Almost Home!

Okay, we still have one night, a seven hour plane ride, and a two hour limo ride, but we are still almost done. Don’t get me wrong this trip has been lovely, to say the least, but when you are ready to be home, you are ready.



Stressful at times? Absolutely.

Worth it? Undoubtedly.

 

11: Hotels.

1. Raddison Blu – Antwerp, Belgium
2. Marriott – Paris, France
3. Hilton – Antwerp, Belgium
4. Marriott – Amsterdam, Netherlands
5. Marriott – Ghent, Belgium
6. Hotel Draak – Bergen Op Zoom, Netherlands
7. Hotel Sofitel – Luxembourg, Luxermbourg
8. Schengen Castle – Luxembourg, Luxembourg
9. Marriott – Brussels, Belgium
10. Sheraton Airport – Bruseels, Belgium
11. That one hotel we stayed at for about 25 minutes because I was silly enough to let my husband book a room there without my approval and it turns out it was a MONASTARY. (oh, I didn’t tell you about that one? JUST WAIT.)

7: H+M's.

What?! H+M is my favorite store and they are as common over here as dunkin donut’s back home. I knew I had been to the store a few too many times when I went in the last time in Brussels and kept picking out things I had already purchased this trip. Oops.

6: Weeks.

It got a little too long here at the end, I think we would plan for closer to a month next time.

5: Countries.

Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and a quick drive through Germany, since our planned weekend away there was changed up last minute. I would really only count this as 4 countries, but I want Theo to get Germany credit since Hank spent a few days there last year. Yes, I am all about fairness ;)

4: Family Members.

I am not a cheesy person by nature, really, I am not. I am more of a laugh-at-other-people’s cheesiness BUT my family melts my frozen heart. (crap I just said the F-word – Hank is going to want to watch the movie now!) Anyways, my family is amazing. Removing ourselves from the daily routine and spending all this time with just each other is great break. Sure, I had moments where I went for a run just to get away from them all for a little while, but ultimately I loved the quality time. Love, love, loved it. Okay, cheesy over.

3: Castles.

Steen Castle <- link- Antwerp, Belgium.

We visited this one a few times, as it is open all day and you pass through it to get to the boardwalk.

Gravensteen Castle <- link - Ghent, Belgium.

We explored the whole thing and it was a complete blast. Definitely our favorite one!

Schengen Castle <- link - Schengen, Luxembourg.

We spent a night here. Our room was awful, the restaurant was amazing, and the grounds were gorgeous.

2: Brothers.

Oops, more cheesy coming. I am not sure if it is Theo’s increased mobility, his intense desire to play with his big brother, or just being each other’s only playmates, but my sweet boys have been loving each other quite a bit on this trip. This is the best thing in the world. The best. Did I say the best? Because it is!

1: Medical Emergency.

Navigating a foreign emergency room with a 104 fever-ed toddler was NOT in the plan. Luckily, the process was easy and biggie is feeling much better since that day!

 

So, for now we are at the airport hotel doing nothing until we leave. Nothing, as in room service for every meal and allowing Hank to watch a negligent level amount of TV while I finalize packing and Brandon finishes up business things. Don't judge. Tomorrow morning we board our flight back to JFK!   Safe Travels, Amanda  

 

 

 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, from Brussels!

After a fantastic brunch (both kids were happy and cooperated, along with amazing food) we attempted an Easter egg hunt at a park here in Brussels. The series of events were this:

1 - Arrive at the wrong park
2 - Find correct park, but no parking
3 - Make up our own parking
4 - Find way inside park
5 - Find ZERO eggs

We had zero luck with the actual egg hunt, but the weather only became more beautiful as the time went on. Hank was SO happy to be wandering around in the bushes/outskirts of the park. I love watching him explore.

 

 

 

Theo also loved being outside!

 

 

 

The boys did some wrestling and balloon chasing:

 

 

 

A few more outtakes:

 

 

 

Today marked our last Sunday here! It was also the second year in a row we have been in Europe for Easter which is a bittersweet thing. I am looking forward to staging an egg hunt for Hank when we get back to accompany their (all ready at home) overflowing Easter baskets.

 

Why are we in Brussels when we are supposed to be in Germany this weekend?

