Brugge, Part 1

Last week we had our first real vacation with Ben.  We started by driving four & a half hours to Brugge, Belgium.  We reserved an apartment for two days because a hotel room would have been too small & we got a kitchenette to cook some meals for Ben.  He really liked the living room, aka his bedroom.

 We unfolded one of the living room chairs to make a bed for Ben (behind Ben in this photo).  He took to it really well.  I'm glad we had gotten him used to his toddler bed a couple months ago.

Our first dinner, at a restaurant in the town square.

Ben loved his high chair.

Some awesome spaghetti from the kids' menu.  This was the first of many spaghetti-based meals for Ben on our trip.  Mike & I had some fantastic mussels & Belgian french fries.  And Mike had Belgian beer, of course.

We got there on Friday afternoon.  When we got up Saturday, it was raining, but we walked around before the town got flooded with weekend tourists.  The rain didn't last long.

We ate a traditional English breakfast at this restaurant.  I've never had baked beans for breakfast before.  The waiter was very sweet to Ben and didn't mind him dancing around all the tables.  Ben liked having the audience.

Statue in the town square.

The courtyard behind the big tower in the town square.  Ben loved the space & the echoes.  He got a lot of smiles from other tourists.

We couldn't visit Brugge without going on a boat ride around the canals.  Ben threw quite the tantrum while we waited in line.  We got some glares, and one women even shushed him.  But he calmed down once the boat started to move.

Happy boy with the wind in his hair.

This very nice man, who spoke a lot of English, helped to calm Ben down when we first boarded the boat.  He even let Ben look at his camera...and took a very cute picture of him.

Quietly enjoying the ride.

This was just the start of our trip...more pics to come!