and I'd be happy. Not only was the food so fresh and so good, but it was also so cheap compared to Brussels. Maybe that's where part of my affection came from...nothing like amazing food for good prices...at least in my book. :>

The weather was very nice and mild and made me feel silly for packing, and subsequently hauling around, our winter coats. Our first day in Spain was spent along the Costa Brava (spanish coast) along the Mediterranean Sea. We stayed in Tossa de Mar and drove along the coast that day. The water was deep blue and completely clear. It was gorgeous. In Tossa de Mar we climbed to the top of a mountain with a small castle and we sat at the top soaking in the views and the sun. Ryan kept calling it "heaven" and saying he wanted to set up a hammock and sleep in the sun all day. The kids literally had to drag him away from where he was (physically and mentally) and encourage him down the mountain.

We had driven from Girona (where we flew into Spain) to the coast our first night, so after touring the coast we returned our teeny-tiny rental car to the Girona airport and took a train to Barcelona. I continue to be impressed with public transportation in Europe, as we relied on trains and the Barcelona metro for transportation the rest of our trip (not to say this is a hassle-free way to travel with kids...) We rented an apartment in Barcelona right off the Las Ramblas, a pedestrian walkway, and the busiest street in Barcelona. There were tons of street performers, flower and bird vendors, restaurants, and touristy souvenir shops. We chose our apartment for the location, and lets just say, after walking into the apartment, I realized that was the only one of my requirements it was going to meet. It's amazing how much better things can look in a picture. ;> It was a total hole, but it was functional and cheap, and very convenient, so it all worked out in the end. We walked endlessly through Barcelona, so much so that by the last day all we had to do was walk out of our apartment and both of the boys chimed, "I'm tired of walking" a phrase that became standard on our trip. We saw all of the "sites" of Barcelona, although I'm pretty sure the kids would have been happy everyday just walking along Las Ramblas watching the street performers, listening to the bird market, feeding the pigeons, and eating an unlimited amount of produce.

After walking along the Las Ramblas and visiting La Boqueria one more time yesterday morning, we took a train back to Girona in the afternoon. Instead of the sight-seeing we had planned, we found a city park and just let the kids play for the rest of the afternoon. Our flight left this morning at 6:20a, which meant we had to wake up about 4:30a, and so we went to bed last night at 7:30p. We stayed in a quaint little hotel that was - again - cheap, but nice enough. The kids slept great, but by 10p the thin walls and constant influx of people woke both me and Ryan up and I don't think either one of us ever fell completely asleep again after our nice little evening naps.

Needless to say, our trip was one for the family books, complete with all of the rewards and struggles of family travel, but it's nice to be back on familiar ground again. Lingusticly I was at a total loss on this trip (except for when we ordered donuts!) and relied solely on Ryan's spanish (which I don't know how we would have survived without). When we got into the airport here and french came over the loudspeaker I commented to Ryan how comforting it was to be back in a place with at least a familiar language I didn't understand, as opposed to an unfamiliar language I didn't understand. We made the mistake of choosing form over function with our cameras and took only our point-and-shoot camera. I think the pictures show that, but you'll get the gist of it all....

Tossa de Mar coast


Throwing rocks...aside from eating, Landon's favorite activity


Ryan teaching Brayden how to be a proper boy and skip rocks


Landon, always up to his usual antics (my thought process: picture first, save child second)


Coast from the top of the hill




Las Ramblas


Bird Market


A sampling of the street performers:



This "dragon" was the boys' favorite street performer. Bray was brave enough to put a little money in his can and take a picture with him. Landon? not so much.


Charlotte...addicted to the pigeons. I think I have 10 pictures of her pointing at the pigeons and staring at me.


More pigeon fun...


My favorite: La Boqueria



Landon enjoying some of the La Boqueria spoils: peppers the size of a child's head


Christopher Colombus memorial


Sunday morning mass at the Barcelona Cathedral


A view from above Barcelona at Montjuïc
(getting here was probably the most painful excursion with the kids...if you go to Barcelona, let me know and I'll tell you the EASY (and cheap!) way to get up here)



Enjoying a little more beach time, Barcelona-style


L'aquarium in Barcelona


My favorite weird fish: Ocean sunfish


la Sagrada Familia - One of Barcelona's most famous buildings and the coolest, most unusual building I have ever seen. This building's architect Antonio Gaudi, started the building in 1882, and construction still continues today. Completion dates are varied, but all seem to fall within the next 20 years.

Ahhhh Paris

We just came back from our much anticipated weekend in Paris and let me tell you, it was everything a kid-free weekend should be. The sites were great, the food was amazing, the accommodations were incredible, the company was unbeatable, albeit the weather was awful. The time just seemed to fly and I'm so glad we live close enough to visit often in the coming years. I couldn't possibly include all of the details from our 48 hours in paradise, but here are the highlights and plenty of pictures to share.

Our first stop when we got into town Friday night: The Eiffel Tower. The picture is a little blurry, but I loved the effect of the blue tower.

Our first stop on Saturday: The Notre Dame. It was gorgeous and awe inspiring. The detail was absolutely incredible. One of the things that is always impressive to me is how these amazing buildings were built before modern construction equipment. It just adds to the impressiveness of the buildings to me.

Basilique du Sacre-Coeur - Definitely one of my favorite, if not my favorite, places we saw. It was pouring rain so we didn't get lots of pictures, and you are not allowed to take pictures inside the basilique (which again, is AMAZING). The Sacre-Coeur is on a hill and lends itself to awesome views of the rest of Paris (as shown below).

We saw Invalides, Napolean's Tomb this Saturday night and became obsessed with taking some night photos of the gorgeous building. Ryan was able to get some really cool shots (although we were very disappointed we didn't have our tripod) and taking night photos consumed the rest of our night (as you will see below...)

The Louvre - this would be the other contender for my favorite place. It is MASSIVE and unbelievably intricate. The structure itself is gorgeous and ornate, and of course the art is amazing. Ryan and I had a wonderful time wandering through the Louvre at a leisurely pace reading about each painting or sculpture. We were there for a little over 4 hours and both agreed we could have easily spent DAYS in there.