What happened this month

Just a short overview of some of our activities over the last few weeks.

Dide and Ties like going to school here as much as in Deerfield. Dide had a sports tournament with her class. Just do not ask about the game results, the main thing is they had fun. BTW, the school is named "De Vos", meaning the fox, which is the reason that they have the fox feet on their shirts.

Last weekend we went to see Radboud's parents, while Saskia was away with friends. The weather had been awesome all week, but it was grey on Saturday. Dide brought her own camera and made pictures from everything she saw. First of all, walking from the train station, we saw giant ducks.

Than we went to see the local windmill. Yes, it is true, you will find these things in The Netherlands. Most of them were once built to pump out the water from the polders to keep our feet dry, but this one is to grind wheat into flower.

And you can actually climb in there over tiny ladders and see the inside mechanism of the mill. Dide made the movie below.

And Dide's last picture for the day was of the little lambs, a true sign that spring is here.

Than on Sunday we went to the sand dunes with friends. And yes, that is also true, we have dunes to protect us from the sea. As you may know we live below see level, so the dunes are very important. But also pretty and fun for the kids.

Steep!

And than to the sea itself. It was pretty cool, but Ties and Dide did not mind. I was smart enough to bring dry pants.

At home they took a good shower, sand everywhere of course. I love the beach.

That was the small update. Next time I will try to provide a bit more text as well.

Spring is coming!

But first Dide celebrated her 9th birthday party. She chose to go skiing with her friends. You may know that we are not particularly famous for our mountains and feet of snow, so they invented indoor skiing. And that is what we did.

They had tons of fun and it was over way too soon. We should do this again.
And than, just like in the US, a party meal with present. Unlike in the US, presents are unwrapped at the spot.

That was a few weeks ago. This week, Dide and Ties had their first nephew. Radboud's brother and his wife had a baby boy named Mats. Today we went to the hospital to admire him for the very first time. But than it turned out to be open day in the hospital. Dide and Ties did do a real blood draw from a fake arm.

Don't be shocked, this time the cast for Ties (and Dide) is not real.

And finally, there is Mats .....

And the day had only just begun. Today was, for the first time, outdoor baseball practice. You see, we did not forget about the US and its habits.

At home everbody was tired. And do you recognize Lieve? She is a big sister now, tomorrow her baby brother and mom will be home.