Children's Museum

Last weekend the girls and I visited the Houston Children's Museum.  Great place!  Everything hands-on. The girls learned a lot and had loads of fun.

First pool visitor

Technically Famke was the first one to test our new pool as she fell in just after the pool was finished.

However, this little fellow wins the prize for the first one to really swim in it!  According to friends with a pool, he won't be the last one either.  All sorts of creatures end up in pools here.  I can't wait....

Bakfiets

 I am very proud of my brother!  Marc made this 'bakfiets'!  He started with an electric bike and went from there.  

I can't give you all of the technical specifications but it is definitely one of a kind!

Diana loves it and Norah and Buster did not want to get out anymore :)

Brazos Bend State Park

Yesterday we visited Brazos Bend State Park, about 45 minutes from our house. Armed with binoculars, cameras and zoom lens we went for a walk around one of the many lakes in the park.

Little did we know that the zoom lens would not be needed! We came across this 8 foot alligator about two minutes into our walk!

After our first encounter we continued our alligator spotting trip.  We counted 32 gators in total!!!  That is about 10-15% of the adult population of the park.  Pretty good score, we thought.

Most of the other alligators were just resting on the banks in the lake and were a bit further away than our first friend.  Unfortunately my camera battery died, so no close up of those.   We will just have to go back on another gator spotting trip.

If you look really close you can see two alligators on the grass. 

Less exciting but nonetheless very pretty, these huge mushrooms we saw growing on a tree trunk.

Hanging out in the park

Elections 3

Another election post, sorry, but can't help myself.  This one is getting personal :)  Don't go telling untrue stories about my country!!

In a video on YouTube, Rick Santorum claims that we kill our old people in Holland (using euthanasia).  The article below is a reaction by someone who obviously also does not agree...

Santorum: 5% of Deaths in the Netherlands are Caused by Involuntary Euthanasia

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Glenn Church

Rick Santorum made this comment about two weeks ago, but it is so outrageous and a distortion of the truth that it cannot be passed up. In this video, he claims that 10% of the deaths in the Netherlands are from euthanasia, which has been legal since 2002. That is false, but the outrageous part is that Santorum claims that half of those deaths are involuntarily induced on the aged and sick. He goes onto charge that people are going to hospitals in other countries so they aren’t put to death while in Dutch hospitals. Santorum then makes a connection to abortion in the U.S. with this fiction.

The truth is that only 2-3% of those who die in the Netherlands are eased into death by euthanasia. No one is involuntarily put to death. The system is loaded with safeguards from multiple doctors needing to approve of the procedure to only those with no hope of improvement being considered. Even at that, the person who is going to be euthanized must present the desire for euthanasia voluntarily and persistently. Besides that, the person must also be alert and fully aware of what is going to happen.

If you listen to Santorum, it sounds as if old people are being strapped into beds and euthanized like unwanted dogs in a kennel. This man wants to be president, just imagine the fun he will have the facts once in the White House.

Skiing with the boys

Thijs is in Breckenridge, Colorado this weekend.  Skiing with Michiel, Eelco and Peter.  Thanks to all the high-tech appliances the pictures are here and posted before his return!

Looks like they are having a good time!

Valentine's Day

I think I mentioned it before :) but Valentine's Day is big here.  Also at school!  A few weeks ago we got a letter detailing all the arrangements.  The girls had to make a box to collect their cards and sweets in, bringing in cards for your friends was optional (really?) but if you bring in cards you have to bring for everyone (makes sense). 

The stores are full of cards sets especially made for school kids. They either have candy, pencils, stickers or something along those lines in it.  Famke chose hamburger cards with a hamburger erasers in it.  Floortje chose Rapunzel pencils.

I love the thought of Valentines day.  It is nice to let people know you care about them but this is a bit out of proportion in my opinion.

Famke's box before... 

...and after! 

(and we haven't even finished our Halloween candy yet!)

Valentine Craziness

I knew Valentine's Day was big here in the US but was still taken by surprise when I walked into the grocery store this morning!

Judge for yourself....

And then I haven't even shown you the cards, chocolates and sweets section yet!

Cheese fondue

To say that Famke likes cheese would be an understatement! As a good Dutch girl she loves the stuff.  Her favorite?  Hard to say but probably cheese fondue.

Here you can see her scraping the last bit out of the pan.  No need for a dishwasher afterwards :)

Post-elevencity-fever

Yesterday was a disappointing day for the Dutch as the 'eleven-city committee' decided there was not enough ice to skate the 'Elfstedentocht'.  15 cm of ice is needed in most places for event to go ahead and as the temperatures are expected to rise in the next few days we will probably have to wait a while for the next opportunity.

