Boy's First Day of Preschool

Today was the boys first day of preschool and it went well. I think having eachother there is a huge help (especially for Nolan who is a little more attached). Their teachers are nice and there are lots of kids to play with. They had Vegetarian Pasta for lunch and actually ate it. Hopefully this will be a great year for them.

Things I Enjoy in The Netherlands

I think about how much I miss home on a daily basis. So I decided it was time to look at particular things that I enjoy here. This is what I came up with...

1. Ham and cheese sandwiches. This is what I have for lunch everyday and I love it. Granted we have to go to the store every other day to buy fresh ham and bread, but it is worth it. Milk white bread, Gouda cheese, ham, and the best tasting mayo I have ever had. Delicious!

2. The smell of salt water in the air after it rains. We are so close to the North Sea that the smell of the water carries. It reminds me of all our vacations to Ocean City. One of my most vivid memories is the smell of the ocean when we would first arrive at Sea Watch. I can't wait to share that experience with my kids someday.

3. All of the outside walls in our house have several windows. I love the open feeling. When I wake up in the morning, I routinely pull up the shades and open the windows. I love the breeze that comes through the house. Everywhere you look you can see outside, people passing by on their bikes, white clouds in the blue sky, trees, bushes and flowers. Very beautiful.

4. Brooklyn's school is amazing. In science class, she went down to a nearby stream to collect specimens to study. In music class, she is being introduced to a variety of instruments, music and dance styles. She takes a Dutch class as well as a computer class. For library, her school brings in various authors to talk to the students. This is only 1st grade. The school has so much to offer. She loves it so much that when she gets home from school everyday, she plays "school". Sometimes her brothers get to benefit from what she has learned because they are often her "students".

5. I love the cookies and sweets. I don't always know what I am eating, but everything tastes good. I love to get variety packs so the kids and I can try a little of everything. The chocolate here is extremely good. I tried M&M's the other day and they just didn't taste as good as I remembered. This could be a problem when I return home. I'm spoiled now!

6. Besides the sweets, most everything is good for you. The food has less, if any at all, preservatives, hormones or chemicals. (Of course, this leads to more frequent trips to the market.) You'd be suprised how different things can taste without all the "extras". The chicken is wonderful, however the taste of beef takes some getting used to. We have Pink Lady apples everyday for a snack or with lunch, I don't know if those are available in the states but if they are they are worth trying. The kids are doing very good trying different things, they have even found a few favorites. One of Brooklyn's favorites is pork schnitzel.

7. Being able to walk into town is nice. I don't have a car, but it is not something I need. I can walk to the bank, post office, market, even the boys school. We are only a few houses away from town center. When you walk into town you are greeted by a large windmill, then you have the chocolate shop, cheese shop, fruit and vegetable stands, a bakery and several cafe type places. This is also wear all the clothing boutiques are for men, women and children. There is a wine shop (which Jason found his Jack Daniels in). It is all very convenient and quaint.

8. We are able to visit neighboring countries easily and sometimes as a day trip. Driving to Brussels, Belgium is like driving to Columbus from Cleveland. We plan to make several weekend trips in the near future.

These things may seem minor but they are things I enjoy. It has always been the simple things in life that have made me the happiest. I am sure as time goes by I will find more, but for now these things help me when I feel sad or am missing home.

Off to School!

I have never seen a child more excited for school than Brooklyn was yesterday. She was only there a half day, but she could not stop talking about it. I hope this continues because her typical response to "What did you do in school today?" used to be "Nothing." Yesterday she went into detail from the moment she got on the bus until she went to bed.

The bus she takes is not your normal yellow school bus. Most kids ride their bikes or walk to school, so those aren't needed here. Instead she takes a giant Coach Tour bus, complete with seat belts. It's the largest thing on the streets over here. We decided to use the busing for her because of the boys starting school. It would be too much for me to get her to school then get them to school on time. This would be especially difficult because I don't have a car over here. Next year, the boys may be at the same school as Brooklyn and we may revisit the need for the bus.

When Jason picked her up (due to the half day, buses did not take kids home) Brooklyn was walking back from the bathroom with the teacher's assisstant. Turns out, Brooklyn was one of the few kids who were not dropped off by their parents that morning. The teacher told Jason how impressed everyone was with Brooklyn for riding the bus and coming to a new school all by herself. Of course, Brooklyn thought nothing of it. She is very mature for only being 6 yrs. old.

Brooklyn told us all about the playground, different classes they visited, teachers she met, and her 2 new friends. She thinks her favorite classes will be Art, Music, Library and Science. She may be the only child who doesn't list Lunch, Recess and Gym as her favorites, however she was impressed with the playground. She went to school a 6 yr. old and returned a 16 yr. old. She simply amazes me sometimes.

While she was away, I made brownies for her to have when she got home. Then we went out to dinner to our favorite Italian restaurant in Noordwijk. This morning she was even more excited to go back to school for a full day. I love it! Now only a week and a half more before the boys start going to school 2 days a week. I think once we are all on a "school schedule" I will be much more happy. Everyone knows how important my schedules are to me!

Dinner With Friends

Last night Jason and I went to dinner with new friends of ours. Thanks to Facebook, Jason became aware that a girl he went to high school with recently moved to Amsterdam. (As it turns out, she also works at Brooklyn's new school). So last night she came over with her boyfriend and the four of us walked down the street to a nice restaurant. We sat at a table outside and ordered a nice bottle of Bordeaux. We sat and talked as people wandered by. The exciting part of this evening was what we had for dinner. There was an option on the menu that was to pick how many courses you wanted for the meal, and the chef chose what you had for each course. So that is what we did and it was wonderful. We started with fresh bread served with oil, roasted garlic (a whole roasted garlic), and butter. Then we were served the "salad", this consisted of avocado and prosciutto among other things. Next we had risotto with crawfish, saffron and some other various spices and cream sauce. Our main course was lamb (which was raised on an island in Northern Holland) and fries, with mayo of course. Fries are served at even the nicest restaurants. The boys ordered mocca creme brulee and Irish coffee for dessert but the waiter also brought a variety of bite sized desserts for us to try that were delicous. Dinner lasted about 3 hrs and was excellent. None of us had ever experienced a "surprise" dinner before, but we were all very impressed with it. Then after sharing one more bottle of wine, we walked back home. What an evening!

