I can't believe how long it has been since I posted something on my blog! The end of May and first two weeks of June had me tearing my hair out trying to keep up with all the end-of-the-school-year hoopla and fighting to keep my sanity. I managed to survive all of that just to have a fresh bout of busy-ness ensue and now I'm brain-dead, trying to remember everything I've done in the past few weeks. Oy! I'll start with what's freshest in my mind, which is our five day trip to Belgium last week. Woot, woot! We had a wonderful time getting away from it all and exploring the sights, sounds and yummy tastes of Belgium. I'm not big on Belgian pralines as the filling usually contains ground hazelnuts but the sampling I had of Belgian chocolates during our stay made me glad I don't live there since I'd be 500 pounds. My favorite was a milk chocolate truffle filled with fleur-de-sel creme caramel. I definitely did the happy dance after eating this delightful morsel! Anyhoo, I'm not quite ready to post the bajillion photos I took on our trip so I thought I'd put a teaser out there for my crafting crowd and show off the goodies I picked up at a flea market outside of St. Jakob's Kerk in Ghent. Buttons, cotton cording, and fabric tags were fun to pick up at a stand selling notions but my favorite vendor had nothing but vintage brochures, books, paper, letters, and postcards. I'm always delighted to scrounge through paper! The postcards I purchased are perfect for some of the scrapbook layouts I'm planning for previous trips to Rome, Paris, and now Belgium. Alright, I'm getting long-winded about the craft supplies so I'll end here but keep a lookout for more pics of our trip in the coming week.
We were extremely blessed when we moved from Wiesbaden to the Ramstein area two years ago to have the opportunity to rent a house in the village of Miesenbach. Not only is it close to the base, we're also close to a good church, and have easy access to a major autobahn for travel. But the neighborhood itself is nice, with a small local lake and some delightful restaurants nearby. Germans really enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, biking, or walking through cultivated gardens so the area around the Seewoog (lake) in our village is well-maintained. Next to the lake is a small imbiss for snacks, a playground, an open grassy area for picnics or a game of soccer, and a picnic table area with a BBQ pit. There are some nice trails around and above the lake that a local hiking club manages. A couple of weeks ago we had some friends over for a BBQ and after gorging ourselves on yummy food, we opted to walk some of it off by heading to the Seewoog. 
The terribly strenuous (not!) ten minute walk to the lake meant we had to reward the kids with some fun time at the playground.
Here's Jordan and our friend Taylor enjoying time together.
I managed to get all the kids to sit down for a cheesy moment in front of the foliage growing around the lake. They were more interested in playing at the playground than posing for photos but they humored me! Thanks for checking out our excursion to the Seewoog.
