{ gorgeous ghent }

back to our europe vacation! i'm not sure if i'll ever get to the end! i'm going to show less pictures so it will go quicker.

after bruges, we headed to ghent where ricky lived and he even remembered where his apartment was! we found it and he was so excited! 

ghent city center

we were starving and were over "fine dining" (that is all there is pretty much over there) and we saw the golden arches, and yes, we ate there! we were so disappointed with ourselves but it was totally different! different menu, a ton of desert selections, a nice change. the only 2 "fast food" restaurants in europe for the most part are mcdonalds and burger king. thats it. (no wonder people are in shape!)

mmmm....french fry

way more mcflurry flavors!

okay, my pet peeve about europe is NO ICE! they drink mainly hot drinks and don't understand why you need to have ice in your drink! i was mentally prepared for this but was hoping to quench my thirst with a cold soda... nope! room temperature! i have to say compared to when i was there 10 years ago, more places are serving ice on the side. (funny, huh?!)

not to mention no free refills period and ketchup is like $1 a packet!

ricky's name on a sign! we found mine later on the trip!

off to brussels to stay the night and then hopping on a train to france to meet my parents and brother!

{ halloween chic }

you know you're a fan of october 31st when you own more halloween decor than christmas! we love halloween! ricky and i have always enjoyed it and even have 3 black cats appropriately named "salem," "jynx," and "onyx." We have an annual costume party and decorated back in september. this is what our home looks like right now-

welcome to the 

{ hartpence haunted mansion }

dining room

i made these black roses all by myself! with some black spray paint, spray adhesive and black glitter, i was so proud, i felt like martha stewart!

dinner for two

spooky spiders

haunted house and tree

our advent calendar. hayden gets a surprise treat each day until halloween!

MAKING A HAUNTED HOUSE!

before

so fun!

"daddy, you've got to try this!"

all done!

our creepy creation! 

i think hayden ate most of the candy but we managed to get some of it on the house. so fun yet so messy!

all we have left is to carve our jack-o-laterns, drink some warm apple cider and wait for some "trick or treating" to come along very soon!

{ bruges, belgium }

we stayed the night in rotterdam and headed for belgium early next morning. 

bruges came highly recommended and it was on top of our list in belgium to see.

bruges is known as the "venice of the north" and what history it has!

this splendid medieval city is one of belgium's crown jewels and was founded in the 9th century by vikings.

{ burg square }

6 centuries of architecture!

renaissance style to romanesque

gothic town hall built in 1376

this is also the entrance to a catholic church that is famous for its relic of the blood of christ, which, according to tradition, was brought to bruges in 1150 after the second crusade.

{ markt square }

small gothic window made by vikings

{ madonna and child }

made by michelangelo 

this is said to be the only statue of his to leave italy in his lifetime

handmade lace is very popular in bruges. lace shops are everywhere!

(we had to tip this lady 1 euro to take a photo!) 

the cutest

ricky was thrilled to eat authentic belgian waffles.

they were yummy! take some to go!

bruggians are connoisseurs of fine chocolate and there are many delicious chocolate shops in town.

"h is for hartpence"

hayden loved looking into the display windows

mmm....a chocolate shark

{ the minnewater }

"mommy, swans!"

i love this picture

the best thing about europe is all the history and everything seems to have a story. one of bruges symbols is the swan. legend has it in 1488, the people of bruges executed a town administrator with the last name "lanchals," meaning 'long neck' who was related to maximilian of austria. the family coat of arms featured a swan and as punishment to the town, maximilian cursed bruges to always keep swans on their lakes and canals til eternity.

what a good punishment, they are gorgeous!

cobblestone streets everywhere, love them

gorgeous canals everywhere

we decided to take a boat tour!

fun, fun, fun!

our little tour guide!

i couldn't stop taking pictures of my boys. hayden was in a great mood!

i love my boys so much

can you see the bell tower's tilt?

it leans about 4 feet!

we hart bruges!

considering bruges was a trading center for the vikings, we knew the ocean wasn't too far away so we were on the search to find it and we did! 

{ the north sea }

typical european beach!

off to ricky's favorite city in belgium,  ghent!