Check back tomorrow for details ;)

 

 

safe travels,

Amanda

 

24 hours of crazy: emergency room + park visits!

     A couple of days ago Hank began a sudden fever with seemingly no other symptoms. Yesterday he was a total wreck and the fever skyrocketed to 104. During one of his screaming episodes I saw that the back of his throat seemed weird. Once B came home and we were able to examine closer we knew something wasn't right. We called and spoke with the nurse at our pediatrician's office (note: we have the BEST nurse and pediatrician ever - things like this make me so grateful for them) and after some discussion it was decided he needed to be seen. We called the concierge at our hotel to see about where to go (it was about 6 pm local time) and I called our insurance to see if anything was needed.

     I was really nervous about bringing him to a hospital in another country, especially since Hank has a fairly extensive medical history that wouldn't be available. B and I even considered booking flights home early. The downside of travel is when things like this happen, the stress is amplified. Luckily for us, our experience with a foreign hospital was actually pretty fantastic. We saw the nurse immediately and the doctor came for us right after we went to sit in the waiting room. We were in and out in about 30 minutes (this includes the time it takes to pin down a very upset and strong two year old) We paid €84 before he could be seen (this covered the whole emergency room visit!) and then another €31 for the antibiotics. I was so shocked at the ease and cost - pretty terrific.

     The verdict is that Hank has tonsillitis pretty bad and an ear infection. Poor kiddo has the worst luck with staying healthy. He is on antibiotics and that should hopefully clear things up. I am so glad we didn't book flight and go, as the plane ride would have been terrible for him (and therefore us, and therefore the entire plane).

     He woke up this morning sans fever and a lot more himself. We all needed some fresh air after a cooped up couple of days, so this afternoon we explored a local park, here in Bergen Op Zoom, Netherlands. Olaf, Hank's new buddy he picked out at Paris Disney a few weeks ago came with us. Hank is (like every other kid who has seen the movie) obsessed with Frozen and adores Olaf. Since the loss of Taggy, Olaf has been the closest thing to a transitional object. On the autism front, it is really great to see him play with a stuffed animal, a type of play that can be tricky for ASD kids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was Theo's first time on a swing, and also playing in the grass. He loved it.

 

 

 

 

 

Of course it was special since Daddy was able to come too!

 

 

 

 

Yup, from ER to the park! It was a busy 24 hours here! We are also working on switching up our weekend plans here since the Hank sickness and the general end-of-trip tiredness is starting to kick in. We will see where things go over the next few days!

Safe Travels,

Amanda

 

Castle drama + New pictures of the boys!

Well, life surely is ironic; we have been to four countries and six hotels so far, and our first bad experience has been at a castle! We took off for the country of Luxembourg on Friday afternoon. None of us had been to this tiny country before, the drive was a reasonable three hours, and well, why not? It was a legitimate castle, the grounds were unbelievably gorgeous, and the food ended up being spectacular. The problems were with our room being shockingly uncomfortable (wicker furniture, seriously?!), and staff that clearly didn't like us for whatever reason (which is crap - we are totally likeable people!). So we knew we would be jumping ship early. My R&R weekend in the country was changed to a 5 start hotel in Luxembourg City. Tis life, and undoubtedly we could have way worse problems. Well, like I said the grounds were stunning so I attempted some pictures of the boys. Hank just wanted to run and I support him getting out energy appropriately so I wasn't going to make him stop and pose (assuming he would anyways).

Look how big baby Theo is getting:
 

 

 

Hank is so much fun; especially when he can just be wild, free, and explore:


 

Of course nothing beats my sweet boys together in a photo: (although it is hard work that rarely yields great results ;)

 

    So we stay in Luxembourg City for tonight and then we are heading to the Netherlands. This will be our first time in Holland since our weekend is Amsterdam (which is funny since B works in Holland the whole time we are here). Looking forward to staying in a town we stayed in last year, since this makes my adventures out solo with the boys so much easier. So a week in a small town in the Netherlands and then next weekend we will be in Cologne, Germany. No castle stays though ;)   thanks for reading, Amanda  

The ½ Way Mark: Paris, Amsterdam, and a few weeks in Belgium!

