Sinterklaas weekend

Yeah! Party time!!! For weeks, the anticipation was enough to cause sleepless nights, but finally, Saturday, the kids were finally rewarded for singing their hearts out and being good (ahum…). But here’s some piccies of what happened before we got our Sinterklaas party going…
We started with the traditional ‘Intocht’, the arrival of Sinterklaas, which is broadcast live on telly. As we had swimming lessons, we taped it and watched it when we got home, drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies…
Then it was time to put out the shoes, hoping that the Zwarte Pieten were going to put some sweets and presents in. Which they did of course… But to get something, the kids have to make an effort. Colouring in a nice picture, for example…
There was poem writing and fake present making on mommy’s side…
Even Mermaid’s scrap partner didn’t escape the Sinterklaas season…
There was lots of gift buying and wrapping…
And Batman dressed up as Zwarte Piet to go to school…
And even to the pool.
Look, Zwarte Piet riding his horse, trying to catch (very wet) pepernoten!
Then it was Saturday…
We enjoyed the Sinterklaas sweets and treats…
And uwrapped all the presents again…
Playtime!!! The kids loved having their cousin Famke there for the celebrations.
On Sunday, we even got the chance to thank Sinterklaas in person…
And Mermaid was even allowed to sit in his regal chair.
While Batman did his best to beat the ‘How many kruidnoten can I stick into my pockets/mouth’ record…
A great weekend! Topped off today with the arrival of Sinterklaas at school, and more presents. We enjoyed it this year and are looking forward to next year. Byebye!!!

Remember the Summer?

While the mist is all around us, we can barely see to the end of the street, we realized that the pictures of the second half of our Summer holiday were never put on the blog. Shame on us! But it’s easily fixed, and it reminds us of a nice, although not that warm, Summer. After our week in IJmuiden, we went home for a week, and then packed up again for a week in Voorst. The complete other side of the country from the first holiday.
We pitched our tent at Natuurkampeerterrein de Haverkamp, where we saw lots of these sheep… Beside sheep, there were also cool cows, lots of frogs, a donkey (somewhere in the area), and lots of farmers.
Look at our spot! Now, that’s called luxury. We were even allowed to use one of the picknick sets dotted around the site, which meant we could use our other tables for cooking and the coffee machine. The rest of the campsite was very luxurious as well, with great laundry and washing facilities, free hot showers and a washing machine. You could even cook inside the building if necessary! And there was a reading room with electricity and free Internet. We loved our farm camping!
There was fun and actics on the volleyball field.
In the sandpit
At Bussloo beach
Under the trees at Bussloo
In the hayloft
And while the kids were away…
We also went on a few great day trips:
We rented bikes at the campsite and cycled to Deventer.
Our friends followed it all on Twitter…
Last time we were here, we went for a ride on the horse tram. This time we just kissed the horses and wished them well.
And on the way back we enjoyed an ice-cream in Twello.
We also had a surprise in store for the kids: a visit to the Lego Experience in Germany. It wasn’t as big as Legoland, as it was all contained into one building, but it was great fun and the area itself was also cool. And of course we got lost on our drive through the town of Dusseldorf (skip the town-bit, it’s a country!)
After looking at some great Lego displays and watching a fun 4D movie (with snow, water and wind), we got to meet our heroes…
Both great and small!
And after a ride on a (not that exciting) dragon train, there was time to play.
Hannah obviously went for the girly Lego…
Before exiting throught the gift shop. Of course we bought Lego!
Sam and his mate Pelle had a great time putting this little box of knights and horses together. The log cabin we kept in the box. That was for when we got home!
We also had a great day out at the Zoo in Epe.
Because we are Aquazoo members, we got free entrance here. A great bargain!
There was a silly-face competition between Sam and some meerkats.
And the otters really stole the show!
Add to all this trips to Apeldoorn to go shopping, a visit to Het Loo where we were totally drenched because the weather was so bad, but the cakes were royal, pancakes, merrygorounds, walks through the countryside and lots of relaxing while the kids were catching toads… We loved it! We will be going back there again and hope that we’ll get a bit more sunshine then…

Happy Birthday!

