a day at the park . . .

Today Lindsey and I decided to meet at the park near my house to let the boys play, which we've done several times now. However, I guess we've never done it on a Wednesday, because we were in for a quite a shock! I forgot that the schools have half days every Wednesday . . . so that, plus the fact that it was a gorgeous, albeit HOT, day, and everyone plus their brother was at the park today. I'm talking HUNDREDS of kids. We saw birthday parties, parents chasing naked babies, and lots of ice cream eating going on. Luckily, the park is huge and very spread out with lots of different areas for kids to play, including . . . a pool! Well, not so much a pool as a shallow water play area, but still.

Foodie Pen Pals!

SO because I've been out of town for the last five days, this post comes a little late, but better late than never!

I am so excited to be participating in the biggest thing to sweep the blogosphere since . . . well, I don't know what, but it sure is fun and exciting! Carol Anne over at This Is Rock Salt has organized a pen pal food swap in Europe, much like The Lean Bean Green has done in the States. Link up here or on the right hand side of my blog to see how you can become a foodie pen pal too!

Basically, Carol Anne matches everyone up with another foodie and we are responsible for sending them a food package, spending no more than 10 euros, and in return we also get a food package from another foodie. Before putting together our parcel we contact the recipient and get some info, like any food allergies, likes, dislikes, healthy vs. sweets, cook vs. baker, etc. You can send ready to eat food, or food that needs to be prepared, or spices, or whatever!

Texas Steakhouse . . . Dutch style

After taking our friend Spencer out to dinner this week (how lucky are we that he has business in the NL every other month this year??), Keith and I were talking about how we rarely go out to eat anymore. Back in the States, we ate out all the time, at least 2-3 nights per week. I can count on one hand the number of times we've eaten out in the last two months here --  no joke. There are many reasons why: we've got a kid now, it's so expensive to eat out, it's so cheap to buy groceries, and we haven't really found any restaurants that we absolutely LOVE. In Georgia, we would get excited to go get Mexican food at our favorite local place on Friday night, or grab wings and beers at Taco Mac, or pizza and salad at Brookyln Joe's . . . we had our favorites so it was easy to always find something we were in the mood for. Here, not so much. Regardless, we have found a few good places, with Usine being one of them. That's where we took Spencer on Wednesday, and we all left pretty satisfied.

ANYway, we were saying how we hardly ever go out to eat anymore and how nice it was to not have a kitchen to clean that night. So Keith suggested we try out Longhorn Steakhouse Friday night. We had heard from different people that it was pretty good, and the Dutch had done a decent job of recreating a Texas-style steakhouse, complete with peanut shells on the floor and country music a playin'. I decided on the chicken breast and Keith got a steak -- plus they bring out bowls of potato salad and mixed greens to share family style. I gotta say, it wasn't too bad, and we really did enjoy listening to country music (which we never hear on the radio). We were serenaded by Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown, Lady Antebellum, and all the big stars . . . even Liam woke up in time to enjoy the atmosphere. I would like to go back again and maybe even go with friends to enjoy the saloon next to the restaurant . . .

Longhorn's menu

We decided against "Longhorn's Crazy Meat Party"

Peanuts and candlelight . . . so romantic : )

Keith with his gigantic steak . . .

and my huge chicken breast
PS -- both dishes came with a big slice of melon??

~Jessi

. . . potluckin' with friends

Last summer at my very first potluck with the North American Women's Club I signed up to host potluck in February, thinking we would be pretty settled by then (and, selfishly, who wants to get a baby out in the February cold weather if they don't have to??). February rolled around before I knew it and the email went out inviting all the women in the club to my home on Tuesday, the 7th. Leading up to the weekend before the potluck I had only received 3 RSVPs, so I didn't feel any pressure at all about the big event. I sent out any email giving details about where to park and asked for any more RSVPs . . . and then they came flooding in! I went from 3 to 16 people in 24 hours. I was thrilled that so many people were coming,  and glad I hadn't known it until right before -- no time to feel anxious!

. . . bratwursts and glühwein and latkes, oh my!

For the second weekend in a row we headed out of town to explore the cities around us. Last weekend, it was my birthday in Bruges, and this weekend we headed to the Christmas markets in Dusseldorf, Germany. Germany is well known for their Christmas markets, which are located in every major city and begin mid-November. Apparently they're of all sizes, indoor and outdoor, so you can go to one that suits your liking. We had heard the one in Dusseldorf was pretty big, and all outdoor, which can be good or bad depending on the weather. We really lucked out because the weather both days we were there was exactly what I wanted -- the perfect wintry day with clear blue skies, cold enough to wear a coat and scarf, but not the kind of cold where you have to wipe your runny nose with your gloves a tissue. You know what I'm saying'.

Meeting Gramps . . .

Liam meets his Gramps for the first time

Well I can't believe the week is over already. My dad arrived last Saturday and it was a wonderful seven days. The first thing he did was hug and kiss me, and then sat holding Liam until his next feeding. He was in awe. And Liam found the perfect place to rest this week -- my dad's chest.