Easter

Nils had to perform in a church here and we all assembled (read scrambled) to be there in time as Nils also had to go to hockey training. Ingmar did not manage to be quiet until the end so dad took him home to put him to bed. Back home again, dad inflated the swimming pool and installed a water pump to make a noce fountain. Friday afternoon dad went with Wende to her dancing class but there were only three of them. Anyway they enjoyed themselves very much. At The first easter day began with a easter bunny littering our garden with chocolate eggs for the kids to find. Even Nils's girfriend came by to hand Nils a nice present and wishing him a very nice easter... at the end of the morning we went to see grandmom and granddad in De Lier where we spent the afternoon in their garden and taking a stroll to the park.

Aunt Mieke's visit

Our aunt Mieke from Germany paid us a visit this weekend. Maaike and Jaap picked her up from her hotel near Rotterdam and took her to the hockey games of Maartje and Guusje and finally, all of them drove to grandpa where we met with them. We had dinner at a restaurant in Kappellebrug in Belgium and we already had the experience that the service was not too good. So this time we helped them a bit and that resulted in us having the menu within reasonable time, having our drinks when we wanted them. The kids enjoyed themselves in the playground which is huge! Unfortunately, Ingmar fell ill and we had to return home early.. The next morning he was feeling much better and had a good breakfast. Nils Wende and dad went to the swimmingpool where we also saw Liselotte, a friend of Nils from school. We had a great time and Wende showed us that also she could dive (flat on her belley that is.. autch). The rest of the day we spent at home in the garden, having lunch and playing with toys and water.

Kidsswing, Hockey, funpark, great grandparents, Peter and Mellanie

Yep, that sums up our busy weekend but we had a great time and it was especially great to be able to visit Lisette's grandparents (Nils Wende and Ingmar's great grandparents). Before the weekend really started Wende and dad went to the gym for Wende's first kiddswing lesson. And she LOVED it! Saturday after Nils's hockeytraining we went to Rotterdam to join Lisette's brother with wife and kids at the "Plaswijkpark". At the end of the day everyone was wasted and Wende and Ingmar fell almost immediately asleep in the car on the way back.. Sunday morning instead of the usual sundaymorning swimming after breakfast, we went to Naaldwijk to visit Lisette's grandparents. Although time was short, we did enjoy seeing them again very much. Great granddad for the kids always has some exiting story to tell, this time why he failed his scootmobile test... After seeing granddad and grandma we went to see Peter and Mellanie and Duncan and Jayson. They offered us a nice lunch in their garden and afterwards we went to Hoek van Holland and parked the cars near the beach. In the dunes there was a cafeteria where we had a few drinks and the kids played in the sand. Ingmar developed his own game, throwing small stones on the terras over the seat into the sand.

Boat cleaning and celebrating granddad's 86 birthday

Friday dad had taken the day off from work to do some serious maintainance on the boat. This time he took the polishing machine with him to try to get the greyness from the what was white 30 years ago. The upper side of the hull. First washing the hull, then grinding with special sanding paper 2000 and then with sanding paper 4000. After that, once again claining and then polishing with a special polishing paste and the result was actually quite good. (to my own surprise..) Saturday lisette took Nils to his hockey training and dad took Wende and Ingmar to do some shopping. When lisette came home we all went to buy some gifts for granddad's 86 birthday. Dad bought him a plastic frog that could be used at the small waterside in granddad's garden. Lisette choose some nice plants for granddad's garden. We also took a couple of strawberry plants for grandpa loves these and now he can grow them himselve. When we arrived, Maaike and Jaap and the kids were there already. The frog needed a pump so dad had to do some more shopping on the spot but in the end granddad had a nice fountain and a frog spitting water.. Aunt Henny came over as well to join us for dinner at a restaurant with an outside playground and a donkey. Ingmar now knows what a donkey sounds like.. Dinner was great but we still miss our mom who passed away last year. Sunday morning Lisette and I went to the park with the kids and took a couple of hockey sticks with us. Jaap joined us later on and we played a match kids versus parents. The kids won.. somehow.