New look for Janne

Like mom and dad, Janne now is wearing glasses. Good thing one can buy really cool looking glasses for kids. Janne is very proud of her new look and we think she looks pretty cool too!

Canada - 2

The trip is almost over. It's been great and we've seen a lot. Still, we've only seen a tiny bit of the enormous country of Canada. We traveled 3100 km, from Toronto, via Quebec, to Tadoussac and back to Toronto. The weather has been glorious; we only had one day of rain. And even on that day, the sun came out and we were able to do the planned hikes! Meantime,the photo album is almost ready and will be ordered the day we get home, to be ready a week after our return :-)

Sailing the river with a canoe, lots of fun, but hard work!

Our truck, home for the past three weeks.

Ready to go spot some wales.

Posing with the girls on a pretty, rocky beach

View of Tadoussac harbor, Sagenay Sound.

Canada - 1

We spent our first couple of days in Canada in Toronto, with Florence and her family. From there, we visited Niagara Falls, the CN tower and a provincial nature park. After that, we traveled with our 'truck' (they call it an RV here) to Kingston and we are now in Quebec. The weather is fabulous (contrary to the weather back home, we hear ...) and the girls love staying in the camper.

Niagara Falls

Five very quiet kids watching tv, the only time these five were quiet ...

In the CN Tower, looking down 360m through the glass floor

It was very windy on the boat sailing through the Thousand Islands near Kingston ...

... very windy indeed!

Chateau Frontenac in Quebec; an old and beautiful (French) city

Waterfun

At the end of May, we finally had some sunny and warm days. And, same as past few years, it turned from rainy and cold spring weather to mid summer temperatures in the course of one day. Still, the girls had fun with the sprinkler!

One dead guinea pig

Yesterday, one of our guinea pigs died. It was Meike, the mom of the two baby guinea pigs, and she was only 21 months old. Even for a guinea pig, this is not a very old age. We assume she must have been sick and are hoping that her sister, who is in the cage with her, won't die as well. Emma and Janne were a little sad, but not overly so. They did help bury the little animal and in that 'easy' way had their very first experience with death and burial.

Ready to say goodbye

Closing the grave

Movie night

The last weekend of May school break, me and the girls watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Emma is reading the books by herself (she just finished reading book #4) and I am reading the books to Janne. Currently, we are halfway through book #4. A while ago we watched the first Harry Potter movie and this time we wanted to watch The Sorcerer's Stone. That one was rented out though, so we opted for the next in line. We turned it into a real movie night; comfortable PJs, popcorn, drinks, blankets and we were ready for over two hours uninterrupted Harry Potter. Great fun indeed!

Mookerheide

Today, we went for a walk on the famous (?) Mookerheide. Its fame apparantly comes from the Mookerheide Battle, which took place in 1574, between the Spanish and the Dutch. Also during the 80-year War and during WWII, the Mookerheide was the background of quite some fighting. Now, it is a small but pretty nature area in the northern tip of the province of Limburg. We even saw some of the wisents (European bisons) that live there.

Mom, I don't think the bison read the sign that said we should stay at a safe, 25-yard distance ... !

Go for a walk anywhere and they will find a tree to climb in!

Motocycle weekend

Over the weekend, I did something that I had wanted to do for a very long time; I went on a motorcycle weekend. By myself. A weekend in which I didn't have to be a mom, a wife or a project leader, all I had to be was me. Some people predicted I would be back Saturday night, not being able to be on my own anymore. Others congratulated me, said it was a great idea and that I should do it more often. After having spent a weekend with just my motorcycle for company, I agree with the latter :-)

Temperatures were a bit low, especially in the morning, but I had a really good time. On Saturday, I rode to the Winterberg (Sauerland) area in Germany, where I spent the night in a quaint German hotel. I spent a leisurely evening watching (German) tv and took a walk in the morning. After lunch, I returned home. I drove a total of about 600 km, not too much for a weekend. Sunday afternoon, I was very happy to see the girls and Pieter again, but I will definitely want to do this again. Ready to roll!

Weekend getaway

For the first time in 9 years (since Emma was born), Pieter and I spent a weekend away. Emma stayed with Michiel, Janne with Oma and Boelie at a dog-pension. The guineapigs were taken care of by our neighbours' daughter. Even though the girls are usually easy going , it was SO relaxing to spend a weekend, just the two of us! We stayed at Landgoed Avegoor, a former summer house of the Dutch Royal family, now turned into an art hotel. Nice rooms, great food and close to National Park de Hoge Veluwe, the Kröller-Müller Museum and the former Hanseatic City of Zutphen.

Winter has arrived

Last night, temperatures went down to as low as -20°C, quite cold for the Netherlands these days. Last time it was this cold, was over 25 years ago, they say. The snow that fell yesterday is still there and the roads are slippery. But, walking through the woods at 8 am with Boelie is just wonderful!
Riding my bike home from work on Friday was a bit less wonderful, but I do prefer this over rainy weather :-) Even if it makes me look like this!

Happy New Year!

With some delay, but here's the X-Mas and New Years card I made this year. Inside was a small picture of Boelie.