Our First Visitors

We have already had our first guests... well, 'guest' might be a stretch as they had to afford their own hotel room :) Either way, they came to visit!  We were so blessed by a visit from my parents.  Fresh off a Viking Cruise on the Rhine, they came to Luxembourg to see where we would be living.

Elephants have invaded Lux since our last visit.  I do not know why the elephant is significant, but expect to see it in future pictures as they are all over town!
                         

I should probably know the name of this square, but I don't.  It sweet and quiet compared to the bustling café filled Place d'Armes and others.

Dad, Blakely and I in Place D'Armes... one of our favorite busy squares.

Jeremy and Dad were going to go drive the Nuereburg track together, but Jeremy got stuck at the office, so Dad went alone and mom stayed with me, which was a treat.  After some time to visit while kids slept, we headed over to our neighborhood where we will move into our house next week.  The neighborhood is called Limpertsberg, just North of the downtown business district.  We liked that area from our first visit, but this time it felt like home.  It felt neighborhood-y and nice.  We walked to the park, just around the corner from our house, played at the park and finished the evening by sharing some pizza at the pizzeria across the street from the park. 

Thanks Mom & Dad for the fun visit!  The boys love the Porsche remote control cars you gave them!!

Residency Milestone and Another Park

In order to become residents, we had to get chest x-rays and a TB test on our arm.  The boys have completed their tests as well as their medical check at the doctor, so looks like we will officially become residents of Luxembourg!

Just down the street from the doctor's office, we visited Parc Merl.  This is one that Jeremy and I had walked through before and knew there was a big play structure, but had not really noticed all there was to do.  

 

The hit of the park was the zip-line! The boys took turns going as fast as they could.  The lines are a good distance and they could make it about half-way back before getting off and running it back to the beginning of the track. 

 

The boys didn't spot everything at the park though... They had a huge trampoline with individual bouncing squares so lots of kids can play in it.  We'll save that discovery for next time!  Also, we'll have to bring our basketball because they have hoops set up at 4 different heights (genius!) for all different aged children can shoot hoops.

Welcome to Luxembourg!

We were welcomed to Luxembourg by the hot midday sun!  We dropped our bags at our temporary flat and headed towards the big grocery store.... we found that even the major grocery store that is just outside of the city is closed on Sundays. So, no food for our fridge today!

Instead we grabbed a bite to eat downtown and spent our afternoon at a really cool park!

 

After some play, it was time for bed.  I'll spare you the details of the first sleepless night.

With a fresh start sometime around Noon, (our latest sleep-in ever!) we made it to the grocery store.  There are specialty food stalls just outside of the main grocery area where you can get both prepared and take-home foods.  Colden and Blakely each ate a Grillinger Original which is the local Luxembourgish sausage.  These are big, full size sausages on a large bun...I'd say the boys were hungry!

A few interesting notes while shopping:

• The freezer food section was surprisingly big compared to the barely bigger than a shoe box sized freezer we have.
• The drink isle with soda and juice was 3 times the size of ours back home
• Very few cereal choices are available... I wasn't expecting our brands, but similar options
• I had heard there was no peanut butter, but REALLY no peanut butter??

This was not meant to be an exploration of the local grocery, just getting some necessities, so as I return again, I'm sure you'll see more on this topic.

Tonight we noted how similar the air feels and the late sunset reminds us of Seattle.  We've just put the boys to bed and are listening to the rainstorm rolling in.