Summer in Europe

After our trip to Reno, we were fortunate enough to have our godson, Reed, return with us and stay for 3 1/2 weeks. It was great having a young adult in the house who turned 17 while he was here.
Since I have not yet begun to wear black socks with shorts, and since I have fond memories of my teenage years, I should be able to relate to a seventeen year old...right? As it turns out...not really...but that's OK, as I am middle age and all. When we returned to Belgium from the states our nephew, Reed, joined us and visited for about three weeks. Even though the sleep schedules of teenagers and toddlers hardly overlap we still managed some interesting and quick day trips. Reed overlooked the battlefield where Napolean met his match (Waterloo)...and built lego projects for Dylan. He saw where the allies landed on D-Day (and probably where Uncle Joe and other Scray(s) came ashore in the battle for Europe)...and he let Taylor beat him in soccer in the back yard. He walked through an oversized atom built for the 1958 Worlds Fair (the Atomium in Brussels) and witnessed an undersized, overrated replica of a statue urinating (the Mannequin Pis)...and got a laugh when his cousin, Mackenzie, became part of the tourist attraction. We visited ancient ruins of an abandoned abbey (Villers la Ville) and a crumbling castle (Beersel)...and learned that when a store in Belgium closes at 6 pm they mean 6 pm (and 5 minutes early if there are no customers). We witnessed numerous statues which Reed saw as creative photo opportunities...and he learned that "Bicky Burgers" disgust him. He visited the awesome Mont St. Michel and St. Malo (ancient "walled-in" cities in France)...and managed to read the better part of two Harry Potter books. He loved the Audi A6 and hated my Fiat Multipla, even though he could fall asleep in either. I doubt there are many seniors in Green Bay who have been "emo" in Paris, winked at chicks in Antwerp, or embarrassed themselves in front of an attractive babysitter who speaks four languages. Hopefully Reed learned from me that getting lost in Europe is not only to be expected it's part of the adventure. Rosie and "the crew" found this out all by themselves immediately upon their arrival! I, in turn, learned that Reed has a fantastic sense of direction (best of all of our summer visitors) that goes askew once you put a map in his hands! We have a lot of fun memories from Reed's visit. He's a great kid. The last ten days of his visit we were joined by Rosie, Gary, Gail, Nolan, Matt and Gabby (M&G were only with us for a few days)...more adventures...for the next posting.