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!!!

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

Houston, we have a fence!

Neeeearly done!

A quick message from the hospital

Yesterday, instead of watching the (runup to the) Superbowl at home, we were at Casualty… Sam had fallen down the stairs and badly hit his head. After a very long wait, he got a CT scan, which showed he has a small tear in his skull and a concussion. He spent the night in hospital and will have to stay in another night for obs and to make sure he is eating and drinking all right. More news tomorrow, but it looks like he’ll make a full recovery!

Xmas

We spent a lovely Xmas this year. With Amy’s mom. She’s still here and that makes us immensely happy and thankful. And she’s healthy. And grey. And still mad as a hatter. Which made our day…
Just to let yous know More news to follow soon!

Eddie Izzard & the Leeuwarden Cow

Last week we saw a Youtube video of Eddie Izzard speaking Old English to a Friesan farmer.

While we were living in Leeuwarden, Eddie visited the famous ‘Us Mem” the Friesan cow in Leeuwarden. We’re sorry to have missed the visit of our comic hero but here’s picture of the cow.

School Xmas play

Every two years, Hannah’s school organizes a school-wide Xmas celebration in the biggest Protestant church in Leeuwarden. This year, Hannah had the honour to play a star. And an honour it really was, as the teachers usually take all the speaking parts (as opposed to British schools, where each year has its own nativity play and many parents are tearing their hair out thinking about how they are going to rustle up a costume… ). None of those problems here, we were only asked to dress Hannah in white, a tinsle headband and little LED candle were supplied by the school. Hannah and a few classmates did a dance to symbolize the time it took for the three wise men to travel to Bethlehem, and they looked really cool!

Hannah dancing with her light (we're in the right bottom corner, Sam with the green top)

October in some more pictures

Hannah at school, painting a picture for Book Week

And her picture

Hannah's teacher on the right, Juf Fhathima

Hannah and Sam dressing up for our wedding anniversary

Our little fairy fell asleep during the movie

Hester is sleeping over, and we're having our favourite pasta

In the evening, they're building an impressive Thomas world

We don’t take enough photos of our pets…

And now it’s too late. Our little bunny Kaatje passed away last Sunday, in her sleep. We came home from town and found her in the rabbit hutch. We suspect she had an ulcer, but of course, no post-mortem will be carried out… Here is Kaatje, squinting away at the sun, in her favourite spot in the hutch.

Kaatje, 2003-2009