Cooking Show

A friend of mine has rejoined Pampered Chef and is doing a Cooking Show at our house on September 28th at 7p. Invitations for those of you in the Chicago area will be sent out soon. If anyone is interested in joining us, give me a call or shoot me an email. You can also place orders online. They have some really nice products and it's a great way to get a jump on Christmas shopping. Happy shopping!

Morton Arboretum

Grandma K was here for a few days to visit. The only nice day was Sunday so we took off to Morton Arboretum. The Children's Garden was beautifully designed, much like a playground and less like a garden. Elise had a blast climbing and playing in the water. Meanwhile, Julia hung out with Grandma. We were there for several hours and still missed a big portion of the kids' area. Guess we'll catch that next time!

Pictures of Our Lake

During the crazy storms on Thursday last week, here was the result in the front of our house. Hard to tell, but there's a two way street with a median in the middle (I guess you'd call that a parkway). It appeared to be up at the top of the bumper of a big pickup truck and to the knees of my neighbor, who waded out to clear the storm sewer. Thankfully, although we lost power for 11 hours, we had no water in the basement. I've never seen a storm quite like this one.

Happy Birthday, Libby!

My first niece, Libby, turned 2 today. While I was unable to speak to her in person today, I did call at 10:30p (shame on me, but still within the Kurt Family Birthday Rules). To celebrate her special day, Uncle Paul, Grandma K, cousins Elise and Julia and I spent the morning at the children's garden at Morton Arboretum (more on that later). We're sorry she wasn't able to make it to her celebration.

Happy Birthday, Libby! We love you!

Comic

This has been true for quite some time. It caused me to chuckle though, because we've listened to Curious George and Junior's BedTime Songs so many times, I'm ready to pitch them out the window.


Note: I do not have a "Baby on Board" sign on my car ;>)

Whales

Potty training is ongoing, but we seem to be making progress. Yesterday, Elise took herself to the potty and after a few minutes called for help. When I arrived, she announced, "Mommy, I pooped!" After giving her much praise she added, "It looks like a whale to me." I guess she really studied it hard to come up with that description.

Belgian waffles

Guest blogger

Ghent (Gent)

I had the rare opportunity to venture outside the windowless conference rooms of companies and see daylight for once. Luckily I happened to be in Belgium. I spent a couple of days in Ghent, which is a 30 minute express train ride from Brussels. It was the capital of Europe 500 years ago and hasn't changed much since. Gent has a waterway that runs through the heart of the city with restaurants all around. The city has a cathedral every couple of blocks and a medieval castle complete with a torture chamber. The city isn't a very well known tourist destination, but is definitely worth the trip from Brussels.

Brussels

While Gent is the old capital of Europe, Brussels is the new one with government offices for the EU. It combines the old world with the new depending on which part of the city you're in. The centerpiece of the city is the Grand Palace/Market Square, which is an open area surrounded by ornate buildings from the late 17th century. I had the world's best waffles outside a little cafe, though I can't decide if the waffles were better or the ice cream, whip cream and chocolate sauce that came on them. There are many other monuments and important looking government buildings scattered across the city and a garden that I could never track down. The famous fountain is no bigger than a doll and not worth tracking down despite being on every other thing in the tourist shops.

Travel notes

• It's probably worth spending a couple of days in Brussels and a day in Gent.
• The Marriott is central in both cities and both are less than a year old.
• The sidewalks are made of stone in both cities, so it isn't a very good idea to get lost while dragging a suit case around.
• Taxis are surprisingly difficult to track down in Brussels and expensive.
• Flemish looks like English, but the words are twice as long. Every 10th word is recognizable.
• You must check in for your flight 1 hour before scheduled departure. The fact that your flight is delayed doesn't matter. You must show up and wait in the airport.
• Belgium is know for chocolate, waffles, beer, vegetables and diamonds.

Weeks 13 & 14 in Review

Julia had her 3 month appointment yesterday. She weighed in at 13 lbs, 15 oz. and is 24 7/8" long (90th percentile for both). It's hard to believe that she grew over an inch in just 4 weeks! She's developing some very nice Michelin Man arms and legs.

She continues to be very smiley and happy. In the last two weeks, she's begun to giggle (which gives her the hiccups every time) and loves to sing songs with arm motions. Julia is starting to roll on her side. This morning when she woke up, she was having a very nice conversation with her monkey, which hangs from her pack 'n play. Very, very cute!

Tag, You're It

Right, so my brother-in-law so kindly reminded me that I failed to tag someone else. Lest I have bad luck for the next 7 years, I tag Gail and Melissa (sorry, you're the only ones left with a blog).

10 Random Things

If my last post wasn't enough, here are 10 random things about me (thanks for tagging me, Jon):

1. I was named the Outstanding Senior of the year for my program at Purdue. Sadly, I never put my degree to use in the work place. On second thought, working in corporate America is like working with children.
2. I am a published author. My college thesis was printed in an academic journal.
3. I have the biggest feet in my family.
4. In kindergarten, I got in trouble for talking too much and was sent to the bad table behind the teacher’s desk.
5. Paul gave me a bloody nose during his proposal to me. Despite that fact, I said ‘yes’ and we’ll be married 9 years in September.
6. My sister Errin is my personal clothing shopper. If it weren’t for her, I’d really be out of style.
7. I don’t like to be home alone, especially at night. I always leave a light on when I go to bed.
8. I have moved 4 times since being married. Prior to that, I lived in three different homes growing up and 6 dorm rooms and 2 apartments during college. Needless to say, I’m ready to stay put for a while.
9. I am a neat freak. I don’t like knick-knacks and despise clutter.
10. I don’t particularly enjoy talking on the phone and am horrible and keeping in touch with people.