Okay, so we are ½ way through this European adventure of ours! Brandon and I turned to each other at one point tonight when discussing this and gave each other this look. The look could be described as something along the lines of “wow, we are totally crazy but somehow managing.” That really is what this has been. The days before we left I kept telling B how maybe this wasn’t the best idea. I was wrong. It is the best idea. No, not every day has been perfect, and no, it isn’t really vacation. But, no day is perfect, and there is no such thing as vacation with kids anyways. However, the memories are worth every second. B has to work so the boys and I are on our own during the day. We tend to stroll the squares, sometimes grab a waffle, and still dedicate time every day to be back at the hotel for the boys’ naps. We brought a lot of toys and books from home. With a trip of this length it was important to keep things fairly normal. So every day we do puzzles, color, read “brown bear, brown bear” a few hundred times, and obviously we play trains. Theo is so into Hank and watches his every move.


Some highlights of our trip so far:

Amsterdam. Our whole family just adores this city. The canals have us all enchanted, the people are all so friendly, and our hotel there is super luxurious. We rented a pedal boat this time and hit the water. It was super fun, well, until it wasn’t fun anymore. The last 15 minutes both kids lost it, a certain mom or dad (no comment) had gotten the boat a little lost, and after an hour of pedaling without a break, we were all ready to be “all done” like Hank was signing.



Food. Oh, the food. While I actually love cooking, there is something so lovely about not having to grocery shop, meal plan, and actually cook with a nursing baby in the ergo and a toddler signing “hungry” the whole time. The fact that Europe has a ridiculous amount of restaurants every five feet and they all taste better than the last is just a bonus.
An immensely delicious bonus.



Trains. This goes on the list because my little engineer, Hank, is enamored by each and every one he sees. Luckily for him there plenty of trolleys over here. Our hotels have all had awesome views and Hank just hangs out at the window watching the trains. We go for a walk and he points them all out. His favorite place for trains was Antwerp, Belgium, because we stayed at hotel directly across the central station. Trains 24/7 = a Hank-worthy trip.



Paris. Okay, so I am not at all a fan of this city. It doesn't do it for me (the nutella crepes are not included in this statement of dislike - I love me some Parisian street crepes). It was nice to get that token family shot in front of the Eiffel tower and Hank was a big fan of the light show! We also took the boys to Euro Disney just outside of Paris. It was definitely cool, but not nearly as nice as WDW in Orlando, Florida, USA. Why is everything so dirty in/around Paris?!!



This weekend we are off to Luxembourg! None of us have been to this tiny country before, so that is pretty cool. This weekend was planned as an R&R weekend - as in we didn't plan much.
We are staying at a castle in the country and hope to eat, rest, go for a bike ride, and just hang out together! I am pretty excited for the downtime!


What is your favorite place in Europe or a place you would like to visit?
Leave a comment and let me know!

Thanks for reading,
Amanda

Guest Blogging!

I am super excited to be doing a 4 part guest blog series over at Mamahive! Mamahive is this awesome community of moms and they have a lot of great writers over there! Go check them out! Here is the ->link<- to my piece - like + share, please!!

Update!

It’s been a year since Hank’s diagnosis. While certain times have been trying, the relief of knowing and therefore understanding our son greater, is much better than the alternative. Hank has made a lot of progress! One year ago he couldn’t even open his mouth to make a sound and now I listen to the beautiful word “mama” on repeat throughout the day – a word that may drive some mother crazy with its repetition, but for me I embrace because I know all too well that it is a miracle every time.
While autism clearly plays a large role in our daily life, it is NOT our life. Having a blog focus on just that now seems silly. My son has autism, yes, but he also is the most fantastic train track engineer I have ever met. He loves baseball and has no desire to do anything relevant to soccer (we found out the latter after paying $60 for him to chase birds on the sidelines.) Hank has been to Europe twice and has spent over 5 months of his life in hotels (I have come close to stealing some of his delta miles). Wheels are a huge fascination of his and he could watch trains, cars, buses for days. He is obsessed with dinosaur train. He likes the color red. He hates pants and takes his shoes off immediately when entering the house. He loves his brother and displays this by rubbing Theo’s head throughout the day. Hank tantrums. Hank smiles sweetly when he wants something. Hank is clearly two!
So here is the update: The Planets Spin will be covering all of the madness going forward. The travel, domestic engineering, brothers, faith, play, and all other elements of our crazy family. And, of course, a dash of autism for good measures.