Happy Schrikkeldag!

Today is leap day. If you are in northern Belgium (or the Netherlands) it is Schrikkeldag. Don't ask me to pronounce it, it is difficult. Of course, it really is just a regular day here. A typical Belgian Friday, cloudy, high of 48 degrees, all the University students walking to the bus/train station with their dirty laundry in rolling suitcases. Throughout the whole town you can hear them all afternoon. I would bet that over 60,000 people in this town of 100,000 use the public transportation on Friday. My number might be a little high, but you have 35,000 plus students all going home. They don't stay here during the weekend, and why would they, the longest commute they have to home is an hour and a half maximum (the country is tiny). This would be like everyone at Tabor coming from between Salina and Wichita. So I guess you go home so Mom can do your laundry! Friday's are awful for trains and buses, the market in Leuven is also on Friday mornings, so the buses are very crowded then. We pack into the buses here like sardines, no rules just GET ON! They even run extra buses that are called "Marktbus"es. Oh, and word to the wise, never try to get on a bus that says Geen Dienst, also abbreviated GD. This means out of service, so they probably wouldn't stop to even let you board, just letting you know.

Ok, a few pictures of Carmen and Mia. Carmen is now 1 month old, and growing so fast!







Click on any one of these to see a bunch more photos from February.