Fell into Spring

Saturday morning, the start of a busy spring day, shopping spree in Leuven, burrito lunch, afternoon bike ride, thinking of a the new herb garden, beers on a terrace, BBQ in our garden, playing in the sand pit, wine & candle light. Purrfect.














#TBT on Friday: Fez

"My travel buddy Laura & myself have been friends for over 10 years now and we started travelling together in 2007. I have always loved these girl trips and we have seen wonderful things together.
Now we are both settled and travelling together is a bit more difficult, but I am sure we will do a girl trip again, maybe not so far, and not so long, but it will be fun anyway."

A few years ago, my friend Laura and I went to Fez, Morocco, when Ryanair first opened their route to this city. I think at that point the customs checkpoint was not prepared at all for European tourists invading the city per 200, so getting into the country was slow. I also think the locals had never seen 2 blue-eyed girls with neon pink and yellow ballerina shoes before, or at least that's how it felt. It was our first time in Morocco. We had a good time there, although it was a bit of a culture shock. We stayed in a very cool riad ( see here), where we had our own cosy fireplace in our room, our own dressing, 2 bathrooms. It was just gorgeous. Allah Akbar (I don't know the exact spelling) (God is great) blares the loudspeaker from the nearby minaret (also at 5 in the morning). The most beautiful houses are hidden behind an ordinary door in a narrow street. We had exciting times in the back of a dilapidated p'tit taxi where you could see the ground moving under you because no car floor present. But at least it takes you where you need to be for no money at all (probably we paid trop chèr anyway) We visited some local bathing houses in the old city, but we could not get ourselves to really go into one, I think the cultural difference was a bit too big with our western spa-expectations. So we decided to visit a 'real' spa (which was 10 times more expensive) where we felt more comfortable. Until we got inside and got into the heart of the spa, filled with eucalyptus mist.
Big women in black bathing suits washing / scrubbing / peeling other women on marble stone tables without any form of prudery. It was all a bit surreal (read: Lisa a little traumatized). My skin has never felt softer though.


























 (my apologies for the bad quality photos, pre editing era)

And?


When you are pregnant, the most asked question is: Girl or Boy?
When you have the baby, the most asked question is: What's her name?
When the baby is 6 months old, the most asked question is: How many teeth does she have?
When the baby is 1 year old, the most asked question is: Can she walk yet?
When the baby almost turns 2, the most asked question is: And, baby number 2?
 
The first question in the row that really needs some thinking.
When Petti was born, my mother heart was born too, a difficult thing to have, as it takes away all sense of reason. It is something natural, so my mother heart would easily know the answer on the question. But there are so many other things to consider, the sort of life you(as an individual, as a couple, as a family) want to lead, the sort of education you want to give, the responsibility, this world, the fear, the joy, the worries, the pain, ...
 
This little bumblebee is almost turning 2 already, and although for the outside world after the gender, the name, the teeth and the walking, the interest decreases and questions about new babies are being raised, for me every new day with her is a day of new discoveries and growing (both me & her), a thing that I will not easily take for granted.
 
PS: She had surgery for her ears today, ventilation tubes were inserted in her ears and the fluids in her ear that caused dulled hearing were removed. This was such a small operation, and we got to go into the surgery room with her until she slept, and it was already so difficult to leave her there, so I can only imagine what it is when your child is actually sick and undergoing major surgery. Let's hope this will never happen.

One Photo Sunday

This weekend was quiet, with not a lot of plans, except the ones in my head. That mostly stay right there.
Sundays are such weird days, I think.
I just read in an Alain de Botton tweet: 'Sunday angst is trying in its own confused way to tell you something worth listening to: you must change your life'.
 
That is exactly what Sunday does to me: 
Every week I consider Monday morning as a new start. By Monday morning 8 AM, most of these plans have disappeared again and real life takes over, waiting for another Sunday to re-appear.
 
Excuse me for this pseudo-philosophical note :)
Is it weekend yet, so we can be ourselves again,
in our little 3L Syndrome cocoon?
 
 

Bike rides

We were already talking a long time about buying a bike for Lolo and a bike seat for the baby, and with the early spring in town, we went ahead and did it. O loved her first bike ride and you could see the sparkles in her eyes. So on Sunday morning we decided to go for a real bike ride. The first 10 km went fine since we had tailwind, so I was thinking, wow this is going well. Until we headed back home and all of a sudden we had headwind. Oh my god, my poor body! There it was really obvious that I have no physical condition, what so ever. But it was fun riding through the fields as a family in the first spring sun and seeing O's face with her hair in the wind.