SLC was home to us. We knew the best bakeries at the best time of day. Museums knew our names and we didn’t miss a special exhibit. We knew the rows in the local bookstores that had our favorite items. The little boutiques where we knew right away when they had new items. I’ve certainly lived in more “interesting” cities than SLC but this is the one we knew and were in love with.

So Kim did our pictures up on top of the Wells Fargo building smack in the middle of that city that feels like home.

After getting back from Europe we had a little time left in Utah. We were staying at a furnished home near the canyons and just drove each day to see friends and family in our old neighborhood. Shae had a playdate with her favorite friend Carter. Reagan’s primary class gave her a goodbye party with sweet Trisha Linford who was such a great teacher to Reagan for quite a few years. 

Abby said goodbye to her sweet friend Ivy who was such a great neighbor and only girl Abby’s age at church. Perfect pair those two! We met Abby’s bestie Chelsea for ice cream on one of our last nights. Park playdates were in full force to say goodbye—and goodbye—and then goodbye one last time to groups of friends.

I got to have one last book club with my sweet group of friends and give them a book I chose for each of them. Little lunches, walks with old YW, and hugs at night with friends. Saying goodbye to my grandpa and grandma.

Water parks and goodbye to Alex and her family!

Late nights with select friends we were going to miss so much…

We threw a “Glow in the Dark” party for Abby & her friends. She said something to me afterwards that I will never forget, “Mom, I didn’t realize how many people loved me.”

Thankfully we got to attend by the skin of our teeth schedule wise the marriage of my cousin Nathan.

My nephew and nieces came over for one last sleepover. We had this tiny hot tub in the back and I was making fun of my sister for requiring her son to wear a life jacket when I was right there with him. Then literally a few minutes after she left he went to walk out of the hot tub and fell down the stairs. The lifejacket acted almost like a hot dog bun and he wasn’t scratched at all! Haha, it made us laugh!

Abby had to say goodbye to them early because she was off to girls camp and while she was gone they were off to a trip. Abby went to girls camp with our ward we were about to leave.

Tyler left around that time to get himself and all our things out to South Carolina while we wrapped up a few things in Utah.

Our goodbye with the Brown side broke my heart. Cameron and Lydia were the best of friends and so important to each other, so that was a hard goodbye. The other kids didn’t even really realize they were saying goodbye!

I had taken Lydia and Cameron on a special outing just the two of them before we moved. They are both huge Harry Potter fans so I took them to a local bookstore who was celebrating Harry’s birthday to the max!

I got to take my nephews out for Bruges waffles! One of our last nights together we just watched bunnies while sitting on the grass. Isn’t that wonderful how some of your favorite memories with family are such little things?

In the last week while staying at my parents the girls got to finish up quilts they had been working on with my mom.

And in our very last night we played at the lake with my family to say goodbye. It was a beautiful night!

The morning we left the grandparents gave the girls huge hugs and we were off. Boy did we cry for the first day just straight. Leaving Utah broke our hearts.

p.s. random video shots

p.p.s. we also somehow snuck in a couple days at our family’s spot, Grand America, but now I can’t remember when! but it really is the only fancy thing our family enjoys.

While staying in Liege Belgium I asked Tyler how we could NOT head on over to Luxembourg for the day. When else would we be so close to this little country?! So we did and it was such a fun experience to be there.

Walking through this country is a bit like walking around Princess Jasmine’s palace. Everything was clean, shiny, gorgeous AND EXPENSIVE! Money money money everywhere! If you are lucky enough as I am with four girls to have watched Monte Carol over and over and over, THAT is what it feels like in Luxembourg.

We went to a cute cake and chocolate chop that had many different kinds of hot chocolate that the girls chose from. We toured their visitors center which has to be the most beautiful and expensive museum or visitors center I have ever set foot in.

The views on the rolling streets were gorgeous, I am so glad we took the time to spend a day there.

For the last section of Belgium I wanted to stay on the shore; European beach towns have always looks so whimsical to me and are the setting in many of the books I love. On the way to the shore we made a stop in Gent. Then headed to Knokke & Oostende to explore that part of the country. Last stop back to the airport to head home was Bruge. It was a TON of cities we went to and we stayed in three different spots overnight. I really enjoyed seeing the country that way. That is how I would chose to travel in a new country. Ty is the exact opposite though so we have to make sure we find a good balance between the two of us.

