Well, that was an extended vacation.

Hiya, remember me?

So although I was a tad behind in the reading (and posting by a lot), I was gearing to catch up and write an epic post about my progress.

Then we went to Belgium.

Picture it: we (me, my husband, the boy, the girl, my mother-in-law and her 83-year old mother, both visiting from the States) took the overnight ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge to spend one day in Bruges. Just enough time to buy some chocolate and see the sights. We get in, check in at the hotel, walk to the town square to get some overpriced tourist lunch and shop a bit.

In a very nice chocolate store, Nana went down a circular stone staircase and fell near the bottom, and was unable to put weight on her leg.  After some waffling (ha, get it?  Belgium?  Waffles?) by the staff, they called an ambulance.  Our next tourist stop was the local emergency room.

Hours later, a lot of international cell phone minutes and countless pacing around with the kiddos, it was determined that she broke her hip and would have surgery to correct it in the morning (Saturday).  We extended our hotel for a bit, figured out how many days we could stretch our clothes and settled in.

Nana got some new metal in her hip, we got some new clothes and more chocolate than anyone ever needs in a lifetime (including a lot from the store where she fell; they asked about her every time we went in.  We got her a tote bag from there, and some chocolates in the shape of bolts.).  She and my mother-in-law ended up flying back to the States the following Sunday (two days ago), and we got on the ferry that evening.  Our one-night in Bruges ended up being nine days.

Did I bring my book?  Of course not.  Why would I have done that?  This was the one trip that we didn’t overpack… we ALWAYS overpack.  We didn’t even take our computer, which really would have been handy.  Regardless, we’re home now and getting settled back here.  I’ll try to catch up, after I get all of our Christmas presents wrapped, sent to family and box up all the things left here by the two that flew home.  Why does November always get hectic?