Preslee had her first away games this past weekend.  She went to Bonn, Germany.  We were going to go but Mike had to be out of town and Kade had a soccer game.  We opted to miss these games in hopes of making the rest of them.  We got an extra cell phone for her to take so she could call us several times while she was gone.  She had a great time staying with the host family and I think it's going to be  another great experience for her to meet more new people and see how they live.  She also has to eat whatever they make for dinner and for her a lunch the next day.  This will make her try new things because she is too nice to other adults to not try their food, and for me she is very picky and complains the whole time if I want her to try something.  I asked her if they were Americans and she really didn't know.  She said they spoke German to each other but English to her.

She played some great games as well.  She got all but one serve over, and she was relieved because she had been having trouble with that.  I think it will help her not be so anxious now.
She had fun on the bus too.  They ride with the older girls teams and also the soccer teams on a big double decker bus.  Every time she called they were singing and having a good time.



Our cultural training was pretty interesting.  A lady came to our house to give us some insight and history on Belgium.  She was from the area we live in and knew a lot to tell us.  She travels quite often and even teaches at a university in the U.S.  She answered our questions and took us in to town for lunch and showed us around.  Then she talked to Mike about business stuff, to help him interact better with all the different countries and cultures that he deals with daily.

I finally got my vehicle this week.  I'm so glad I do not have to drive the manual anymore!  It's such a distraction when you are trying to navigate on roads here.  I also learned to really watch out for the trams, kinda had a close call.  Sometimes you have to cross over tracks driving and they can just pop up out of nowhere (although I should know they are there, but sometimes I am trying to figure out where I am going).  And they don't stop, so you have to watch out.

Kade lost his first teeth, two at the same time!  He was so excited that it finally happened.  I am too because he would ask me every couple of days..."Am I ever gonna lose any teeth?  All my friends have."  Daddy pulled them out with the pliers...ouch.  The tooth fairy brought him 6 euros and he just told us he got some pennies....well, the 1 & 2 euro here are in coins not bills, so he just thought he got some pennies and not a lot of money, but he didn't complain. :)




















Keep seeing the huge spiders in our house (well one in the house and one in the garage).  They are just creepy.  When I feel like I'm being snuck up on by a cat and it turns out to be a spider...that's pretty big and scary.  We have a hedgehog too that has been coming out at night, he is supposed to eat bugs so I'm hoping he will get with it on the spiders.  Mike looks for him all the time and is determined to get a pic....we'll see.
Finally planned our first vacay....Paris it is!  Disney for a couple days then some sightseeing, and hopefully a little shopping.  We will be going in Nov. during the kids' fall break.  Can't wait!