Today HEMA (a large chain of stores in Holland, favorite of many dutch people, including me) ran this ad.  Pretty brilliant if you ask me!

and here a picture of just how beautiful Holland can be

Elevencity-fever aka Elfstedenkoorts also news in US!

ABC News reported the following on their website today!

Dutch Clean Ice to Raise Chances of Skating Race

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands February 7, 2012 (AP)

Volunteers poured onto frozen rivers and lakes in the northern Netherlands on Tuesday to shovel away snow that is one of the major hurdles in the way of a grueling speedskating race being held for the first time in 15 years.

Helpers arrived from as far afield as Amsterdam, more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) away, to clear the ice after organizers of the Elfstedentocht, or 11 Cities Tour, warned that snow that fell Friday was hampering ice growth.

Their enthusiasm reflected the Elfstedentocht fever that has gripped the Netherlands amid speculation that the cold snap that has brought misery to much of Europe could deliver ecstasy to the Netherlands in the form of the race being skated for the first time since 1997.

Auke Hylkema, a so-called district chief in the Frisian Eleven Cities Association that organizes the event, sounded amazed by the number of people braving bone-chilling temperatures to lend a hand.

"They're sweeping and shoveling, trying to get everything ready as soon as possible," Hylkema told The Associated Press in a telephone interview in between monitoring problem patches of ice along the eight miles (13 kilometers) of the route he controls.

"We want to get everything cleared today so that when it freezes every degree (under zero Celsius) will help strengthen the ice," he added. Temperatures dipped well under 14 Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius) overnight in much of the Netherlands.

The ice must be at least 6 inches (15 centimeters) thick over the entire 125-mile (200-kilometer) track that winds along canals, rivers and lakes in the northern province of Friesland before the 16,000 competitor event can go ahead.

The 22 district chiefs are scheduled to meet again Wednesday evening to discuss conditions and weather forecasts. Freezing conditions are forecast to continue until Sunday at least, but a thaw could set in early next week.

The nearly mythical race has been staged only 15 times since 1909 and is expected to bring this nation to a halt if it happens this year. In 1997 an estimated 1.5 million spectators lined the route as farmer Henk Angenent won the race and in doing so became a household name.

Like skiing in mountainous nations such as Switzerland and Austria, speedskating is a national wintertime obsession in the Netherlands, which is crisscrossed by thousands of miles (kilometers) of shallow waterways. When rivers and canals freeze, many parents strap skates to their young children's shoes and give them chairs to push across the ice to help them keep their balance as they learn to move around on the slippery surface.

Skating wasn't reserved for the north. In Amsterdam, several of the city's famous canals have frozen over, giving residents a rare opportunity to skate or play ice hockey in a manmade ravine, lined by waterfront houses.

Tuesday's front-page headline in Dutch daily De Telegraaf read, "Polish, mop and sweep," in a reference to feverish efforts to prepare the route.

The national broadcaster NOS, meanwhile, has begun a daily Ice News show to give updates on the state of frozen rivers and lakes around the country and skating tips.

Social media in the Netherlands were abuzz with Elfstedentocht speculation, and the Frisian Eleven Cities Association that organizes the race has got in on the act by opening a Twitter account earlier this month to give updates on progress.

"It froze hard last night! However it is still not clear if or when the Elfstedentocht could be staged," the association tweeted early Tuesday.

The association also used Twitter to warn that the 16,000 tickets sent to skaters allowed into the invitation-only event are nontransferable, an apparent attempt to prevent people trading or selling the much-coveted invites.

Only members of the association are allowed to take part. The association has far more than 16,000 members, so it divides them between skaters who can race in even-number years and those who can take part in odd-number years.

Hylkema's stretch of the route is in the south of Friesland province, the region with the biggest problems.

On Monday night, volunteers in the town of Balk smashed brittle ice that was covering the narrow Luts river so that stronger ice could develop.

"This morning we had 1.5 inches (four centimeters) of ice. It was great, black ice and strong. We hope that tomorrow it's eight centimeters (three inches)," he said.

Hylkema knows from bitter experience how temperamental the ice can be in his neighborhood.

On Saturday, he crashed through the frozen surface of the Slotermeer lake while checking ice thickness.

Sinking through the ice is not too bad, because the water is warmer than the air," he said. "But a kilometer and a half (a mile) is a long way to walk back with wet clothes and hair and water in your boots. Everything freezes."

