Mother's Day

As in most of the Western world, yesterday was Mother's Day in the Netherlands. For me, that meant sleeping in until 8.30 am (after Emma and Janne played in our bed from 7 until 7.30 am), breakfast in bed and some wonderful gifts. Emma had made a beautiful painting on a real canvas and sang a sweet mother's day song. I was so proud of her, because she kept the nature of her present a secret for over three weeks AND she remembered all the words of her special song, even though they learned it three weeks ago and she had two weeks of vacation. Janne had made a pretty paper tea pot, with a real tea bag in it. She kept her present secret for over a week, but a few days ago, she blurted out 'your little teapot ... oops ... I shouldn't have said that mommy' :-) Pieter surprised me with a house wife-set, including mostly very practical kitchen tools, but also a book and a lottery ticket.
Emma and Janne playing at my mom's cousin's house

Earlier this week, me, Emma and Janne, together with my mom, went to see a cousin of my mom's. When I was little, I spent one week at their place for a couple of summers. Mostly because Stijn, the cousin's wife, worked at the local swimming pool, which meant free swimming every day for me. I remember I always had great fun staying with them. Now, they are both in their mid-eighties and great-grand parents. At that age, every day is even more a gift and I really wanted to visit with them at the earliest opportunity. With Pieter in Poland and the girls having school holidays, there was my chance. It was so great to see them again (after some eight years or so), also for my mom, for whom it had been a year since she saw them. Their house had changed so little over the years, that entering it felt like taking a step back in time to when I was 10 years old. Very weird experience indeed.
Emma and Janne with my mom and her cousin's wife

With the finalization of the house still over a month away and with that, the arrival of Pieter's piano, Pieter has leased a piano. He hadn't been able to play since we left Taiwan for Australia on Feb 1st, so he decided to rent an (upright) piano for a few months. This way, he can start playing again.
Hopefully she will still be this happy when her lessons start :-)