The End of Summer and September

Summer has come to a close and with the the end of Grandma Jane's visit and warm weather.  We had a lot of fun while she was here and the kids enjoyed having extra cuddles.  Campbell and enjoyed having her here as well as the extra set of hands to help with the kids.  We even managed to have 2 date nights.  Thanks Mom.

Grandma Jane, Sylvie, and a tired Archie

Grandma Jane hiding from a photo

Sylvie is smiling a lot and is cooing and making lots of noises.

Another tired Archie moment 

Tired from a long day outside and walking! 

 Just tired from being so cute!

Archie loves seeing animals and was so excited and shy when we went to say hello!

Out for a walk around town

Wearing his All Blacks jacket!

Nothing like a track suit and bowler's hat

Archie doing some coloring.  He finally colors the paper and not everything else!

Archie loves to say hello to Sylvie.  He is getting better about gently touching rather than giving her a bash.  Sylvie smiles at him and likes to watch him play. She also smiles when she hears his voice.

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This is my attempt to get a photo of them together.  Archie wouldn't have any part of putting his arm around her.  I also had to have the TV on for distraction and to get Archie to sit still.

I had fun dressing her up today in a cute dress from Auntie Traci.  She has pants on because it is a little too cold for just dresses right now.

We went to Gent on sunny Saturday for an outing.  It was a beautiful old city with several cathedrals right next to one another.  The city has many canals running through it and it was neat to see the boats and barges as we walked along.  There was a music festival and all the streets were closed to traffic.  So it was really lovely to walk along the streets with only other people and the bicycles.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect.

City center - 2 cathedrals in the photo

3 Cathedrals in the background

September and a visit from Grandma Jane!

Life is very busy at the moment.  I thought I would keep it short this post and just put up all the latest photos I have otherwise I will run out of time trying to write too much.  

 Grandma Jane is visiting.  She is in her 2nd or 3 week visit.  We have been going to parks, having daytrips out, and getting the house in order.

 Storytime with Grandma

 Peek-a-boo!!! 

On Saturday, we went to Belgium to Antwerp.  We spent the day drinking coffee, wandering the old streets, and viewing the cathedral.  The weather was perfect and it was a lovely day out.

 Today, we went to Den Haag (the Hague) on the coast.  It started out as a rainy day and ended up being a beautiful fall day.  We spent the day having a nice lunch, drinking coffee, playing in the sand, and walking on the boardwalk.  It was a lovely afternoon with the kids!

 Beautiful sculpture

Grand old hotel with boardwalk along the beach in front.  The boardwalk is lined with cafe after cafe. 

The long beach.  In the background you can barely see the kites and kite surfers.

 Lunch at the cafe....before the table was filled with our clutter and mess!

 Oh, the sun showed up!  Archie was not impressed.  This is the boardwalk with the many cafes and umbrellas.

 Playing in the sand and in the wind.