My favorite dutch word!

I copied this from a website called www.stuffdutchpeoplelike.com

Gezellig - Gezelligheid

How could we possibly expect to make a list of stuff Dutch people like and not include this perplexing little guttural-sounding word at the top of the list!

You will quickly learn that Dutch people like love this word. They are fiercely proud of this word and all it represents. I would go as far to say that gezelligheid is the modern day religion of the Dutch. They love it, they need it and they respect it.

In fact, Dutch folk are going to ask you over and over again if you know what gezellig means. Once you do know it’s meaning, they are then going to ask you over and over again if you know how to pronounce it. Learn to love it too, because you won’t escape it (or its pronunciation), and you will soon seen that gezelligheid truly is all around you.

For those of you not yet knowing what gezellig means, let’s get one thing straight: this word has NO accurate English translations. Yes, it’s a sad fact my friends, but it’s true. People will try and try again to tell you that it means cozy… or quaint… or familiar…or friendly… or a nice atmosphere… or a fun time, but you get where this is going; no one word can really sum it up. Gezellig and gezelligheid are less about a word and more about a feeling. Yes, this is starting to sound all chakras-and-healing-crystals to you, but truthfully, gezellig(heid) can only really be felt.

Things do get even trickier to comprehend, because Dutch people tend to evaluate everything on its particular level of gezelligheid. A place can be gezellig, a room can be gezellig, a person can be gezellig, an evening can be gezellig. Christ, even childbirth can be rated by its gezellig-ness (my doctor once told me she preferred home births, simply because they were, “well… just more gezellig”)!

But as we all know, there are two sides to every coin. True to its form, meet ongezellig, gezellig‘s nasty twin brother. Again, ongezellig is a precise astute word like no other. “Let’s get out of this place, its just so ongezellig” can sum it up like nobody else can.

I’ll never forget taking an impromptu boat ride with a friend of mine and her family. After an hour spin and a stop by a canal-side restaurants for a nibble, we  docked the boat as her 3 year old Dutch son turned to me, clasped his hands together and sighed while saying “ge-zel-lig”! Truth be told, it was the only word that accurately summed up our day. And even a 3 year-old knew it.

Sisters!

Just a nice picture of the girls!  (yes, same elephant, same zoo!)

1st time golf

Floortje got a set of golf clubs for her birthday as she wanted to play just like her dad.  Last weekend they went to the driving range to give it a first try!

Notice the straight left arm and her focus on the ball.... :)

Dark Skies over Houston

Floortje 6!

Our little girl is 6!

On the day of her birthday, she wanted sushi and chocolate ice cream of dinner.  As we had expected her to pick something like the big M for dinner we were not complaining!!! Sushi it was!

As Floortje wanted a 'Snowman birthday' the treats for school were bags of 'Snowman Soup'.  Each bag contained hot chocolate, marshmallows, hershey kisses and mints.  The girls did a great job of putting them together!

As the theme was 'Snowman' I was meant to make a snowman cake.  However, a few days before the party Floortje changed her mind and wanted a Rapunzel cake! And...what the birthday girls wants, the birthday girl gets.  A Rapunzel cake it was!

Floortje invited Avery and Claire to her party and after cake and presents we all went to the zoo (by the way, there are also real animals in the zoo, we just forgot to take pictures of them!).

Lunch at Chili's finished off the day! 

100th day of school

Last week was the 100th day of school (out of 177 days, so past the half way mark al ready!).  In Kindergarten they make a big deal out of this event.  All the kids had to decorate a t-shirt with 100 items.  As I do not sow, we used 100 safety pins!

During the day there were all sorts of activities at school as well, all of which included counting to 100 in one way or another!  

Some of the mums helped out at school and we were very happy to finally meet 'Zero the Hero' whom we had heard so much about!

Tooth Fairy - last post

When Famke lost her last tooth about two weeks ago, Floortje had some questions about the existence of the tooth fairy.  She asked me if she really existed.  I then asked the girls if they believed she did and they both answered 'yes' and we left it at that.  However, when Floortje lost her tooth last week the question came up again and this time I thought it was better to tell the truth.  So I told them that I was the one leaving money for them.

Their reaction was so very sweet..... 'No really?  Are you the one that gives all the children money in the middle of the night in return for their teeth?'

I can just imagine them picturing me flying around at night with my fairy dress and wings!!! Needless to say I put this misunderstanding right.

So no more visits from the tooth fairy. The girls, however, would still like to get some money when they lose a tooth!