Gent

Gent is a city that got short changed by us. My family was tired of the go go go by the time we got there and just wanted a day to relax by the beach. Gent was pristine! It felt like a fairy tale could be filmed there and I was walking around in it. We walked around a castle again, had our 7th waffle of the trip, and enjoyed looking over the canals. More beautiful street music and delicious fresh Italian food. We also walked through the creepiest church with a whale carcass hanging from the ceiling, that place had the creepiest vibe.

Knokke & Oostende

Knokke & Oostende are different towns but since I am writing this two years late I am having a hard time remembering the difference between the two. It was nice to slow down and spend some time on the beach. I love all of the colored changing rooms they have on these beaches. Also the little sheds you can rent so you can store beach things and sit under there and have a drink. We didn’t do that but a lot of the locals were. Other than the daily waffle we mainly ate at home so in each new location I did a grocery store trip. I went into a place and it took me forever to shop, when I tried to check out I realized it was a “Costco” type place where you had to be a member. Oh man that was a doosy and everyone was so exhausted.

Bruge

Bruge, Bruge, Bruge. I don’t lose it in public, ever. I am an easy going person but Bruge made me angry and now I cannot even remember if it was a beautiful city or not. It started off fine, having our last waffle, #8!

Then it was time for me to spend my money I had saved for shopping on the trip. All of these beautiful cities and I didn’t spend a cent on shopping. I had chosen a Christmas store with beautiful hand carved wood ornaments and Christmas decor. I was going to get one for parents, grandparents, our children, etc. As soon as I entered the shop I had three women following me around with the nastiest looks on their faces. I looked around to see if anyone else in the shop was receiving this treatment. Nope just me! I reminded the girls, stand very still and don’t touch anything. They are kids that are very well behaved and know how to act in shops with fragile things. I reminded them to just point and not touch anything so they could pick out their items. These three women anytime my kids pointed at something would snap; DO NOT TOUCH! To the point that I screamed at all three of them, didn’t buy one thing, and yelled the whole way out of the store at them. Hahahahahahaha. They deserved it and thats the only time in public I have acted like that. So did we like Bruge, I don’t remember. All I remember is this awful shop Kaethe Wohlfahrt in Bruges. Their things were so beautiful I almost wanted to put on a scarf, ditch the kids, forgive them and just go buy my things.

Sadly the airport was an awful experience as well. Ty went off for work to Paris and I went on my way home with the girls. They were very nit picky over the girls backpacks and tried to force us to check them. They only had one each as a carry on and were not oversized. I refused and they told me that they were going to not allow us to get on the plane. So they forced us to check them making it so we had nothing on the airplane. And when I told the guy he’d better not hold back the bags to be a prick, he totally did while we were looking through the airport windows while giving me the finger. SO YES, OKAY BELGIUM WAS WONDERFUL BUT IT FELL APART AT THE END.

Here is a video to make up for it:

After Mechelen, Brussels & Antwerp we headed east towards Liege and Spa. On the drive there we stopped by the Hallerbos Forrest and Château de Modave. This was the side of the country we preferred, the “French” side. I am not sure why, perhaps because the drive was gorgeous. Little towns, farmlands, more of what I am sure it is like to LIVE in Belgium not just visit Belgium. To hear the French language and look into people’s day to day lives was very special.

Hallerbos Forrest

Hallerbos Forrest is a place where blue bells grow and you can walk through a gorgeous blue forrest. When we arrived and walked around for quite a long time I couldn’t find any blue bells. However it was a very mystically interesting forrest, not sure why, I want to go back one day. BUT the girls started taking a million pictures of each other and then we left. I found out a day later that we had just needed to drive a bit more up the forrest and would have found all the blue bells.

Château de Modave

Château de Modave was a great pick of an old manor/castle/CHATEAU to tour in Belgium. Some places like that can be hit or miss but this one was great and we had it almost all to ourselves. We danced around in a dungeon, saw how this generation of families lived, and enjoyed the views. Reagan now wants to be a princess and I checked off another bucket list item of touring a real life castle.

