Cat and the Hats!

We took the obligatory trip to Bruges with Mom on a interesting weather day that ping-ponged between sunny and stormy at the drop of a hat. I wish I was a better tour guide in Bruges. I think I probably should just go there one day on my own to scout out the best "tourist route" because right now I feel like I lead our visitors around in circles around Bruges and struggle mightily with parking and timing the meters. We of course love Dumon Chocolate, the Half Moon Brewery and going to see the windmills on the edge of town. The town is quaint and charming, but I would love to explore the beguinage, take a canal cruise and more easily navigate between the churches. I have yet to climb the belfry mostly because it is costly (8 euro per person!) and every time I have been the sky has not been clear. So who wants to pay that much for a crummy view?

Mom came up with the good idea to bring a picnic with some of the birthday party leftovers. So we camped out with all the senior citizen tour groups on the benches in the main market square and ate our sandwiches. This was fun and Connor loved watching the clip-clop Neigh-Neighs that go in and out for city tours. Plus we avoided the overpriced food in Bruges - they love to capitalize on their charm with mediocre food with high prices!

In addition to all the tasks and places we went with my Mom, we did have some of the best moments in our down time just chillin' at home and playing with Connor. Connor was lucky enough to receive TWO splendid hats for her birthday - lucky duck. She was very into both hats and wore them around inside the house for hours while just going about her business of playing! It cracked us up!

The watermelon hat had to come to dinner with us. And of course Minnie needed some Rice a Roni from the watermelon-hatted Connor!

And finally, Mom bought the golden waving "kitty cat" from the Asian store across the street. Connor was absolutely fascinated and captivated with the plastic cat. They waved at each other for hours on end. There was something hypnotic about it for Connor.

One day we tried to have hot chocolate at Whitamer Chocolate in Sablon but they weren't serving that particular day so we bought a few pieces of chocolate for take away. Then we tried to each lunch at a local restaurant but sat down with menus only to find out the kitchen didn't open til noon (it was 11:30 AM) so we bailed. It seemed the Belgian fates were working against us to get anything accomplished...so we went with the easy route and took Connor for a lunch at McD's! When all else fails, nothing hits the spot like a Happy Meal!

And we also loved bee-bopping around as Brussels tourists. Both Mom and I wore borrowed lace mantilla veils on our wedding days. We loved staking those out in the local lace shops and seeing the beautiful Belgian lace.