It’s that time of year again! October is birthday month in the Moss house! We started all the fun and celebrations early this year, as Sam’s birthday was on a Saturday. He got to throw a birthday party on the Friday before and invited some of his best friends from his class.
This meant, for us the preparations started on the Thursday. With lots of mixing…

Cake plastering…

Making blue chocolates and deciding NOT to use these for the party…

Making healthy snack treats for the kids in Sams class…

And less healthy ones (with white chocolate lego bricks, haha) for the teachers…

Cutting out a Lego man and corresponding Lego heads for a fun game at the party…

Then, after a short night, it was party day! San almost jumped out of bed into his clothes and was ready to go to school half an hour earlier than normal. He skipped all the way to school, me and Hannah having to carry the class and teachers’ treats.

Oh, it was dress-up day too Honestly, he didn’t stop smiling the entire day!

After class, he had to wait for two looooong hours until his friends arrived. But then the party got started! With cake…

Of course, there were a few gifts to unwrap…

and the smallest gift, two Batman wings from America, probably got the biggest ‘Cooooooooooooooooooooool!’ from big Sam 5.

There was crafting…

With really cool results!

And there was Lego building…

Even the mommy joined in (who is probably the biggest Lego nut in the house…)

When the party was over, the kids all got their Lego Diplomas…

And then, on Saturday, we got to do it all over again, because this little girl also turned two!

The crazy birthday boy with his daddy!

More prezzies…


And Amy’s sister had another surprise in store… This little girl will become a big sister next year!!! Hooray!

Skid marks

We had great fun today at the Blode Fuottenpaad in Groningen, a bit over half an hour’s drive from here. It’s been set up by the Forestry Commission and is a trail through forest and fields, with nice views, a maze, ditches, ponds and tree houses which you follow barefoot. We started out quite innocently, with bare clean feet.
Feeling the soft, downy moss underfoot was great! We enjoyed some great views, with cows and sheep in the distance, with swans, geese and other birds flying about.

Soon the moss changed to muck… We stepped into quite a few very deep puddles on our walk, which explains why they advise you to walk this trail barefoot and wearing shorts. Even though the weather today wasn’t great (which might explain the massive puddles), a bikini would have been more suitable! We saw a few ladies really go on their arses (and Amy nearly did too…)

We got to clean our feet in the brooks and ponds on the way. Some kids went the whole hog and just jumped right in. We warned Hannah that would not be a good idea (even though she wanted too…), as we did only had towels with us, and no extra clothes, and it was still quite a way to go…

There was even a place halfway to put your feet up.

But despite all our warnings, the kids still ended up looking like this: mud up to and in to their underpants…

After we finished the track, we had another long walk back ahead of us to get back to the car. But first: a touristy photo opportunity:

Apart from being on solid ground, the walk back had another advantage: blackberries! We all ate lots as the trail had made us quite hungry.

The rumbling belly was quickly filled up with some Chinese take-away food. We deserved it! First: get some money out of the cash machine…

As soon as we were home, clothes were taken off and dropped to the floor…

And now that everyone’s washed, scrubbed clean, the clothes are in the washing machine and the floors have been hoovered and mopped, it’s time for some American Football!

The first half of the Summer holiday

And before we knew it, we were halfway… While half of the country has to go back to school tomorrow, we still have 3 weeks to go. Bliss! An impression of what we’ve been up to these last few weeks…

Robot Man

On the hottest day this Summer, Steve had to go into hospital to get electroded up for a 24H breathing/sleeping/snoring test. The poor bloke. He was still smiling here… Hopefully, it will give some concrete results and solutions!

Antics in the pool

Hannah had a friend stay over for a night, and they enjoyed the sun by splashing into the pool from the swings.