Liege

Liege was my favorite city overall in Belgium with Ghent close behind. Liege is on the French side and has a mix of a big city atmosphere with more of a young crowd and at the same time old world as well. It is hard to put in exact words why I enjoyed Liege but Tyler had the same opinion.

Actually one thing for certain that made is a favorite is the best waffles in our entire trip and one of the best meals of my life. A dark chocolate and pear waffle Liege style. The bakery Une Gaufrette Saperlipopette is a dream, I still follow them on Instagram and hope to make it back there. If you do not buy something at this bakery when in this city you should be fined.

We also had another food adventure that might be the weirdest thing that has ever been said to me at a restaurant. The owner was awesome and really wanted us to have a nice time. The tables had grills in them where you grilled your meat. He recommended the kangaroo and said it was the very last he had and would have in a very long time. He proceeded to tell us that all the other kangaroo meat had been recalled because of a virus in the meat but he still had some!! Haha we did not order the Kangaroo.

Spa

Spa didn’t get a ton of our time because we decided to spend a day in Luxembourg. However we did visit Lake Warfaaz and have a simple and perfect family day. Lunch by the lake, paddling around, and a nice long walk. Another moment that embarrassed my kids happened here. Everything was in French and I had to go in the back of the kitchen and just show them what I wanted. My girls almost killed me.

If, no when I go back to Belgium one day, I will head over to this side and explore it more.

Our trip to Belgium was sectioned off into three different parts. We stayed in three different regions of Belgium in different lodging. The trip was extremely go go go but I left feeling like I had really seen a lot of the country. My sweet friend who grew up in the country helped me plan the trip which was so helpful because without it I would have been very lost in where to start. In this Part 1 I will share what we did in; Mechelen, Brussels & Antwerp.

Mechelen

 When we arrived in Mechelen we were exhausted. It was my first time really experiencing extreme jet lag and it was ROUGH! Their Saturday market was in full swing when we pulled up and we walked around for a bit. Wow; the chocolates, cheeses, olives bread, produce, crafts, and art. Farmer’s Markets are one of my favorite things and I have been to many around the country. But European ones are a whole new ball game and I hope I get to go to many more. It was wonderful to walk around a city that my friend had told me so many stories of, that was what I will remember always of Mechelen, just walking around for hours. One night at dusk we went on a walk along a canal and I saw some couples dancing in the distance. Couples from all over the city came to the town square to dance the tango together. We grabbed some gelato and just watched them. I love moments where you feel like you will never forget the magic of them. This was one of them, even more so because of delicious gelato.

Another thing I tried to do in this city was find the church that my friend was baptized in and her mother’s funeral was held in. Unfortunately it was under construction but I sent her pictures of what I could find.

Brussels 

Mechlen is very close to Brussels so we headed over for a day where I put together a chocolate tour for us to go on. At each chocolate chop the girls were allowed to buy one chocolate from the case and we did this at 8-9 spots. The Mary and then Elisabeth chocolate shops won unanimously. Waffles and Frites were eaten for a second day in a row. We embarrassingly looked for the Carpet of Flowers for much too long until someone told us we were a full month early and they weren’t even set up yet. Took a long tour in air conditioning through the Palace of Brussels. During the tour there was such a huge sister fight in the bathroom over doors that I hid in a corner of the palace and cried loudly. TRAVELING ALWAYS GO SO WELL AS A FAMILY!! Wandered through parks and found motherhood statues, which I always like to sit and look at. Even if I want my kids to not be on vacation with me anymore, haha.

Smurf, Elephant, and Manneken Pis was found as well.

I could just tour cathedrals, churches, and graveyards during trips abroad. However my family cannot do that so I felt lucky to choose one that ended up being the most beautiful of the whole trip. I feel very calm in old church buildings, you can feel the reverence for what Christ did for us very strong. The beautiful art and stained glass windows honoring him, God, Mary, and Joseph means a lot to me.

