Today is Dan's birthday! It was a nice day, it is 21:30 now, so this will be a zippy quick posting.
We started the day early (6:30) as Julia woke up early and didn't go back to sleep right away. I took her downstairs and Dan kept sleeping upstairs. Thankfully, Julia did go back to sleep once we got down here (I had her sleep in the bouncy seat) and I slept on the couch down here. Not a perfect scenario, but it meant sleeping 'till 9:30 AM, which is a good thing.
Dan then slept 'till 11:00 AM. Wow! That was my birthday gift to him. By the time he got up, I had both kids dressed and ready for the day - and we went to the playground/park around the corner to play while we got up at his own pace in the peace of a quiet house. That is probably the latest he has slept in - in years.
With the late start we still packed a lot in today. After he joined us at the park, we played a little together then walked to town. It was sunny. Nice mild temperature. One of those days where it feels just so good to be outside.
We had a sit-down cafe early lunch/late-breakfast at on an outdoor terrace. Dan and I each had a coffee drink, and then Sara and I went inside the cafe to point to 4 pastries we wanted. Then the lady brought them outside for us. We don't know the names for all the fancy pastries - that is why we just point at which ones we want. So much easier! We then sat there and watched other people stroll passed as we ate our delicious yummy treats.
After that, we were still hungry. Treats like pastries aren't exactly filling. So we strolled around for a hot lunch near the bell tower in the market place. We decided one place looked good, so we picked out a table and got ready to sit down (you seat yourself here, you don'd wait to be seated or you'd wait all day, they don't do that here) -- I gave the menu a quick look. The page I read had 5 shrimp dishes and one dish that featured frog legs. We didn't stay. We went to the Bell Tower/Market Place and ate at a pizza place. Pizza is one of Dan's favorites and you can't go wrong with it. For 32 Euro we had a kids plate of pasta, a bowl of french fries, two beers, and a pizza. That is pricey, but everyone knows that when you eat on the main square (like the Bell Tower/Market Place) is -- you pay a lot since it is so atmospheric - you are paying for the view as much as (or more than) the food.
After that we did more strolling, with another stop to get a belgian waffle from the Panos street vendor. 1.80 Euro for a warm, fresh, doughy, out-of-this-world delicious bit of sweet heaven. If you think I'm exaggerating, fly to Belgium and have a waffle. There are different kinds of waffles here, but what ever it is that they make right on the street is amazing.
More strolling. Through parks. Past outdoor cafes. Passed leafy court-yards. We just strolled around soaking it all in. There was music on the street again,, making it feel like a party. Everyone was out - very few cars - everyone was just strolling like us. It was great.
Soon we had the idea to go to the Brewery to sit outside and have a beer. It was fun. I'm not a big drinker (beer or other wise), but when in Rome do as the Romans do. So even I had a local beer. Dan, Sara, Julia, and I had a nice table where we could enjoy each other and the view of the scene. For food, we had salami and cheese chunks. Whoa, I've never eaten more salami and cheese in my life.
After that we went to a chocolate shop. I asked for 1 of each kind and as the lady packed it up for me, and put a bow on the box, she said, "You've been in here before, on Friday I think" -- she remembered me! Am I that memorable? I guess I'm just excited and happy by things and maybe that is memorable I don't know. I told her that yes, I was there before, and she said "thank you." I left with a box of 1 of each kind of chocolate for 12 Euro. (And also 2 jelly pyramids that we've been meaning to try.)
Then we went to another chocolate shop where we got one of each of the fresh creme chocolates. That guy gave me one free! It was a great buying experience. For another 5.50 Euro I left that place with another box with another ribbon.
Okay, we hit one more chocolate shop. This next one was a fancy one, where 100 Grams is 5 Euro (the usual price is more like 1.60 Euro for 100 Grams). We picked out about 6 chocolates and it came to 4.60. Not to bad, and they say it is excellent. (We haven't dipped into this stash yet, we are keeping it for later. Like five minutes from now.)
Then we saw some lights. It was a ride for kids. I asked Sara, "do you want to go on a ride for kids?" She said, "Yes Mama, I'm a kid" She *loved* the ride. It was like a carousel, but it had not one horse. There was a fire engine, a few bicycles, a thing that looked like a mouse, -- all sorts of things kids could sit on and go around and round. Kids were marveled by it. Sara choice a purple bike, and she smiled ear to ear - the whole time. I mean, she was so happy that the whole ride light up just from how happy she was. She peddled the bike, looked over at Dan and I, and just found it to be the most fantastic fun thing. It was neat, with colorful lights, happy music, and happy kids. And it was right in the middle of a square, right in the town! Funny!
Then she played a little carnival game where she got to go fishing for little ducks with a fishing pole. She loved that too. She got to catch 13 ducks and then got a prize. She caught her first duck in 1 second. She is so good at fishing! She held the pole with two hands and kept her eyes on the duck she wanted. When she caught one, she was thrilled. There were other kids playing (it was a kids game) but for those 10 minutes, it was just Sara - so much fun. For her efforts, she won any prize on one level. She picked a red helicopter. It had to be red. And it had to be a helicopter. No other prize would do. She skipped off that platform triumphantly, and I showed her how to make her helicopter fly. She thought it was the best thing ever.
Then she asked her Papa if she could go on the ride again. "Papa, can I please ride that again?" How could he say no. Sara bolted over to the ride, we got her another ticket, and she went straight for her purple bike. Thank heavens another kid wasn't already on it, I'm certain Sara would have that she would have kicked that other kid off. She just loved that purple bike. Once again, round and round on the caraousel she went. While other kids sat in police cars, fire engines, and motocycles, our Sara sat on her purple bike and pedaled as the whole platform went round and round. Oh, the fun she had!
After that we walked back. We didn't get any more chocolate. Just some ice cream. Oh, it was good.
Once we got back here we made dinner (chicken, corn, salad, etc) and got the kids to bed. It was a full fun day. Happy Birthday to Dan!
We plan to take a trip to a local town tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.
Good night 22:02 PM Sunday, Lori
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