First of all, the day we drove to Belgium was August 1st, Sofia's birthday!  Somebody turned 5 in two different countries on the same day.

Here's the Belgian farmhouse, from a (long) distance away.  We stayed for a week in this quaint 9 bedroom abode with Ad and Elly, Michiel-Bets-Bram-Sander & Dibbes, and Coen-Annemarie-Stijn & Max 

The inner courtyard

way cool things to play with

An early morning in former hay bale storage turned tv room

Max digging some Dutch cartoons on his very own portable dvd player.  At peace with his thoughts and banana.

The morning starts with a run to the bakery in Durbuy, the village 2 miles away, for fresh bread and croissants

Then the mad feasting frenzy

Does this sign mean that the local kids are pretty rough???

Coen's night to cook.  BBQ baby!

Giving mommy a ride.  Stijn has a special love for cars.

Ping Pong Parents

Preparing to celebrate Sofia's birthday properly

Oh yes he can ride a bike!

Max walks!

Sofia's favorite gifts:  goggles and skort

And the little battery powered cool off your pits fan

Durbuy, Belgium

It seems Sander has little wings on his feet. Truly unbelievable how fast he can go around the track, missing obstacles and people by a hair (if he wants to), with wheels off the ground in the turns. But, accidents do happen, as with this humongo splinter

While nOncle Coen is making Dutch pancakes Elly keeps the troops entertained with Toverballen

Coen's pannekoeken zijn Heerlijk! And look at the peace - most of the time the adult table was louder than the kids table