Forest Fun! (blog music: beach boys)

Look what Mama found amongst the trees, 3 cute little busy bees!

After spending the last 3 days confined to the house because of the rain, the boys and I had decided that enough was enough. About a 2 minute drive from the house is this beautiful wooded area called the Peerdsbos. This network of forests is spread out over and through 3 different towns. It is beautiful for walking, biking, and horseback riding. The boys love to go for walks here. They wander all over the woods climbing on fallen trees, playing make believe games, and acting just a little more wild than usual!

The boys love to bring Zip Lock bags with them to carry around their forest treasures in!

A RARE Harrison sighting!

Don't look down William!

Make A Wish (blog music: happy b-day)

Happy birthday to me!! Today was a great day. It all started when Filip let me sleep in. I slept until 11:00, something I haven't done since I was a teenager! I couldn't believe it.

It gets even better! Filip and the boys took me to lunch at Colmar. This great family restaurant with really good food (for the Americans... think along the lines of Sizzler but European). The boys like to go there because of the crocodile mascot. We had a wonderful time and the boys presented me with their present, an iPod nano. I couldn't believe it; I had been wanting one for so long.

Later that evening, we went to Oma and Opa's for more birthday fun. All of the family was there to join in the fun. Uncle Erik and Aunt Ann greeted me with beautiful roses. The table was set beautifully with all kinds of breads, cheeses, meats and wine. We had so much fun eating, laughing and talking. The boys were running back and forth from the garden to the house and playing wild games with Uncle Erik, who they love very much.

Filip's mom and dad then presented us with an amazing gift. A stay in one of Belgium's most beautiful villages. Brugge, named the Venice of the North because of all of the canals that run through the town. The luxury hotel is something out of a dream and was named "Best Charming Hotel in Europe 2007". Perfectly European, fanciful coziness, old world charm meets spoiling comforts and the setting for heart-warming memories.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but who would have ever thought a cake could be worth a million.

The cake was covered in the softest and whitest cream that provided the perfect backdrop for carefully placed fruit. A large band of chocolate had been wrapped around the cake, which had also been adorned with a blue stripped ribbon. The words happy birthday had been written so beautifully and every candle had been placed so perfectly. But sitting up there in the corner was this old familiar friend. They had made for me an American flag from marzipan with its reds, whites and blues having never looked richer and more proud than it did lying on top of my birthday cake.

This wasn't just a birthday cake to me, but an expression of affection and a deep love that two people have given to me for over 7 years. It was the way in which they presented this little birthday cake with such pride to me that I knew a cake could be worth a million words.