Friday brought another end to the school week as well as blue skies overhead. What a better way to combine fresh air, dinner, and playtime than an evening at Peerdsbos. Moms love to multitask. The evening was fresh and crisp and the boys were ready to do some MAJOR playing. 
The Peerdsbos is a network of forests spread throughout several towns. It is a wonderful place for taking walks, biking, and running. Within this section of the Peerdsbos lies the Melkerij, a preserved farm dating back to the 1800's, that serves drinks and wonderful food! The old farm buildings have been beautifully renovated and are set atop wonderfully bumpy and uneven cobblestone. Set atop the cobblestones are cafe styled tables an
d chairs and they all sit underneath a canopy of large green oak trees. Situated in the back, is a child's dream come true! On your right is a network of tree houses all connected by tunnels, rope bridges, and large wooden planks.
Each section of houses has a slide that the boys love to fly down. No doubt trying to escape some "awful" ending at the hands of a pirate or gruesome monster! To the left are the more traditional toys. Swings and various things to climb on as well as a small football pitch. Americans (you know who you are) football = soccer and pitch = field. In the middle of all this is a very large sand box, filled with all sorts of thin
gs to climb on, swings, slides, cars, boats and little houses. You've got to hand it to the Belgians; they have some of the greatest and most imaginative playgrounds I have ever seen!! While the boys are busy running all over creation, Filip and I are able to relax at our table with our drinks watching the little ones have a great time. Yes, Mama's little ones are starting to grow up. William is so funny! He has the greatest take on things and situations. He has a wild imagination and I'm sure that 95% of the time he is living in a dream world. He is so smart and loves using the phrase "of course" when 
wanting to point out differences. His Dutch is incredible and he can switch languages in mid sentence. He enjoys going to school and has a great time telling me all about his day on the way home.William helps me out so much with Thomas and Harrison. Whether it's putting Thomas' seat belt on in the car or just playing with Harrison, William does a pretty good job of doing what I ask him to. A few times a week at school, he continues his big brother role by looking out after and playing with Thomas at recess. He seems to be quite proud of this and it's one of the first things he shares about his day. When he takes a break from being busy, he still likes to climb up on my lap and sit with me. He still lets me give him kisses goodbye in the morning and likes to tell me he loves me. Even though we have our difficult times, it is most often hilarious to see William grow up and I can't wait to see WHAT he will grow into. Then there is little Thomas and I'm quite sure that despite all his efforts, he too is growing up.
His body is still little and soft and he has a very sensitive heart. He is the most affectionate of the three and can be at times mischievous. It is safe to say that Thomas is William's puppy dog. He loves for William to play with him! Lego's, "Peter Pan", army, "Olympics", you name it! As well as play anything else wild or crazy William comes up with... Thomas is right there. Although they have their moments of all out fighting and rolling on the ground, they do love each other very much and are good friends. Thomas LOVES to color or do just about anything with a pen. Most of the time he is unreachable when he's coloring or creating something, he could sit at the table for hours! He loves to be held and to have is back rubbed at bedtime. Thomas is very attached to me and at times, my little shadow. He has great expression in his eyes and his little face says so much.
And then there is Harrison. "Harry Bear" as I like to call him. Harrison is definitely his own little person. He is so aware of his surroundings and everything going on around him. He loves his brothers and gets so excited when we go to pick them up. He follows me around all day long and loves to narrate the day. He is always telling me what we're doing when we're doing it! He loves to be outside and gets so excited at every little thing he sees. Whether its rocks, water, swings, ducks, you name it and he goes wild with excitement. He loves to be kissed and hugged and held, but only when he decides he wants to be. He loves CARS and everything about them. Sitting in them, looking at the tires, and touching them everywhere. Harrison is still my little baby and probably will stay that way even until he's into his 30's and 40's. So my little boys aren't so little anymore and they are growing up so quickly. Everyday seems to go by so fast and they are consta
ntly evolving and doing and learning new things. It can be hard with these three very different little personalities all under one roof, but they do love each other very much. As a mom, you learn to deal and interact with each one according to their own little character and sometimes there just isn't enough time in the day for all that extra attention each one might want. You divide your time where you can, group "together time" together, and we are all raising each other. My three little boys may all be different in many ways, but they sure love their Mama. With all the craziness that goes on here, all the loving, all their little fights, bedtimes, bath times, scraped knees, bike rides, spills, school, early mornings, homework, and so on and so on and everything in between... to a mom it's just a symphony! And boy do I love my three little musicians.
