I've been in 3 countries in 3 days!

Before I get to that, I'm gonna list out my menu for the week:

Dinners:

Italian Chicken in the Crockpot

Chicken Caesar Sandwiches (with mashed cauliflower)

Vegan Curry Lentils

Chicken Fajitas

Sausage & Bean Soup

Turkey meatballs (with spinach) and pasta

Lunches:

Bagel with PB&honey, banana, carrots

Boiled eggs, waffle, and grapes

Leftovers

Spinach quesedilla with black beans

Annie's mac&cheese, apple slices, broccoli

Breakfast: 

(all served with apple or carrot juice)

Cereal&fruit

Yogurt&smoothie pop

Waffle with PB&honey

Oatmeal

Eggs with English muffin

Snacks:

Hummus&crackers

Smoothie

Fruit kebobs

Broccoli and greek dip

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Now onto the travels:

Tuesday, Ben took some leave and we got to go on a little vacation.  He was gone most of the summer, so being able to take a trip together was really awesome.

We headed out on Tuesday after Delilah's gymnastics class and drove straight to Trier.  It's the oldest city in Germany and is just BEAUTIFUL.  We parked in the city center and just started walking around.

St. Peter's Cathedral!

In front of the Cathedral

In the Porta de Nigra

Ben and Delilah in front of Porta de Nigra

After we were done wandering around, we went to our beautiful hotel overlooking the river and had dinner.  

Next day, we headed out for Waterloo, Belgium to see Butte de Lion.

These steps were AWFUL to climb. It was so steep!

It was super windy

Stayed at the Air Base in Belgium which was pretty OK.  Had dinner at a Thai place there before heading to bed completely exhausted.  Next day, we headed to Bruges!  We had heard that Bruges is much better than Brussels (and didn't have the dirty cat pee smell to it either), so we decided to go there.

Famous Bruges belfry. Built in the 1400s and we got to climb the narrow spiral staircase all the way to the top!

Hanging out by the canals.

On the way back to the hotel after Bruges, Ben took us along the coast of the North Sea. This is on a beach in Oostende, Belgium.  It was beautiful.

The most well traveled kid. She had a great time and was amazing on our little adventure.

I cannot wait to go on the next trip. It was so much fun.  So thankful to be living out here!

Dallas, TX can kiss my butt.

First of all, I just want to say that moving to Germany has been a wonderful experience...

HOWEVER

I have been separated from Rilo and Margot since April now, and that does not make me happy.  We had to leave them in the care of my mom, and thank goodness she could do it, but I miss them.  We ended up spending almost 40 days in a no pets allowed temporary living facility before we were able to get into our house...so there wouldn't have been a place for them right away.  Then we tried to get them out, and it was too hot.  Then we were planning on Ben bringing them back when he was on TDY in OK City...but his flight flew through Heathrow, and no live animals can be flown in there. 

SO.

Now we are just waiting for temps to go down in Dallas so that we can get our babies over here.  They will fly out through American Airlines from KC to Dallas and then straight to Frankfurt.  There have been a couple days where the temp is listed as below 85, but it's still too close and I don't want to chance them not getting to fly out.  This is just so frustrating.  Everything is very difficult.

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This is a view right outside my village.

My little model.  

Family day!

Apple-Happle picking!

She had a complete blast picking apples to take home.

 

Walking through the orchards.

Tart apple dipped in chocolate (that she got to dip herself!)

Ended the day with a pony ride.

Super fun day, getting ready to take a short little family trip to a nearby city.  We haven't gotten to travel much out here since he was gone so much this summer and was in training.  It's not very expensive to travel, especially when there's a military instillation near where we want to go!  Cheap hotel and then going and walking around in Belgium!  Inexpensive family trip in Europe.  It's pretty awesome.  Looking forward to it.  

10 Things That Make Me Happy

Found this blog: A Glass Half Full, and she had this cute list on her's about things that make her happy.  I decided to make one of my own.

1. How happy Rilo is when I walk through the door.  Seriously, it's like she hadn't seen me in weeks, even if I'm just gone for an hour.  That is love.

2. The smell of Christmastime.  I can tell when it's getting close to my favorite time of the year.  Yes, it's freezing cold, but the air has a smell to it that will always remind me of my childhood.

3. Painting.  I know I'm not a professional, but I really like doing it.  It relaxes me, and I like being creative.

4. Making my husband laugh.  He chuckles sometimes, but when I can really get him going, it warms my heart and crinkles my eyes.

5. Coming home for vacation.  Yeah, Ben and I don't take "normal" vacations, our's are spent seeing family and friends and it is WONDERFUL.

6. The pictures I have of everyone.  I covered my dorm room in them, and now they're all over my house.  Only difference is that now they're in frames.

7. Having a cup of coffee and not having to do anything else while sipping it in the morning.  Sure, it tastes good when I'm rushing about in the morning trying to get ready, but it is even better when I can just sit and enjoy it.

8. Finding a REALLY good book to read.

9. Traveling with my husband.  Luckily, we're in the military and have the privilege of visiting lots of new places.

10. Candles/Scented house things.  I love smelly good stuff.