Baking bread at the Kruidhof

A very nice outing was our trip to the Kruidhof, not far from home. They had a special historic day, which meant we could bake stick bread on an open fire…

Cave people

A couple showed how the old cave people made flint and weaved baskets and bags…

Drilling like a cave man

Steve tried his hand at drilling cave-man style…

From dry

And Sam went from high and dry…

to soaking wet

… to absolutely soaking wet. Only his right shoulder was still dry! So much fun!

The fairy queen

Hannah loves face painting!!!

Setting up the tent

Our first week of camping was at IJmuiden, on the Dutch west coast. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t brilliant, but it was nice to get away for a week, enjoy the sounds of the forest…

Our view

We were positioned straight across from the reception. Behind it was the toilet/shower building.

Starting off the holidays with a Chinese dinner

After we set up the tent, we drove out to IJmuiden beach, where we were totally sandblasted (high winds all week)! We decided to have a nice dinner to celebrate the start of the holidays, and Hannah and Sam had great fun trying out the chopsticks.

The ferry to Engerland

Most people know IJmuiden as the place where the ferry to Newcastle leaves from. Next time! Look at that sky!

Locks and factories

IJmuiden is also an industrial harbour, and we had a great drive around and over the intricate system of locks and factories.

Play tree at the campsite

There was a small playground at the campsite, with this play tree. Sam loved it and could climb up (and down) it like a small monkey.

A walk in the forest

The bigger the stick, the better, in Sam’s opinion.

Holland's Next Top Model

Posing for a few pictures in the forest…

Playing card games in the tent

There was plenty of in-house entertainment too…

Birds liked our breakfast too

And outdoor entertainment. The little finches were never far away to pick at what we left after breakfast/lunch/dinner…

Canal boat in Amsterdam

A day out in Amsterdam, enjoying the canal trips.

Smile!

Smile!

Cruise ship 'Maasdam'

This massive cruise ship was in town today, and we passed it again on its way to the North Sea, when we were on the Fast Flying Ferry back to IJmuiden…

Getting bored

After a while, even this gets boring…

Messing about

More messing about before the tears started (yes, there were plenty, haha)

Tropenmuseum Junior

Making umbrella’s in the Chinese exhibition at the Tropenmuseum Junior.

Nemo

Shadow games in the Nemo science museum.

Lady Wawaaa

More posing…

De Veilige Haven

A cracking playground just around the corner, where the kids played until the heavens opened (again)…

3DDDD

More in-house entertainment, watching a Hannah Montana concert in 3D.

Off to the baker's

One nice thing about holidays is walking to the baker’s in the morning to get warm buns…

Reward!

… and of course getting a cookie while you’re there

Brederode Castle

Another local attraction, the ruins of Castle Brederode. There was an exhibition of amazing brass statues as well, definitely worth the visit!

Going up the tower

And plenty of towers to run up and down to…

And chimneys

Not to mention the fireplaces and chimneys… No wonder they could fit a child up there to clean them in the old days…

Haarlem

Visiting Haarlem on our last day…

Coffee at Grand Cafe Brinkmann

And having a nice coffee before packing up again…

More pictures as and when it happens!!!

Our first proper camping trip

Last weekend we had an extra bank holiday, so we decided to go camping. The weather looked quite nice too, which was a bonus, of course! We had put everything in the car on the Saturday morning, took Sam to his swimming lessons, had a quick lunch and then set off to one of the most idyllic camp sites in Fryslan, Camping de Buitenplaats in Langedijke. It was less than an hour’s drive, which was perfect for us. Just after the kids started to moan about the trip being very long, we were there!
While they ran around the camp site, scaring the sheep and looking for children to play with, we put up the tent. And voila:

Look! A tent!

The location was lovely, there were around 10 other campers (well, yes, campers and caravans, mostly, just one other tent) and we were right at the edge of the site, looking out onto the sheep pen and the potato fields…

The view from our tent

And look at our tent! Honestly, go to France and try and find a nicer place to hammer your herrings into the ground…

Our site

The wash and toilet house:

Toilets and showers

The al fresco cooking took some getting used to. We only had one small table with us, and one burner, so it was pasta and bean casseroles this weekend… But fun nonetheless (even though we had two frantic trips to the shop to buy matches, which we actually didn’t need in the end, women…).

