A Weekend of Bliss

Hmmmmm, how do you start a post? "Hello bloggers!" or "Bonjour peeps!" or even "What it is?!" I don't know...not fond of any of the above, so I think what I will do is start all of my posts with the quote of the day. The quote of the day may come from anyone in the family, or just something I heard while out and about. Without further ado...

Daddy explains to Brooklyn that he is throwing away the candy container because it is all gone. Her response: "Don't say that Daddy!!"

This past weekend our family attended an End of the Year Cookout put on by a few of the American ISE families. To prepare for this, Pat Tuttle and I put our heads together to figure out what it was that we could bring that would bring some fun and competition to the cookout. It didn't take long to decide that the party needed Cornhole. For all of you nontailgaters, Cornhole is a game of stradegy, strength, empowerment...ok, it's a game of beanbag toss...but a competitive game of beanbag toss! First up, the boards: Without boring you with all of the detail and hardwork we put into these, not to mention the number of beers consumed while developing these, it took us two days to build a 2 sets of boards. Basically it is a 2ft by 4ft slanted board with a 6 in hole approximately 9 inches down from the top center of the board. Front part sits 4inches off the ground, the rear sits 12 inches from the ground, and the boards face each other approximately 27 feet apart from front end to front end. To make a long story short, two teams of two go against each other trying to be the first to 21 points. 3 points for making it in the hole, 1 point for getting the beanbag to stay on the board. Heres a picture of the unfinished product.

We painted one set white, although there is much more to do on it. It will eventually have blue pinstripes and a big Cubs logo in the middle, so I'll have to post more when that is finished. Needless to say I found that I am amazing at this game...probably the best in the world at this point.

Saturday we took a day trip with the Tuttles to Antwerp Belgium, which is about 45 minutes north of Brussels. Great time! I'm sure most of you have seen Mandys Blog so have seen some of the pictures, really an amazing city. Pat Tuttle and I walked around with Mandy, Tina and kids for a bit and ate at a nice little Pizzaria with everyone. From there, the fun began :) The reason for choosing Antwerp was because of this:

Beerfest! 150 beers on tap :)

Pat and I had a great time sampling different beers, which are much much different than the American beers. Full of flavor and calories, and very high in alcohol content in comparison (ranging anywhere from 6.5%-16.5%). Belgians are very passionate about their beer, and it was just odd to see Dad and his 14 year old kid drinking and discussing different beers and wine.

All in all, great weekend. As you may have seen on Mandy's blog, we have more travel plans to come in October. We're taking a Western Mediterranean Cruise to see Spain, France, Italy and Sicily. So Mandy bought a map of Europe, and one of the US as well to hang in the kitchen to mark our travels. We hope to visit as much as we can while we are here the short three years, but look forward to sharing it with all.