Sinterklaas and Christmas 2011

The first post was about our winter in February - then, we skipped ahead to just last week with the School Photo Day, the next post will most likely be about Kev's 7th birthday....so in between I thought "let's copver Sinterklaas and Christmas" - ok,  my reverse timing is random, I know, but I'm trying to catch up with all the photos I've taken and grouped together in anticipation of blog posts - bear with me!

For Sinterklaas this year, Kevin gave a try to writing his own list with words, rather than just cutting out pictures from toy catalogs. I fell in love with this list. Number 1 (though not in that order on the page) was an RC helicopter. That was *the* present for 2011. Also, Lego was high on the wish list, as was anything to do with Cars2...including Lego.

He made his list and I was suprised by what was (and what was not) on it. He explained to me that he wanted to stop where he did becuase he didn't want Sinterklaas (who has to buy presents for all children) to spend too much money on him.

When I realted this story at work (I mean, of course I had to share this one!) one of my colleagues answered a prayer I hadn't yet uttered - she has a helicopter that was still in it's packing and I could have it to give to Kev! Really! When he opened the present on 5 December, it was truly a moment where a picture was worth a 1000 words....

So, as you know from the revois post, we didn't have a White Christmas in 2011 -  we had a house filled with Santas, a real tree and lots of presents -even after Oma said in 2010 she wasn't going to ship over presents again:-) Christmas morning, the living room looked like this:

Also, right around this time, Kevin personified "All I want for Christmas Is my two front teeth" (I had to explain to him there really was this song in English, I wasn't just making it up!)

Anyway, back to Christmas Morning......Kevin woke up and came downstairs (of course wearing his new Christmas PJ's from Oma and Opa)

He opened all his presents, built some lego, showed his mom how to properly ''chill'' in the afternoon,

And then we went to Joe and Nicole to have the most wonderful Christmas Dinner - first time we ever ate a slow cooked, crunchy skinned pork shoulder, chickpeas and yams.....and Little Man cleaned his plate and ate everything!

Merry Merry!

Winter Wonderland 2011-2012 Recap

For the 3rd winter in a row, this year we had snow and cold enough weather that the man-made lake we live on froze over.

But, this year, unlike 2009/10 and 2010/11 there was no White Christmas, more like a White Valentines day in 2012. After the snow at the end of January, there were several days (weeks) of very cold weather for the Netherlands...like 20 below Celsius! Considering we live at or below sea level here, that's cold, especially when coupled with the ''normal'' icy wind we get about that time every year.














The upside.....the lakes and canals stayed frozen for several weeks and weekends. We got to go sledding, ice skating...all nearby the house in the (cold) fresh air!

The sled we already had, but the ice skates that were double blades, pull on over your sneaker variety were not cutting it this year with Kev's new exacting standards. He wanted ''normal'' skates, with the boot and single blade - which scare mom as I imagine ankle injuries, to say nothing of sliced off fingers due to falls and and blades and children......Ok, I'll stop. You get the idea.

Normally, the first day of snow or ice leads to a run up in all shops and second hand sites making it impossible to find ice skates. This was the issue last year, and I was hesitant to buy a pair of skates that we would get use maybe one weekend or two before the thaw and would then most likely be too small by the time he could use them again next year - but it's so hard to say no to that face!

I was saved by a combi set thing that I found - at all places - at the local DIY store.The adjustable boot spans 4 shoes sizes, so we should get a few years use, and even better - you can swap the ice blades out for roller blades - so you can pretty much use the things year round. Score!

So, from Ice Skates in February......to Rollerblades in April! Love, love, love this idea!

Winter Wonderland

We're in the middle of a winter wonderland here in The Netherlands...... since about a week before Christmas, it's been snowy, freezing and everytime the snow melts away, there comes in a day or two a fresh layer. Both this year and last year the man made lake our balcony is out on was a big hockey/skating rink....a hot topic of discussion here is if there is still time to have the first elfstedentocht (eleven city tour) since 1997 this year. This week, the temps are supposed to plummet, staying between -2 and plus 2 during the day,a nd dropping to -10 at night....that's supposed to be 'great' for the natural ice and chances for skating...not so great if you're already almost 2 weeks into a head cold!

In the middle of the deep freeze early in January, a whole crew of dads and older brothers shoveled the snow off the lake to make a skating rink. I loved the view and watching all the winter activity from my warm, dry living room! :-) (I'm not sure what it says about me that one of my first thoughts was "a kid could make a killing here selling hot chocolate off the balcony). Kev's not yet old enough for his first lemonade (or hot choclate) stand, but Mom's filing that one away for future use!

During the last week, there was the first day that there was no snow or ice left on the roads near the house, or the sidewalks. The lake just melted, and all the snow piles had just just about melted before the snow started again at the start of this week - so it's not over yet, but a solid 6 weeks snow and ice in a country where they are not prepared for it at all has been pretty challenging. I've managed a personal best and only slipped and fallen twice - but it was on the same day and both times outside Kev's school.

Last week Monday, the commute into work due to snowfall took a record 2 hours and 15 minutes to drive 50 kilometers (say 30 miles). it also landed number 10 on the list of worst traffic jams ever, with over 500 kilometers of traffic jams around the country. Crazy!

Kevin has really enjoyed the snowy winter so far, and got his first pair of adjustable ice skates (double bladed for stability) for Christmas. He's been skating on an indoor rink twice during the school break, with use of a kind of walker-like device to keep him standing. During the Christmas break, we went bowling, skating, to the movie theatre, a pancake restuarant, had a play date and played a lot with his race track that he asked Santa for - so much so that one of the cars had to be replaced already, but he's figured out how to do the upside down loop withour flying out of the next corner.

On New Year's, I had my first preview of how the new neighboorhood celebrates New Year's. New Year's Eve is NL's 4th of July (and then some) as far as fireworks go, and I was amazed at how many fireworks there were starting from 10pm. Here private people can buy professional level fireworks.....In this short video, taken a bit after midnight, you get the idea.....these were all private households nearby! The height was the first 10 mins of the New Year. Next year, I'll know to have my camera ready, but even so, I found this pretty impressive!

Next year, I know where I'll be spending New Year's.....with a free show like this courtesy of the neighbors :-)...amd I can watch it all from the couch....this was the view from inside my living room. When you see this video, it's not hard to belive that the spend on fireworks this New Years was something like 65 million euros (!)

There's also been opportunities to build a snowman with his dad, and get pulled on a sleigh by dad.......Not that he really enjoys it or anything! :-)

Here is a few more from our collection of winter 2009-2010 photos....enjoy!

This was the skating rink the neighborhood dad's made on a Saturday morning...and what it looked like a 4pm as the light was starting to go.

And the skating continued the next day, but the wind made it really cold...no-one was out there much longer than 30 minutes at a time, but it seemed like most people were from the houses nearby, so the came back throughout the day. This was the view from the living room.

Of course, Kevin did make it out there, but he found it too cold (and a little bit scary, considering the he knows it's a lake filled with water most of the year), so after the obligatory 30 mins, we were back inside, drinking hot chocolate and watching the kids play hockey.

After a day of outdoor play in the fresh air, there is nothing quite like a warm bath, footie pj's (from Oma & Opa for Christmas) and a photo op!