Hajimé!

Last instructions…

Bow…

Hajimé! (Begin!)

Oops…

Ippon! Matté!

And again…


And another strong opponent.

But, a prize! Well done, Batman, it was great to see you learn so much in such a short time. Hopefully you will be the winner of the big cup next time!

Easter and other fun

We had a lovely Easter weekend this year, with one rule: KIDS RULE! So, to get started, we asked them what games they wanted to play. The two monsters quickly decided on Rolit, and then team Sam/Steve quickly decimated us girls. The second game, with the teams changed, ended in a win for team Hannah/Steve. Now, who’s got the brains of the family! We then boiled a lot of eggs and started decorating these for breakfast the next morning. More paint ended up on their faces than on the eggs, but there you go

We enjoyed the rest of our Saturday in the garden, and went to bed early-ish, because on Sunday, we had a full day on!
It all started with the Egg hunt, organized by a few moms in our street. We had 40 kids participate. 40!!! We had realized the number of kids was exploding here recently, and this wasn’t even all of them! We can easily get 50 kids together, just in our street, if we want to now! Big fun, especially as a few parents are now actively organizing events like these, to bring back the sense of community that had been lacking for a while. It makes this place a much nicer place to live.





The hunt was followed by lots of games, but me and Steve decided to leave the kids to it and enjoy a bit of peace and quiet before heading out here: the Kruidhof in Buitenpost. A lovely place, where we try to go at least once a year, to get garden inspiration, buy some plants and let the kids run wild…



On the Monday, the weather was not as nice as the weekend, but we still wanted to head out a bit, so decided on an indoor activity center, in Sexbierum, called Aeolus. It is fun, and educational, but to be honest… the place is getting seriously run-down. Such a shame! They must be getting enough money in from the indoor playground to do up the big piramid with the educational center, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste like it is now… But still, lots of fun was had by all
In the cockpit of a fighter jet, lots of buttons and levers!
The construction area. First build a wall, then deconstruct it and jump on daddy. Of course…
In the colour room, first with normal light…
… and with black light.
And creating our own 3D images…
It was fun, but now it’s time to get back to work…

When a knight meets a hamster…

So close…

But no Elfstedentocht again this year… But we did our best and skated until our toes dropped off…

Last Wednesday, we spent the afternoon skating in Dokkum. It was great to be back there, as Ammerins spent many an hour skating around the city here.

Getting on the ice…

Skating into the beautiful center of Dokkum, to where the Elfstedentocht turns around again and goes back to Leeuwarden for the ‘home stretch’.

Even the Moss boys were out on the ice! And they did so well!!!

And some action…

On the way back we drove past a section of the Elfstedentocht route, and really, it would have been soooo cool if this ice had been this good everywhere…

On Thursday, Hannah had her last skating class in the Ice Hall. I went along as a driver and of course also stretched my legs a bit:

Then on Friday, we had a glo-ri-ous day here in Leeuwarden! So, after Hannah had finished school, we jumped in the car and went to the Prinsentuin. In the summer, this is full of little pleasure boats, but now it was full of skaters.

The very official looking people of the ‘Golden Ball’ committee, a skating race which was to be held the next day. For the first time again since 1997!

Smile!

Glorious sunshine weather. And yes, why not skate behind your pram? That’s quite normal here…

As are crazy hats.

Our helmet boy. Yes, both our kids wore helmets. Maybe we’re overreacting, but two nights in hospital with a cracked skull is plenty. We don’t need more silly accidents…

Total posers (and badly at that)

Proud daddy…

And just because she is so lovely… That big leaning tower, the Oldehove, behind Hannah, with the Pier Pander chapel.

And another handsome couple.
Afterwards, we definitely earned something nice. So we fired up the ‘barbecue’ and roasted some marshmellows and sausages.

Sau-sa-geeeeees!

And today, Sunday, we enjoyed our (probably) last day of skating…
Can we go skating????
Again, with lots of antics of little Mister Angenent…

Ice, ice, baby….

While Steve flew off to Northern Ireland to see his granny and mom, we enjoyed some winter antics. After several days of frost and even some snow on Friday, the weather was perfect for ice skating and going about on the sled.

Friday:
First day without Steve, an after school, we take a quick scoot around the area on the sled.

The back garden on Friday morning

Gymnastics

Bright snow angels

Watching the water brigade at work, practicing on how to get people out of the ice

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Saturday:
The roads are clear enough to drive out to the Grote Wielen, a huge nature reserve close to Leeuwarden, where the ice is lovely! A large lap has been set out where the ice is deemed safe enough to skate on. There is a huge crack running all the way across the lake, but no problems where we are. Unfortunately, Sam’s skates don’t really work, so Amy ends up pulling him on the sled. The entire way. Muscles are still sore

Out on the big lake: Grote Wielen

What happens when you cut across the snow where it's NOT safe...

He's quickly pulled out, but cold and wet!

Sunday:
Staying closer to home, skating behind the houses a street away. Our back neighbour was nice enough to shovel away the snow and there were lots of kids having fun! Hannah impressed us with her speed skating skills again and Sam is trying very hard to get the hang of it (or double skates, which makes it easier).

Staying closer to home...

Look at them go!

Lots of kids joining in!

Super Bowl Sunday… waiting for Steve to come back home… What a difference with last year… Remember?

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!!!

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!!!

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