Sinterklaas in Andel

Unfortunately the weather was too bad for the Sint to arrive by boat at the pier in Andel, as the note on the "welcome to Andel" sign said.. Instead the Sint would go straight to the "Buitenhof" where the gathering took place. A lot of Nils's friends were there as well so dad was left quickly with Wende (who was really tired because she did not want to go to bed for her nap..) There was music from the local band and it all felt (as we say in dutch) kneuterig. The kids were picking up the pepernoten the pieten threw in the air from the floor. Dad's pants pockets were filled up until no pepernoot fitted anymore. At home the loot was counted and stored in a safe place. Sunday we went swimming. We were a bit late but that meant that is was not so crowded. Ingmar loved it and Nils jumped in the deep end without his floating tubes. Wende was a bit convervative and stayed in the little pool playing with the toys. In the afternoon we watched a Sinterklaas movie and half way Liselotte, one of Nils's friends from school came over to ask if he wanted to play with her as she and her parents were visiting our neighbours Cor and Sandra. Before bedtime we danced and sang a popular Sinterklaas song called Pepernotenlied, really funny song!

Wende and Lisette's (delayed) birthday party

Finally we celebrated Wende and Lisette's birthday party after it had to be postponed last week due to Nils's fever.. Peter and Mellanie with Duncan and Jason arrived first and soon after Maaike and Jaap and the kids arrived followed shortly by Lisette's parents. Our good neighbours Sandra and Cor also joined with daughter Roos and it was a great party. One big explosion of kids and toys. It was great to see all these friends and family again, unfortunately my parents could not be here too but we will see them soon again to celebrate Sinterklaas. Wende had a lot of nice presents, colouring and painting toys and a horse head on a stick making horse like sounds when you pinch its ears.. a treasure chest filled with princess clothes complete with ear rings and necklace. Peter and Mellanie gave Lisette a very nice statue of a man and a woman with 3 children, a spitting image of our family..

The Sint at dad's work

Ah well, not really at his work but at a nearby school. Every year the Sint is invited by Bosch Rexroth to celebrate a day with the people who work at Bosch Rexroth and have small children.. The Sint has a present for every child and between the sessions of handing out the presents, dances and songs were sang. It was a great morning for Nils and Wende, Wende's present was a puppet carriage and Nils was given a toy game were he can make figures with magnetic parts. The Sint also told all the kids that they were llowed to put their shoe at the fireplace tonight and Nils and Wende did not forget that!

Nils fever and Wende's birthday party

Thursday afternoon when dad picked up Nils from daycare, he was not feeling too well... In the evening his condition went worse and we measured his temperature, 40 degrees celsius!! So we immediately gave him a paracetamol and put hi to bed. Dad checked up on him half way throught the evening but he was sound asleep. In the morning his temperature had dropped considerably to 38,3 but we decided to let him stay home from school. At school they asked if he had the mexican flu but who can tell.. He only had a fever and no other problems like breathing so I guess it was just a regular flu. Saturday he felt fine and sunday it was all gone. But because of Nils having a flu, we had to cancel the birthday party we had planned on sunday for Lisette and Wende and called friends and family to let them know that we will postpone the festivities to next week. Anyway, we finished the shoe box stuffed with toys and handy things for the foundation samaritanspurse. The shoe box will be shipped along with many others to places were children do not get presents with christmas. Nils put some of his favorite toys in the box making his dad feel proud. On saturday afternoon we wanted to see Sinterklaas arriving in Woerden but instead we watched him arriving in Schiedam on the tv. In the evening Nils and Wende were allowed to set their shoe by the fireplace so Sinterklaas might put a little present in now he's in Holland again.. To make sure the Sint would not miss our house, Nils and Wende sang a couple of Sinterklaas songs and Nils made sure the song went into the chimney. Sunday we found a couple of presents in their shoes so the singing worked!! In addition we celebrated Wende's birthday and gave her the presents, she loved the playmobil princess palace complete with mean witch. It was a rainy day but we managed to go out and went to the library in Den Bosch. That is always a good idea because you have a special kids floor with lots of books and other things to do. When we arrived home, dad made pancakes and Wende ate 3 of them! Tomorrow is her real birthday, we told her when she would open her eyes again in the morning she would not be 2 anymore but 3 years old!

Wende's new room and a visit to Naaldwijk

Dad took a week off from work to strip Wende's room. It used to be Mom and dad's room but now with the extension built to the house, it became Wende's room. Mom and da moved to the new part. That cleared the way to strip the old room and completely rebuildit. There was no isolation and the ceiling was made of a very flamable type of soft board. The walls were a nightmare and the floor was badly scrached. So last monday was stripping day, tuesday was a day to put new wooden structure in for the new ceiling, wednesday was new ceiling day ("agnes ceiling boards" very easy to install but quit heavy above your head), thursday was wall repair and paint day and Ikea day to buy a new floor and all sorts of lights and wall stickers, Friday was spent painting because we first had to paint all the walls white before the pink girly paint could be put on. Saturday was flooring day and finishing day. Sunday was putting back the furniture day and installing the new curtains and drapes day.. And now dad is finished but very tired, developed a strain in the right shoulder having agonizing pain but happy he finished within the week he had planned.. In the afternoon we went to naaldwijk to visit Lisette's grandparents. It has been long since we saw them last time but they looked well and, more important, felt well. Since grandpa suffered from (as they call it very rare) side effets like itching skin, he was told not to take his drugs..?? So suddenly he doesn't need to take medicine anymore he was subscribed previously by his physisian..?? Strange.. anyway, the visit was nice and we showed our Ingmar ofcourse and Nils had made a very nice drawing for grandpa and grandma with two boats both of them with anchors and the grandparents onboard. After that we went to see Desmond, son of Lisette's Niece Tamara and Marius. Desmond and Nils played together with helicopters and fire engines and Wende did the cooking and washing with the toy cooker and wash machine (hand driven). When we came back home late in the afternoon we had a simple dinner and put Nils and Wende to bed after Lisette read Nils, Wende and Ingmar a bed time story of Sinterklaas.. You know, he's coming pretty soon to Holland again.. and naughty kids could be subjected to ending up in the empty toy bag and be shipped to Spain.. Nils is not taking any chances and made a nice drawing for the Sint already.

Halloween and great swimming in Den Bosch

Friday dad picked up Nils and Wende from the day care at Diny's and at home mom was back from the library in Den Bosch. Nils and Wende played inside the house because it is getting cold and wet outside. Lindsey came around and together the three of them played with the wooden traintracks and Wende's horses. Saturday we did some groceries as usual and we bought a new orange juice press. We didn't have one since dad trashed the previous one (because Lisette almost choked on a piece of plastic that came off). Dad searched for a Bosch ofcourse but just walk in a store and try to buy a orange juice press.. they seem to be very rare.. So we ended up with a Braun.. In the afternoon, Nils Wende and some friends from the neighbourhood, drew a lot of Halloween drawings and posted them all over the windows. On sunday we went to a swimming pool in Den Bosch at the Sportiom in Den Bosch. That was a great experience, there were caves and waterfalls and a special place for smaller kids with all sorts of play thingies.. Ingmar had a great time too especially because the temperature of the water in the kids playpool was quite nice..