We started our flying journey on Tuesday morning with a stop in Philly. Our overnight flight started at 6:30pm that night. It was right at 7 hours. The boys did great on both flights and slept for probably 4-1/2 hours of the long flight. They LOVED the airplanes, of course! When we arrived in Brussels on Wednesday morning, we found all 10 of our bags! Whewww! I didn't even think about losing one until we started walking over to the claim area. With that many bags, I knew there was a greater probability of one (or more) of them getting lost or damaged, but thankfully, we had them all. So, with those bags, plus our carry-ons, we needed 3 carts to push our way through the airport. We found our driver and were off...into the Belgian countryside!
On the plane, both boys did a bit of arranging and rearranging their bodies on me...feet on mom...head on mom...either way was fine. THEY WERE ASLEEP! So as we were driving to the lodge, I kept falling in and out of sleep. But, Colin kept waking me up everytime he saw a herd of cows or sheep, which was pretty often. I didn't mind though because it was beautiful. Boy, is it green here, and the farm animals are plenty. Our driver drove us through his town of Ahtt, which had charming rows of shops and restaurants all connected, cobblestone streets, and even a small canal. Looking forward to exploring that quaint town!
Upon our arrival at the lodge, we began to unpack a little and then took that very appreciated shower. The kids played out on the playground here. Later, we explored the nearby commissary (grocery store), and PX (Walmart like store). We also registered at the gym on base so the kids played some basketball and soccer. Once we arrived on base, we didn't leave from there the rest of the day. We all were pretty tired and were in bed around 8:15pm.
Once again, the range of emotions hit us on this day. It was sad leaving our parents at the airport. We both had the awful pit-in-the-stomach sort of feeling. We were excited to see our new homeland, but also felt incredibly empty upon arrival. On Sunday morning, Mike's 24 yr old cousin, Billy, was tragically killed in a car accident. Billy was one of the nicest men out there and far too young. We are so sad for his loss and have left town with heavy hearts. Our love and prayers pour out to our families back home. We love and miss you, Billy. RIP
No comments:
Post a Comment