Last day

So I havent been showing waht I was working on, but it was a gift to our au pair so I couldnt because she also looks at my blog. But here it is. The boys made drawings on pieces of white cotton and I also added two pictures so she can see what the boys looked like...

We had our last supper tonight, and she chose witlof in ham, a local dish, and we had ice cream as dessert. He also made a russian specialty, blinis, dont think I spell it correctly, but they are pancakes filled with meat, yummy...

So thank you very much Lidia, and we hope to see you again, here or in Russia. Good bye And we wish you all the best!

Weekend

We had an uneventful weekend, after a couple of weekends that were very busy, we had a nice and quite weekend. Although quite... the kids were very loud and in a crawling mood, so that was not OK. I tried to finish the binding on my start quilt as you can see on the pic.

Yesterday we went to one of the biggest markets in Antwerp for some vegetables and fruits. We always have a sort of pancake with goatcheese and honey at one of the local Maroccan stands and afterwards the kids get waffles and fruits. And while waiting at one of the stand, DH asked me where son #3 was. One moment ago he was standing next to me and the next he was gone.
We said that the boys had to wait at the stand and DH and I went both in a direction to search, but nothing. And I was just about to call the police when a lady asked if I was looking for a little boy... She saw him playing at the stairs, so I hurried back and saw DH on the way, and luckily there he was at the other end of the market. A gentleman thought it was strange that he was playing unaccompanied, but also didnt know what to do. So my heart started beating again...
Son #3 was not impressed...

Technopolis

We made a trip to Technopolis, a museum where you can do experiments yourself. They have a display with optical illusions, and even our au pair was amazed.

I was amazed by the pic above. they show a movies with some colors particles falling down. But if you put your arm horizontal, the particles add up on your arm and fall off behind you, as you can see in the pic.

Luckily they also have a part that is for small kids, like a supermarket, a pizzeria, and son #3 likes to make pizzas. But he didnt want to bring them with the small bike.
The kids also have printed money with their face on...

This is a section about animals, and as you can see by son #1 s face, bats hear very well.

When we left, the kids lifted a car... So a day well spent, interesting and great for kids and parents.

New camera

Yesterday I treated myself with a new camera, the Fujifilm Finepix HS10. It was a bit of a gamble as I alsways have compact camera´s. But this time I wanted a bit more zoom, and as this camera has 30 x optic zoom, I am very impressed with the results.

Today son #3 and I went to visit a friend who has bought a puppy this week, a Cavalier King Charles, her name is Charlotte (Charly) and she is such a cutie. I am not much of a dog person, but this little pup is adorable. Our friend already has two older dogs, and this is the latest addation.

At firts son #3 was not so keen on meeting her, but after some time they were the best of friends and he even fed her.

Wildlife encounter

I took the kids for lunch and we saw a circus that is visiting our town. We live in a town near Antwerp city and I told the boys that we could have a look at the tigers and elephants, since they made the news when the elephants escaped and were wandering in a corn field nearby.
So as we walked over to the tigers we saw that the giraf was very close to the road, and I know that there is no fence between the field and the raod, so we had a look and the giraf was standing next to the road, so we decided to go back home and get the camera and take a picture.

When we arrived back, a member of the circus staff was with the animal so we took some pictures and son #1 even tried to feed it, but it was not interested, we should have brought some bananas. It made a big impression to stand so close to the animal, wow, there is a big difference if you know that there is no fence in between you and this creature, but this is how memories are built...

Quilts

Today I went to the craft store to get some batting for two quilts that I am making and found some nice fabrics so I can finish my quilts once I received my cardridges for the printer because I want to print some pictures on fabric.
I found a great link how to print on fabric on Josjes Poppenhuis. I bought the spray glue in the Action and it worked like a charme, but offcourse, my ink was finished... So I ordered some new cardridges and hope to finish the top this weekend.

Son #3 turned 3

Today son #3 turned 3 and we had a small party for family and friends. He was spoiled rotten with Thomas the engine gifts, trains, blocks, view master, etc...
As he doesn´t like fancy cakes, I baked him a quatre qarts for him with a little train, and we ate the fancy ones... chocolate Mousse cake, biscuit with raspberries, etc... hmmm.

My parents gave hime a small New Holland tractor, and you can see by his smile that he loves it.
Tonight we had a BBQ and now all the guests left and we did a quick clean up, the kids are in bed and peace returned to our home.
Happy birthday son!

Aeroflorale II

This week an airship landed in Antwerp, the Aeroflorale II and its crew. It is on its way to Greenland, but because of the bad weather last thuesday it landed in Antwerp.
So this morning we had a look with the lids, because rumour goes that it will depart tomorrow.

So this is it, we were to early to see the crew perform experiments on the plants they brought, and I must say I think it is beautifully made, but we had nicer visitors in the past, like the Diver, the elephant and the princess.
Every summer they have something special with performance art, and I think this year is a bit dissapointing, but nevertheless, the construction is nice.