Arrondissement Veurne

This was my first day to attempt navigating us on an excursion. Nobody died! That is a win! I lean heavily on Seth for this in life, but it is fun to learn. We took a tram to a nearby town and my only mistake was having us exit one stop early. On the bright side, we got our step count up. ;)

I have never had so much trouble keeping up with the days of the week or time. I'm switching my brain over to military time so it takes me a second to process. This makes planning things a little funny, because I really have think about which day it is.

We ventured to Astridplein Beach to watch shrimp fishermen on horseback. We waited almost a week to see this, only to be shown up by a hermit crab that they caught just before the horses arrived. However, the crab escaped and the horses were interesting for the girls again. Ha ha!

As we waited on the fishermen, the two big girls and Seth played in the cold, wet sand. Meanwhile, Mabel and I relaxed on the warm, dry sand. If you know me, this Canada like climate is quite chilly for me. Seth is thoroughly enjoying being away from the Texas heat.

Several enormous Clydesdale horses arrived on the beach. They moved into the ocean seemingly unphased by the power of the waves or the chill. They pulled large nets behind to catch shrimp for local restaurants. After fishing, he shared about his catch with all the children in Dutch - this language makes the people always sound serious. The girls held tiny flounder and giggled as they were chased by multiple crabs. The nearby seagulls had been patiently waiting for the humans to clear out and as we did they quickly devoured the scraps.

On our way home, we popped in for a quick bite, which of course included the famous local frietjes with mayonnaise sauce (best fries I have ever had). We grabbed some ginger snaps from a bakery and I navigated us home with three sleepy girls.Read more