Wende is a dancing queen

Wende loves to dance in het ballet dress she was given by tante maaike.

And we had some fun with mom hoovering and a mysterious balloon

14 years together and 10 married!

Today, 31st of August is our wedding day, it has been 10 long years... haha, no, 10 years is correct but they went by so quickly.. To celebrtate this we went out to dinner in Den Bosch at a very very good Italian restaurant called "Bellagio". A lot of things happened since we met in Naaldwijk at the festivity week. On thursday evening I saw Lisette standing next to her friend (her name is also Lisette..) and after considerable time I had the courage to say something to her and when she told me she also played saxophone I finally had a good conversation item.. After some time she had to go home and I suddenly stood there and even tried to run after her because I did not even know her name.. (let alone asked her for her phone number).. But she had vanished in the night. The next day I finished work early (friday afternoon) and told myself that I was going to see her again no matter what. I arrived early in the evening in Naaldwijk on my motorcycle and parked near the cafe I saw Lisette a day earlier. I walked into a street and to my (very big) surprise, I saw Lisette standing in the doorway of a shop. It turned out to be where her father worked. She was already talking to some other people and I had to wait until she finished with that conversation. Time passed by so slowly.. Finally I was able to talk to her but her father interrupted us. Eventually we spent the evening together and the next day we saw each other again and even went to Scheveningen together on the motorcycle. We went to a beachclub and had a few drinks and talked, and talked and... The next day Sunday I picked her up and we went to a music fair. Since then we never parted.. for 14 years of which 10 years married.

Nils's first swimming lesson

Today dad raced home from work to be in time to take Nils to the swimming pool. At the age of 5 years old, Nils is allowed to have swimming lessons and so we did. Nils was very anxious all day mom told dad and when dad arrived home he found half the neighbourhood's kids in our backgarden jumping on the trampoline and the canoe in the middle of the lawn... Kids were screaming... total chaos. After we got rid of the kids that did not belong to us, we went to the swimmingpool were ofcourse a computer breakdown prevented us from being able to pay for the lessons.. Anyway, Nils could ofcourse begi and togehter we went to the dressing room were lots of parents (mostly mothers ofcourse..) were trying to get their kids in the swimming gear. Nils was given a balloon and that was to distinguish the beginners from the pro's. And he was not the only one. Dad had to retire to a place near the entrance were all parents stared like fish through a window at their kids. Unfortunately Nils's group was all the way at the end so dad could only spot him now and then but the camera brought it all a bit closer. Nils was so exited afterwards, he loved it! Let;s hope the enthusiasm stays like that..

Saturday Roos, our next door neighbour's daughter reached the age of 1 year!! She is such a cute girl. We went to the party in the garden and the sun was shining, there was cake and lots of toys for her. A great first birthday and then we realized, time passes by so quickly.. Sunday we went to swim at a beach in Aalst. It was nice to take a cool dip in the water. Ingmar is proving to be a runner.. he's already rolling over on his tummy and pitching his heap upwards not to miss anything his older brother and sister are doing..

hing

We survived Nils's first childrens birthdayparty!!

Today we spent the afternoon celebrating Nils's childrens birthday party. Wendy, Lindsey, Thijs and Ryan had a ball in our garden with colouring pirate hats and masks after they decorated muffins with candy. Someone found an old treasure map in our garden with a road map to our park in Andel. We all immediatly went on our way to follow the map and found a treasure indeed! Lots of (plastic) gold coins and a pack of smarties and a pirate eye cap for all. When we retuned home, we set up the dvd player and the kids watched kikkerdril while mom and dad prepared pancakes. After that is was time to say goodbye and look back on a perfect first kids birthday party for Nils..

Efteling!

Today we went to the Efteling!! The greatest playgrounf ever.. Every mom and dad has been there at least once in their lifetime, a mekka for the Dutch. Although it was quite hot today, we managed to stay from 10 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon.

ijsje

wende's new trick

Friday, dad went to Hulst with Nils to pick up grandpa and grandma and take them and the caravan back to Andel. They stayed in their caravan on our drive way for the weekend because we celebrated Nils's birthday party for the family and friends this sunday. Saturday was grocery day and the kids played in the garden. Sunday morning grandma spend the time peeling potatoes and helped out with the preperations of the food we were going to serve in the afternoon. We prepared delicious salads from the Jamie Oliver cook book and marinated sateh sticks for the BBQ. Even Danne came over with her parents Leonie and Marc after they cruised all over Holland. It was a great party with the kids playing in the garden and dancing on the music. Lots of sunshine and a cool breeze to take the heat away.. a great day thanks everyone for coming over!

KIVA

As you can see in the left screen, the KIVA banner is now included in the weblog. Kiva is a organisation (non profit) that lends 100% of your money to poor people to enable them to start or expand a small business. As you only live once, you would like for someone else to have the same quality of life as you are living. Unfortunately, that is not always possible. KIVA makes it possible for poor people to make a difference in their lives and you can actually see who you are helping. That was always my problem, you never knew where you're funding went. Please consider KIVA and make a BIG difference with a small amount of money you can spare. And when you're money is payed back, you can lend it to someone else again. It's simple and with minimum risk. Spread the word.

Castle Loevestijn and...Nils 5 Years old!!!!

Friday afternoon, dad went to pick up some presents from webgigant.eu were we bought Nils 2 tracks of hotwheels and a playmobil pirates wreck. Dad hid it in the boot of the car until monday.. In the afternoon dad and Nils went to a shop called Cranenbroek in Dongen to buy a party tent and 2 chairs extra for the garden. We saw a discount in a folder we received in the mail. Unfortunately, the tent from the folder was not waterproof.. so we ended up bying a more expensive one.. bugger. Mom and Wende stayed at home because Wende had to have her afternoon nap. Saturday the kids palyed in the garden and in the house while dad paved a small path at the entrance of the back door to diminish the amount of dirt the kids dragged inside after playing in the garden. Sunday was spent partly at home and partly at the castle Loevestijn, which is actually quite near to our home and Nils and Wende got to wear their knights and princess gear again. And ofcourse they received numerous of comments.. Monday was the big day, Nils's birthday, Nils is now 5 years old! A handfull as he shows to everyone interested. He was so nervous the last few days, counting down every night to his birthday. Monday morning, Nils was woken up by mom and dad and together with Wende we went downstairs to see if there was a birthday present. There was a sheet covering a bulge and this bulge contained his presents. Nils loved it and after breakfast we went to the cildcare were Nils was allowed to treat the other kids to croissants (which was his own choice)