Cooking al fresco

On the Sunday, after a verrrrry cold night (note to self, bring blankets), we woke up to glorious sunshine. After emptying the coffee pot, we set of to Doldersum, where there was an Open Day of the sheep farm, which sheering and all manner of fun activities.

This is 'our' sheep

A big heep of fleece

The fleece that came off this sheep is now in our house. Amy is planning on spinning some nice yarn out of it to turn it into a long cardigan.
There was a snazzy lady spinning yarn. Hannah also had a go, and said she wanted to try it again at home (note to self, set up the spinning wheel for the little lady…)

Spinning 'raw' fleece

And there was a very cool dog, who ran around the sheep herding them to various places on the field.

Black bolt of lightning

Hannah made a nice felt bracelet, which gave us some cool ideas for our new craft store… (more later in the year)

Felting

And the final bit was a performance by Harrie Harrewar and his dog, who stole the show

The dog show

He even managed to herd some ducks!

Dingo herding the ducks

We had a bit of rain on the Monday, but it was a great day for car boot sales, and after a nice drive-around we arrived back home to a nice warm house, with a nice indoor shower and a television! (Two days without tv was just about long enough for Samuel, haha, even with the Nintendo DS )
It was a great trip, we got used to setting it up and taking it down, found out what we need to bring next time and what can stay at home. Next time we’ll venture a bit further afield!

A Tent!

We decided to go tent hunting today, as we want to start camping (again). The best place close to where we live, is De Vrijbuiter, a ginormous store where you can buy everything camping-related…

Vrijbuiter

After looking around for a while and drinking a cup of coffee, we decided on a Coleman McKenzie Cabin for 6 people, both because the 4-person tent wasn’t available and the 6 person gives an extra cabin to put our things. The tent is huge! It just about fit on our lawn.

The tent in our garden

It’s great to see the inside of a tent again, and we hope to be able to set it up in a nice place soon!

The tent from the inside

A day out…

It’s been a month, but with us being so busy with other things (garden, work, kids, more days out), we haven’t had time to blog about our day to Slagharen yet! It was our treat to the kids, as we promised to do something fun during the May holiday week, and this amusument park had been on their wishlist for a while. And we could quickly see why. We had a blast! The weather was lovely, we had brough a buggy full of drinks, sweets and food, and all in all it was a great relaxing day. The fact we also managed to get reduced entrance tickets via the Internet was also a bonus

A house on sale

Two weeks ago, it became official. We got our sign and put our house up for sale…

House for sale!

So, if you are a family with one or several kids, want to move to a spacious corner terrace house with 4 bedrooms in a lively, child-friendly location in Leeuwarden, or know people who do, please don’t hesitate to pass on the link above!

The garden is also getting along nicely. The grass is growing, the plants are flowering, the fruit trees are blooming… It’s a joy to be in, even though we have to work, of course! Working at home has its advantages, see Amy’s home office:

The home office

And the view:

View from the office

Really, not the worst place to world in the work. We even had an ‘office barbecue’ yesterday, kids and partners were invited
Today promises to be another garden day, looking forward to it!

With the nice weather, we are spending a lot of time outdoors away from the house as well. Last Sunday we went for a long walk along the Frisian coastline at Harlingen. The kids took the bike and skeelers to be able to keep up, and we had a supply of food and drinks for a picknick. It was great fun and very refreshing. Something we should do more often!

Picknicking on the dyke

The boys on the dyke

Oh yeah, and a certain woman celebrated her 37th birthday last week. We enjoyed a nice Mexican meal at El Pacho with Hanneke and will celebrate again at Easter, when Amy’s sister, Michiel and Famke will be coming!

Some sad news too… Our wee bunny Bridget has exchanged the earthly for the eternal life. She had been ill for quite some time, and her little heart finally gave out. She will be sadly missed, but we hope she will be frolicking with lots of other little rabbits up in rabbit heaven!

Houston, we have a fence!

Neeeearly done!