Bruges, Belgium

One of Harry's coworkers got married in the Netherlands at the beginning of May and we were invited to the wedding.  Harry really wanted to go so I told him that if we flew all the way to Amsterdam, we were just going home for the summer afterwards.  Amsterdam is a good 6 hour flight from Dammam so I figured if we were already getting a leg of the journey down, we might as well go all the way home.  Connor was still only in preK so taking him out of school a few weeks early was no big deal.

 

On May 6, 2015 we started our Belgium/Netherlands vacation!  Of course we left Dammam at the ridiculous time of 12:35 am.  We were exhausted before we even started! 

 

Sleepy head loving the eye mask the KLM flight attendants gave him.

Of course Jameson was sick so that made for a terrible flight.  He was literally screaming at some points.  We were never so happy to get off of a plane....I'm sure the other passengers were happy too!

 

We picked up our rental car and Connor got quite the kick out of the sun roof.  He thought it was the coolest thing!

We decided to start our vacation in Bruges, Belgium so we literally flew through the night and then drove half way across the Netherlands to get to Bruges.  We were a little tired, but super excited to check things out.

Jameson was giving the camera a mean mug, as usual.

Our hotel was in a great location so we were able to check in, drop off our bags, and head straight out to explore the town of Bruges!

 

The belfry of Bruges really stands out when you get to the historical center of the city.  It used to hold a treasury and the municipal archives.  It was also used as an observation tower for the people to spot fires and other dangers that might be happening.

Beer...check!

We stopped at this cute cafe for a bite to eat.  It was a great people watching spot!

Waffles and fries...check, check!

The Provinciaal Hof (or Province Court). 

Silly faces in the street!

We had a great time wandering around the city and enjoying the beautiful weather!

Some of our friends that were also going to the wedding met up with us that afternoon and introduced me to Kasteel Rouge.  My absolute new favorite beer!

After a full night and day of traveling, these kiddos were ready for a little iPad time and bed!

 

After breakfast we set out with no agenda.  We just took it all in and did whatever we felt like doing at the time.

 

Chocolate...check!  I wanted to stop in at Dumon Chocolatier because this shop is recommended by Rick Steves.  It didn't disappoint!

 

 

I'm sure he was excited at the thought of all that chocolate!

Our next stop was a beer shop.  This place had A LOT of beer and pretty much all the special glasses that go with the different beers.

I just love the look of the buildings and how they line the streets all over Europe.

We settled in at a cute little outdoor cafe for drinks and a snack.

Our crew!  We all flew from Saudi to attend John's wedding in the Netherlands.  These people are like family to us now.

This little guy still wasn't feeling all that great and we were all happy when he finally gave in and took a nap.

After a while we decided to go on the hunt for a waffle food truck I spotted on our walk the day before.  We found it!

 

 

Of course Jameson gets what Jameson wants from Uncle Rocky!

 

The Forets!

He was a little excited about his waffle ;)

The food truck was parked outside this beautiful building.

 

Yummm!

 

I can't get enough of these streets!  I have taken pictures like this pretty much everywhere we've been to in Europe.  I'll have to get one from each place framed and hung up when we build our house.

We had such a great time walking around Bruges with our friends!

 

We had plans to meet up with John and Yolanda for dinner in Terneuzen so it was time to go back across the border into the Netherlands and get freshened up.

 

The drive there was absolutely beautiful!  Belgium and the Netherlands are gorgeous countries!

Traveling is tough work!

Of course this one enjoyed playing in the bathroom.

We had a very nice dinner with John and Yolanda and some of their children.  It was great to finally meet Yolanda since she would be moving to Saudi after they got married.  The food was great and Connor especially liked his frikandel.  He liked all the food a little too much.  He ate and ate and ate.  It was getting late so I took the boys up to the room while they guys had a little bachelor party of sorts for John at the hotel bar.  I thought we were doing great!  The boys and I were all showered and in bed at a decent time.  After being sound asleep for a while, Connor started throwing up everywhere!  I thought I was having a nightmare!  It was terrible.  So around midnight we were all in the bathroom and I was trying to figure out how to clean this up.  I tried taking Connor's clothes off so he could get in the shower, but I just couldn't handle the vomit.  It was not a pretty sight.  And while all this is going on Jameson was crying, wanting me to hold him.  It was a mess.  I texted Harry and told him he needed to get back to the room right away.  He knew immediately that someone had thrown up lol!  I felt so bad for the front desk guy that had to come up and try to help us clean what we could in the middle of the night.  Thank goodness I booked a family suite that had 2 bedrooms so we all cuddled up in the second room.  It was an eventful first night in the Netherlands!