Road Trip to Good Times...Part 1

Nothing cures that after Christmas let-down like a road trip to Germany! We had just way too much fun to cram into one blog entry...so I had to break it down into three parts! I should start by mentioning how thankful I am that our "new arrival" came just in time. She weighed in at 2 tons or so and is "three Ava's long". Her name is Sassa and we love her. "Sassa" is our new XC90 Volvo SUV that seats 7. So you can imagine the less than kind things I had to say about Volvo when it was 48 hours before we needed to leave for our vacation and my car was still not in my possession. (A car is rather necessary for a road trip after all!)
So- we got the car and off we drove at 0'dark thirty on New Years Eve morning. We almost crossed the channel on the ferry without incident. Almost. The water got a little choppy towards the end of the ride and Eli's eye met the mean end of a table...instant shiner. Between that and the copious amounts of snot my children were able to produce and display, we weren't exactly winning any 2007 Parent of the Year awards. Anyway, Eli handled the whole thing with surprisingly few tears. He informed us that "I tough!" and ran off to play some more. I have a unique talent for booking the most obscure and difficult to find hotels, but fortunately there was a local out riding his bike that was willing to guide us to our hotel in Brugge. How's that for hospitality!?
Now my pictures are in no particular order... but are still far more interesting than my rambling I am sure....so....
There was an ice skating rink set up in the town square of Brugge and so Ava and I rented some skates and took off. Eric didn't want to miss the fun so he quickly joined us. Eric is good at three times as many things as most people are. Skating is not one of them. By the time we were done he had improved significantly, until he tried to show off a spin, crashed into the wall (nearly knocking it down!), and nearly broke his neck. After he left the rink, he had a drink with my dad. Karyn and I noticed that there was actually steam pouring off of him! Who knew that ice skating was such a workout?
Me and my honey:)
Downtown Brugge
My parents were very kind to keep both kids that night so that Eric and I could go out for New Years Eve...for the first time in 5 years! There was a "sing along" that started at 2330. We were in the front row singing along to the Dutch, German, French and even a few American songs. We may have been singing, "I am a magic baboon" for all I know, but it was so much fun! I cracked me up that everyone knew every word to "YMCA" and "Paradise by the Dashboard light"...and even sang it with an American accent! We even got up on stage to sing a few of them!
We got a huge kick out of the man in the back. He was doing a rather exuberant dance to "Final Countdown".
I warned that these were out of order...but here is "Weewhy's Owee" (according to him!)
The kids in Brugge
Mimi and Papaw in one of the town squares. Behind them is the Basilica of Holy Blood.
Here we all are, sugared up on Belgium chocolate...yummy!
The ice skating "misadventures".

I am dog tired so this concludes part one. Tune in tomorrow to see the cathedral that Ava has rightfully named the church of 1000 stairs and beautiful Rothenburg!