Our Brussels Home

It's been a busy few days. Visiting houses all over the city and trying decide what sort of life we want to have in our Belgian adventure. But when it came down to it, it was love at first sight. We found our house. 

We chose a house closer to the city than we thought we wanted. But the street is quiet and safe for the kids. The house is spacious and has lots of character. And there is a little yard and and garage we may set the hockey net up in. The yard has a cherry, plum and pear tree which the kids will love.

The main floor is very open with lots of light and gorgeous character. There are two more floors with room for each kid to have their own room (3 on the third floor) and a master bedroom, study/guest room and TV/toy room on the second level. 

About three blocks from the house is Georges-Henri park with a great play area, skateboard park and "patinoire"(though we will have to see if that is ice skating or not). Shopping, banking and transit are also close by. And peters work is only 6km away so public transport or biking/running will be real options. Both school have bus stops right near the house too. 

We are very much looking forward to exploring our new quartier, and the city. 

Welcome to Belgium

 A little note from the hotel manager 😊

Recon

Peter and I have been on the ground exploring Brussels and searching for a house. I really am surprised at the variety of neighbourhoods there are. And how public transport and walking make things so easy. I'm still not sure about taking on driving! But distances are so close. More than a three minute walking seems to be considered far by Belgian standards. Urban or suburbs it is all very green though and we are told many of the trees are cherry with gorgeous spring blossoms. It's going to be a tough decision.

Cynthia 

One bag, no kids

Driving to the airport for our house hunting trip kind of feels like playing hookie. Without the kids here it's a strange mix of excitement, feeling like you are forgetting something and that you should be somewhere else. 

We find ours jokingly saying the things we would say if the kids were here. Things to invisible kids. On the up side we are through security and waiting for our flight with lots of time to spare.

Calvin's first post

Mom and Dad are going house hunting and we'll miss them. I hope they find a house with a huge backyard. Sammy hopes it has a fair close by. Emmy wants to make sure we all have our own bedrooms. I also want a pool. We are excited to see what they find!

Calvin

House hunting

We finally found a new home for the kids' gerbils, and it couldn't be more perfect! The preschool has adopted them and they are already a hit with the kids.

And this just before we leave on our house hunting trip. Let's hope we have the same luck! 

Cleans up nicely

Work to do

Little Challenges

Its the little things that can be most daunting.

So, we finally made a decision about what to do with the house. Since the house hunting trip to find a new place in next week it was about time! And since we decided to rent the house, we need pictures done for the posting. Easy, right? Nope.

Getting this place in order with three kids quickly undoing it all take strategy and cunning. So bit by bit we getting there but we'll see how much work remains on Monday morning...

And of course we'll have to share before and after pics here.

Cynthia

Let the Adventure Begin!

Well. The last hurdle has been jumped. It's official.

WE'RE MOVING TO BRUSSELS!

We have accepted a three year posting to Belgium. This means a new job, new school, new culture, and new challenges. A lot is still in the air, but as decisions are made and we prepare to leave Canada we will share those stories too.

And as we embark on our adventure, we hope to share our stories with our friends and family that we have to leave behind. This blog is one way for us to do that. We hope that by posting here all of us can give our perspectives on what its like to live in Belgium and the many travels we hope to have along the way.

As there are 5 of us posting to the blog, we'll sign-off each post with the author. That way you know who's story you are reading. We'd also love for this to be a two-way blog, so post any questions you have for us in the comments and we'll try to answer them as best we can.

Enjoy the blog

Cindy, Peter, Calvin, Emily and Sam