Our House

For those who haven't seen pics yet.

The Netherland Way

I had over 130 pictures developed that I needed to pick up. Today was the day. The problem ... it was pouring. I got up early, showered, and got ready before the kids even woke up. My plan was to go out at 9 am when the stores open because I knew the rain was coming. Unfortunately, Brooklyn didn't even get up until after 9 am. Then I had to fight with her to get dressed and eat her breakfst. By the time I had everyone ready to go, it was raining. I suggested to the kids that we go out after lunch, that maybe the rain would stop by then. Brooklyn suggested we take the car. There are two problems with that, #1 Jason has the car. #2 You can't drive into town. Most people going into town park their cars near our house. Then she responded with "Well, it's the Netherland way to go out in the rain." With that, the kids got their boots and raincoats on, opened their umbrellas and off we went. Of course, Carter had to jump in each and every puddle he passed. Then he kept repeating, "Mommy, I all wet." As if he had no idea what the cause was. Ultimately, we made it to the store and back. We were all a bit wet, but at least I had the pictures. We have to get used to "the Netherland way."

Sights of Brussels

More Sights in Brussels

Brussels Belgium

We decided that we needed to start taking advantage of living in Europe. So, on Saturday, we drove to Brussels. It is only a two hour drive from our house. We packed a lunch for the kids to eat in the car, that kept them busy for awhile. Carter fell asleep when we were half way there, so needless to say, the drive went well. When we got there, we jumped on a double decker tour bus to see the sights. We sat on the top to insure good pictures. There was a great breeze and the kids loved it. The tour lasted an hour and a half. When we were done, we walked around a bit until we found a nice place to eat. We did a little shopping while we were there, but mostly just took in the sights.

The interesting part about Brussels is the variety of languages you hear. While I was in a chocolate store (big surprise that I would be in a chocolate store) I spoke three different languages. Belgium itself does not have a prodominant language. Most people speak either French, Dutch or Flemish. Luckily, I know enough of the French and Dutch languages to be polite. So when I entered the store I greeted the woman behind the counter in Dutch. She responded back in French. Part of the transaction was in English because I am not fluent enough in either language for an entire conversation. Then when I left, I thanked her in French. So, I thought we were covered because I knew a little of each prominent language. Imagine my surprise that while we were lost and I stopped someone holding a map to ask "Do you know where we are?" They responded in Spanish. After trying to understand what the other was saying for five to ten minutes, I was able to atleast thank them in Spanish, and we were on our way. We continued to search for our car for over an hour, but we eventually found it. Then it took another half an hour to get out of the city, even with a GPS in the car.

The kids did very well walking around town and going all day without naps. Brooklyn has started a snow globe collection of the places we visit. This gives her some incentive for all the walking we do and the time spent squished between her brothers in the backseat. (Oh how we miss our Armada!) Trying different foods from different cultures is exciting too. Though we missed out on trying the Belgian waffles, which looked and smelled awesome, I did get some great Belgian chocolates. For dinner, Jason had Flemish Beef and I had Belgian Mash with Sausage, both very good.

All in all the trip went very well. Now I need to start planning our next adventure. We plan to take advantage of our situation and see as much of Europe as we can in the time we are here. This should make the next two years go by fast.

Noordwijk, Netherlands

Schevenigen, Netherlands

Madurodam

Amsterdam, Netherlands

First visit from the States

Jason's parents spent 5 extremely busy days with us. Thankfully we had good weather while they were here because Jason had every minute scheduled for something. Due to the weather in New York, Jim and Jean arrived about 6 hrs. later then planned, so that put a small glitch in Jason's agenda. We spent their first afternoon in town walking through shops, showing them what our town had to offer. We kept it low key for their first day here since they had been awake for 30 hrs. straight. Friday morning we got up and drove to Efteling Fairytale Park. The kids did great agian, they really like it there. I think we will be investing in season passes next year. On Saturday, we spent the day at Wassenaar beach and the evening in Amsterdam. We had a sitter for the kids so the adults could enjoy a night out. We took the bus to the nearest train station, then the train into Amsterdam. We toured The Anne Frank House then took an evening canal cruise. We did a lot of walking, but got to see a lot of Amsterdam in a short amount of time. Sunday, we took the bus to The Hague and a tram to Madurodam (a miniature Holland). This was fun for the kids, especially Brooklyn, because they had little Bert and Ernie figures hidden throughout the scenes for kids to find. Brooklyn loves "I Spy" type of activities. Then it was back on the tram to Schevenigen beach where we walked the boardwalk and had dinner and ice cream. Unfortunately, we ran into a small problem getting home. It took us a little while to figured out bus routes and schedules, but we eventually got it. Monday, we ended their visit with breakfast at a pancake house and a trip to Delft. Then in the evening, we went to Noordwijk beach for dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant.

It was a lot to do in 5 days and it will take awhile to find my way out of piles of laundry, but it was nice to have visitors. I wish we had people scheduled to visit us once a month. We have my parents coming in October, but September and November are open. Any takers? Time here is going by slowly and I am terribly homesick. I am looking forward to December when we are home for 2 1/2 weeks. Jason will have to drag me back on the plane when our visit is over.