September Snapshots

Emily showing off her windsurfing skills in Hood River. 

Back to school haircuts.

First day of ninth grade!

Emily tried out for the school volleyball team and made JV1!

Girls having fun at a football game.

Lauren was asked to the Tigard High School homecoming dance.

Wildfires made things smoky for a bit.

Lexi has the cutest shadow!

Napping in the sun.

Relaxing on a sofa chair.

Lexi enjoying a chest/tummy rub. We love her so much!

Lexi- Boarding With Chase and Suri

Lexi stayed with our dog sitters Chase and Suri while we were in Europe... she had a great time and got to meet lots of new friends! 

Lexi was happy to come home and rest after a fun and busy week!

Europe Trip- F1 Belgian Grand Prix Practice Day

On Friday morning, we left Brussels and drove to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium.

It was a cloudy and drizzly day. The drive was approximately 90 miles.

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is often referred to as "Spa" and is the site of the F1 Belgian Grand Prix race. We were there to watch the practice day... the actual race was a couple days later.

Walking by the souvenir tents.

Lots of fancy cars on display!

The view from our seats. The curved part of the track towards the left in the photo is one of the most famous track turns in F1 car racing. 

The cars were so fast and loud!

We tried to walk around a little but it was kind of a mob scene.

We drove back to Amsterdam in the early evening. The drive was approximately 180 miles. 

We spent the night at the Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol... the hotel is connected to the airport which was really convenient. We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant and it was delicious.

The next day we flew back to Portland. It was an amazing trip!

Europe Trip- Brussels

We stayed at the Hilton Brussels Grand Place... the breakfast buffet was delicious. 

Large Smurf statue near the hotel. Smurfs are Belgian!

This walkway had a Smurf mural painted on the ceiling.

Our first view of Brussels as we walked into the city.

La Grand-Place is the central square of Brussels. Most of the buildings are from the 17th century. 

A cute dog sand sculpture.

The Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert is a famous shopping area built in the 19th century.

This hat shop opened in 1847!

A fancy glove shop.

A chocolate bust of Neuhaus who opened this chocolate shop in 1857.

The chocolates were amazing!

The crowds cleared momentarily... such a pretty building.

Next, we visited the famous Mannekin Pis.

The waffles in Brussels were amazing. 

The girls love escargot!

The mussels were delicious.

It's so much fun to just walk around and explore.

A beautiful church that reminded us of Notre Dame in Paris.

Aesthetic gardens.

The Royal Palace was temporarily closed. 

Macarons!

More beautiful chocolates.

We took some back to the hotel for snacking.

More walking through the city. It was super hot that day.

We ate fish and chips for dinner at this restaurant.

One more walk through La Grand-Place in the evening. 

Emily wanted to get one more waffle before we called it a night.