Merry Christmas

 

 

Christmas dinner is already over, we are all stuffed. Gifts are unwrapped and everybody is already on their way home... Yes, we did it all this afternoon, so the little ones can go to bed early.

 

Family madness... that is what it is. I agree, but we all had a great time and we are now watching the Penguins of Madagascar on TV with the kids, snacks close by, the lights of the Christmas tree... Family.

 

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

Au pairs

 

 

Two of our former au pairs and there 'better halves' where in town, so we got together for some old fashioned breakfast at the market.

 

 

We then had a stroll through the city and ended up at the Groenplaats, but the christmasmaret was not open yet, so we could just have a look at the skating ring.

 

So we decided to have lunch at the Mercado, a food market with some excellent food, everybody could get what they preferred and it was all delicious and the entertainment in the form of a magician at our table was priceless.

 

Great to see you all again, guys!

Another year...

...

Sinterklaas

 

Yesterday we celebrated Sinterklaas with Family. Great organisation by all the aunts and uncles and the kids had a great time.

 

Sinterklaas visited us, so that was a privilage.

Getting the christmas tree

 

Today we got the Christmas tree. So we left with my car since we couldn´t use the trailer... And found the perfect tree... But it was a tight fit in the car, as you can see... :-)

The boys did a great job helping...

 



 

And there it was... The perfect tree.

 

And now it stands in our living room in it full glory. It is beautiful.

Happy Halloween

Wishing you all a Scary and Safe Halloween!

Last day

So a last look at my desk. I quite my job last Friday. Was a fun but hectic week, filled with goodbyes, farwell parties, cakes, nice compliments. But all good things must come to an end, even after twelve years.
I am looking forward to start my new job tommorrow to see what challenges lay ahead of me.
Wish me good luck. Here we go...

First day of school

 

First day of school and yes, son#1 doesn´t wear a uniform anymore since it will be his first day in Highschool.

 

Good luck, boys!

More pics of the Ardennes

 

Some more pictures of our short vacation. We visited the caves of Remouchamps. very impressive and a fantastic spooky boattrip back to the exit. The kids loved it.

 

In the afternoon a quick visit to the SPA factory. Had a taste of the new waters, I wasn´t thrilled, but I understand that a lot of people like the news ones, I only like mint water. But was fun to do. And the boys loved watching the conveyor belts with hunderds of bottles of water.

 

Since the weather was really hot, we decided to buy a bach and with some soap and water, hours of sliding fun.

 

The Eifelpark in Gondorf is really awesome for kids, good entrance price, free parking and lots of fun. Price of food is decent.

There is also a wildpark where the kids can feed all sorts of deer. They absolutely loved it. Great day in Germany.

 

All in all, a great short holiday in our own country, really enjoyed ourselves.

 

Ardennes

 

So after a trip from hell, where we drove from traffic jam to traffic jam, we arrived at Malmedy.

This morning we visited Gerolstein, drank some water, (some of us, I drank coffee). Had some lunch before driving to Bitburg.

 

Several years ago we made the same picture so we thought it would be fun to make a new one and see how the kids have grown.

 

So Bitburg... not much to see, but we had a nice walk.

 And now everybody is relaxing and the kids are playing in the large garden. Great location to stay.

Finished Barry the bear

Thought I would finish Barry the bear, I guess he has been laying in the closet for more than a year, he was completely finished but not sewn toegther. So I did today.

Greece

So we are back home. Public Wifi is not that great in Greece that I could post during our holiday, so here is a summary.

 

 

As Always, son #3 had his birthday during our holiday. I took him for breakfast at the local bakery while they decorated the boat and prepared the cake.

Went in search of a boat wreckage that was supposed to be on Zakyntos, and we found it. Great day with a rented small boat. We visited the blue caves and the wreckage.

 

Zakyntos is famous for its turtles, but we only saw them in Argostoli. They are so fun to watch and they are quiet curios.

 

The waves can get quit big on Myrtos beach and the boys just loved them.

 

Greek coffee and icecream... they are so delicious...

 

 

 

Yes the water is so blue, the picture doesn´t do it justice. It is almost unnatural.

 

This year we also saw bigger octopus. Very fun to watch and to see how strong they are.

 

Caves in Sami, not big, also not the most beautiful that I saw, but a relief to get into if it so hot.

 

And yes, most of the days there was a red flag, so no swimming...

 

But we had a great holiday.

NICKEBOY's party

 

The kids had their graduation party on Friday night. Fun party.

 

 

 

The next day, son #1 had his paty, at last...

 

 

The music was ready, except the wethar was helping us, around 21:00 we had to evacuate all the kids indoors as the room was too bad...

The kids were all their...

 

We even had a birthday girl...

 

Belgium - Ireland: 3 - 0

 

Getting ready for the match...

 

While celebrating cousin #1´s birthday... Happy Birthday!

 

And then there it is Belgium - Ireland: 3-0, we did it!