Visits

When the girls have vacation, I like to take them to visit people whom we don't often get a chance to meet up with. So, Wednesday, we went to Brussels, to visit Florence and her three boys. Her oldest is the same age as Janne and he and our girls had a great time, playing all afternoon.
The only pic where they were not making faces

Today, we visited with my mom's cousin and his wife in Klaaswaal. They are both over eighty, have been married for more than sixty years and still live in the same house they moved into when they were just married.
At my mom's cousin's house, very traditional interior indeed

Photo exposition in Stein, Limburg

Yesterday, we visited motorcycle friends in Elsloo, Limburg. I've known Pierre and Jeannette for 15 years, ever since my (and their) first TransalpClub-weekend in the Ardennes. Pierre and I share another hobby, besides motorcycle touring; photography. So, we combined our visit to them with a visit to the exposition of the Fotokring Stein (photo-club) of which Pierre is a member and I showed Pierre our Australia album (which, by the way, turned out really good!).

Enjoying Pieter's home made rijstevlaai (it's a bit funny that we brought 'vlaai', as this is the pastry that the province of Limburg is famous for ...)

Boelie up-date

Boelie is growing like a dog ... When we got her, she weighed 2.5 kg, last Friday she weighed 4 kg. She's 9 weeks old now and eating more every week. She's very active, especially in the biting area! It's very hard to teach a collie (read sheep herding dog) to not bite ankles or trousers. After decades of breeding, biting ankles (sheep's ankles that is) is instinctive. We're trying hard to let her know we're not sheep and we don't need herding. She is learning, but slowly. There's a few commands she obeys, but still more that she doesn't (yet). It's a good thing puppy training will start soon :-)

Still a pro when it comes to posing!

Janne has lost most of her fear of Boelie; Emma is still jumping on chairs whenever Boelie comes too close ...

Lichtjesroute

Today, we did the Lichtjesroute (Tour of Lights) in Eindhoven. From 1945 until 1969, the city of Eindhoven commemorated its liberation after WW II by way of the Lichtjesroute. In the beginning it were just candles and light bulbs in windows, later there were light ornaments on houses, lamp posts and in parks. After 1969 the tradition died, but it was restored in 1984. Since then the Lichtjesroute is repeated every year, by making a 22 km route through Eindhoven, that is illuminated by lights ornaments and displays, using all modern illumination techniques.

Living in or near Eindhoven, doing the Lichtjesroute is a must. So this was the night for Emma and Janne. On weekends, you have to stand in line and the tour takes up to three hours, due to heavy traffic on the route. Now (Monday) it only took us one hour and ten minutes. Just about right for Emma and Janne on a school night. It felt a bit like lantern festival ...

They really loved all the light ornaments and displays and they were shouting the name of every new item they saw. When they're a bit bigger, we might try doing the tour by bike. For now, the car will do. Which was good today, because it rained :-)

Big display in the Hendrik de Keijzer pond

Cute animal display in the same pond

Another display, firetruck this time

Smurf ornament on a wall

For more pictures of the ornaments and displays, go to the Lichtjesroute website (see link above) and click on Beeldarchief