Last month, Amanda’s parents, sister, brother-in-law, and niece came to visit us for a week. It was so great to see them and we were very happy to show them all that we love about Leuven.
Max was especially excited to see his Oma and Opa. On the first day of their visit, Max showed them all of his toys (and got a new one). He also happily babbled their ears off about all the latest happenings in his life. All three of them were in heaven!
The following day, Lauren, Ian, and Elle arrived. The whole family stayed at the hotel on the grounds of the Begijnhof. We had gorgeous weather the entire week, and took full advantage of it: each afternoon we sat out in the hotel garden for coffee.
Naturally, the babies were on entirely opposite nap schedules, so we had only two 45-minute windows each day in which to see Leuven as a family. When the children were napping, we were all perfectly content to lounge in the garden and drink cappuccinos.
During those brief windows when everyone was awake, however, we saw a lot together. We enjoyed authentic doner kebabs (lamb gyro-like sandwiches), strolled through the Friday food market, walked to Arenberg Castle, drank Belgian beers in the Grote Markt, saw the major landmarks, tasted the waffles, ate belgede broodjes (sandwiches), and visited Brugge (more on that trip in the next post).
As it happens, Lauren studied abroad in Leuven when she was in college. In true Carhart family form, we went back to her old dorm and snapped a photo in the exact same place she stood 10 years ago. This time, with her hubsand and baby girl!
One of the best decisions we made during the visit was to hire a babysitter to watch the kids in the evening. All but one night we were able to enjoy a kid-free meal, which gave us quality time with one another.
Before everyone left, we had one major job for Joan: to give Max his first haircut. Although it doesn’t seem like he has much hair from the front, the unruly curls in the back were reaching past his shoulders. A few tears were shed in process, but we all agreed the trim was a vast improvement.
The end of their trip came too soon for us, but we made lots of great memories. We’re looking forward to being together again at Christmas.
More to come soon…