Antwerp

Antwerp to me was the most visually stunning of these three cities; we took the train in and found the Antwerp train station to be really incredible. I’ve always wanted to ride a train in Europe so I knocked off a big bucket list item. Antwerp was a wonderful place to window shop and also listen to street performers. So many talented string instruments to sit and listen to. We did a few more chocolate chops and at once I got my head ripped off for touching and trying to buy a chocolate that was not to be touched! Gah, I hate when I embarrass myself when I am traveling. I embarrassed myself four times badly on this trip. This was one of them, I will have to make sure I put the others into this post. We also walked around Het Steen castle and ate of course….more waffles and frites.

The living arrangements and car arrangements were so tiny! Everything is tiny, I felt like an annoying American for sure the entire time. So far Brussels is in the lead for their chocolate, Antwerp for it’s train station & Mechelen for it’s atmosphere. However they didn’t end up being our favorites in the very end.

Rhode Island was on my list to make it to one day. I mean I bet I have driven through it living on the East Coast for 19 years of my life. However it doesn’t count if you don’t stay and explore for a bit!

So we did by GONDOLA RIDE!

random I know

Very random, BUT a great experience! We learned a lot about the history, Providence, and listened to beautiful Italian singing.

Three Sisters was a spot we wanted to go to because New England areas have the best creameries for homemade ice cream and that is just what we got.

Did a little walking around the river, to the capital building, and through a church.

While we were driving away and almost back I realized I left my debit card back in an ATM. So we actually got to drive back and VISIT IT TWICE.

Two adventures we went on while at Cape Cod were to the tip tippiest point of the tail to see a lighthouse. We headed to Highland Lighthouse and all of us got to climb to the top but Reagan. So she stayed behind with Tyler and promised us that we would take her when she was older. Due to all the erosion they actually had to move the whole lighthouse inward. Crazy.

(Abby trying to force Ty to take a picture, see above, haha)

Of course we had to get seafood, New England has the best seafood and style of making the seafood in all the land!

Speaking of food when we flew into Massachusetts we spent one night in a hotel and did the most important thing there is to do there, eat cannolis and Italian food.

I got sidetracked by the food, the other adventure we took was to take Tyler to Martha’s Vineyard! This time we were on the hunt to find the sea monster Vanessa. On our last trip there I picked up a storybook called Vanessa and over the past year we have been reading it and knew we needed to find her on the next trip there. We spotted her after a REALLY long walk!

Sometimes doing special things should just be a one time thing because they aren’t as magical. The only thing that ended up being like that was riding the oldest carousel and playing games in the old time arcade. That was not as magical the second time and should have just been done once. I have noticed that with some cool family experiences, that trying to do them again sometimes is a fail.

Walking around the gingerbread homes was just as cool the second time. It is my goal to spend a few days on the island and rent one of them to stay in.

Walking along the seashore, eating at their awesome delis and bakeries, and doing some shopping is the highlight of this place.

Most of all though, I love the ferry ride there. Why do I like ferry rides so much?! I have no idea; being on the water, the breeze, I LOVE being in crowds, being excited to go somewhere new. Maybe that is why.

Why don’t I live in New England? I’ll tell you why, Tyler doesn’t even want to. But it feels so special and different in my heart, always will. And I will visit it as much as I can, I already have an epic Summer 2021 trip planned to there.

A year prior to this trip I got lost with my brothers and landed up on a quaint beach with the perfect Cape Cod feels. I thought to myself, we will vacation here next time. We did, right on that beach in a nautical themed hotel. It had pools and was right on the ocean during a week of perfect weather.

The beach’s break and waves made it perfect to rent this large beach mat. We spent a whole day just on this thing. Have you ever played on something like this? All six of us could roll around on it, jump off it, rock it to throw other people off…and it didn’t go under the water! I wanted to buy one but they are almost a grand, you would have to have a truck to get it there, and it wouldn’t work well in a very wavy beach.

The sky lit up at dusk and was the perfect backdrop to run around in, be silly, take pictures, and go on long walks.

Perfect family beach days are what summer is partly made of. Lots of times if the water is too chilly, sun is getting too burned, waves are too crazy, etc, etc, etc they don’t work out. But this beach was just perfection and we had a lot of fun rolling out of bed and running right down to it.