My Chaos -

Below is the Royal Palace and some of the architectural details. It really is a pretty area and right across the street is a lovely park that we walked through to get to the palace. And of course Bryan sitting on the wall in front of the palace...

This was just a very odd piece of art in the subway station closest to my parents' house. All of these pole type things had body parts hanging out of them. Had to take a picture of the butt hanging out of this one - complete with graffiti adorned cheeks. This is an European Union building. There are tons of them, but I found this one particularly interesting. They change that banner hanging there to advertise various events, celebrations and milestones. This one was to celebrate European Maritime Day on May 20 th . And I just like this pictures. The two tuff guys walking off ahead of us. No holding hands, not chatting, just silent companionship.

This is a close up of the statue on top of the arches. Or a piece of it anyways. I have no idea what the statue, or the arches for that matter mean, but they were still interesting. The picture below is of the whole statue. I'm a big fan of details, so I love to get as close as I can. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my 300mm lens ? Bryan hanging off of Grammy. He thought it was pretty cool that we could walk around on top of the arches. They also had a map of the city up there which he was all about. The boy loves maps. The last two pictures are of the city from on top of those arches. It was so pretty from up there. I say from up there only because I was very surprised at how much graffiti and litter there was on the street. They don't ignore it - they have people constantly trying to clean off the walls of the buildings and people who pick up trash. I guess I would think when you have such pretty architecture around you, why would you deface it?

I just wanted to show you this picture. The sign next to it kind of made me giggle. It's a gun?? I would have never guessed. :) See pic below. This also made me laugh. Would you want to fly on a plane called Junkers? Turns out its a German transport plane from WWII... still... I just like the orange plane and the sun behind it. MIG 23 Flogger - kind of cool to just be standing next to it. Bryan standing next to a missle. It was attached to the vertical beam you see there, but had a short cross beam under it. We threw Bryan up there real quick for a shot. OK - no air equals hot and sweaty. Papi and Bryan standing over a fan to get some relief from the heat. All I've heard for the past 2 years is how rainy and dismal Brussels can be and we get there and it HOT and we got sunburns!! What's up???

I'll tackle the inside of the museum tomorrow. At this rate, it's going to take me forever to get through my trip and start posting my daily photos again. I am taking them, but they are just gonna have to wait. I definitely HAVE to document this trip. Don't worry, I'm not going to post all 2000 pics that Bryan and I took between the 2 of us (he took 1300 by himself). LOL!

I have no idea what this statue represents, I just thought it was pretty cool. She looks strong and determined. The outside of the Brussels Military Museum. The architecture in Brussels (and in Paris) is just amazing. The detail and the age and history was just increadible. This is also right next to the museum and you can go up to the top of it. And there is my Bryan clicking away - showing me his own unique perspective. And there's Bryan admiring what he loves - all things military...

We took the train from the airport to almost the whole way the apartment, but then finished the trip in a cab. Once we dropped our stuff off, we went to grab some fresh bread at the store on the first floor of the apartment building. Bryan was already snapping away on his camera... By the way - this is the daily pic for May 23rd...

or patience... or energy... or optimism... did I mention time??? I am feeling so overwhelmed at the moment. I'm grouchy and that amplifies every negative emotion I am having. I have so much to do and not enough time. Why is it that I moved Bryan from one room to another AND painted the room he left all in one night, but I can't get a small bathroom completed. UGH! I also want to go through the 2000 pictures and pick and choose and edit and post pics from our trip. I also need to do the same for some maternity photos I took of a good friend of mine. I need to clean the house from top to bottom. It needs it, I am in the mood for spring cleaning (yes, I know I'm running behind) and my parents are arriving on the 19th. Did I mention that I am also in the middle of painting Joshua's room. Oh! and I haven't scrapbooked in forever and I really want to. OK - I am done whining... for now.