Lekkere Vakantie, part 2

After departing Texel, Robert, Sam and I spent a night in Bilthoven with Oma & Opa. It seemed very quiet after a week with so many kids running around, but that didn't last long because the next morning we departed for Cadzand to spend a few days with Robert's best buddies. The trip started with a fun night out in Knokke, Belguim with Douwe, Palle, Guido Mascini & Guido Bouw with our 8 young children in tow at a restaurant that was literally a country club at the beach. The kids had a blast running around the largest play yard I've ever seen while the adults caught up over steaks and wine. It's always a ton of fun for Robert to catch up with his old buddies. We spent the next few days with Douwe and Palle and their kiddos on the beach, followed by evenings dining together. It was a great couple of days and it was neat for me to get to see so many different sides of Holland (Cadzand is all the way south on the border of Belguim).

Digging with Charlie in Cadzand

Sam & Rowan in Knokke

Douwe plays with Sam & Rowan

On Tuesday morn, Robert, Sam & I packed up the car again and headed out to the Hague to check out Madurodam, which is a miniature version of Holland all packed into one theme park! It was very cool, and Sam really enjoyed it as well. Only problem was that Sam thought that each little display was like a miniature play-yard for him, so he wasn't very happy when we told him he couldn't pick up the boat or the cow! They also had a Sesame Street display going on, so we got to check that out too. Even though Elmo isn't very popular in Holland, Sam thought it was pretty neat to get to see all of the characters.

Obsessed with the trains & trucks in Madurodam

He wishes he could grab the boats!

From Madurodam, we made a quick pit stop in Scheveningen en route to Amsterdam. This is a lovely beach town just outside of the Hague.

Finally, we had one last night in Amsterdam to catch up with Robert's friends and Peter, a visit to the Vondel park and then back to visit Oma and Opa for 2 nights before heading back to the US. It was a whirlwind trip, but great for us because we were able to do so much in the 2 short weeks that we had. We don't get there as often as we'd like, so when we do it's nice to make the most of it. Thanks again, Oma & Opa, for a great trip to Holland. Hope to be back next year!

The Vondel Park in Amsterdam

Lekkere Vakantie, part 1

This August, Sam made his first of many journeys across the pond and he did great! Not only was he incredibly well-behaved on the airplane, but he was just generally very flexible throughout the whole vacation.

The vacation started with our arrival in Amsterdam early Friday morning on July 31, and then we joined the family for a 2 hour drive to Texel, an island in the North Sea. The drive was timed perfectly for a much needed nap, and then we were refreshed by the sea air from the ferry ride over to Texel. (The ferry boat was funny because Robert remembered it being this really exciting trip when he was a boy, but in reality it was about a 5 minute ferry ride! Barley enough time to leave the car!!!)

Once in Texel, Sam was immediately excited to play with his cousins. We had 3 houses with big backyards, so the kids could run around like crazy. It was a nice village with a swimming pool, tennis courts, bike trails and a playground, and was only about a 10 minute bike ride to the beach. The biggest pity from this whole trip is that I don't have a picture of Sam riding the bike with Robert, because this was by FAR the most exciting thing he has ever done, but I was lucky enough to catch some video of Sam and Robert enjoying the waterslide at our pool. Lets just say that not only does Sam look exactly like his Papa, but he clearly has "no fear" mentality as well!

Finally, we spent loads of time on the beach in Texel, and I learned that my child would be happy to dig all day if you'd let him! So, here are some pics of Sam and his cousins enjoying their time "op de strand"

There's more...

Oops, I left out a few words.  How could I leave out "modes of transportation" words from a little boy!  

car (with Boston accent)

truck (aka "cuck")

bus (sounds like "ba")

bike (also sounds a lot like "ba")

bucket (again, sounds a lot like "ba")

shovel (more like "vul")

Anyway, like most moms, I am probably the only person who can really decipher my child's language, but the important point is that he always uses them in the right context and he is making more sounds every day, so it is fun to watch this transition take place!

19 months old

It's hard to believe that Sam is already 19 months old, but everyone warned me it would go this fast so I guess I shouldn't find it so surprising.  Probably the most exciting part about this age for us is that Sam is finally starting to talk!  We worried it would never come, but it seems like now he has just about a new word every day.   I was trying to think about all of the words he has by now, and decided that the easiest thing to do would be to record them here so that I have a record of it.  So, here is where we are at this point (25 words or so):

Mama

Papa

ball

basketball (well, more like ba-ball, but he gets the context right!)

cat

dog

duck

bird

cow (well, he usually says "moo" for a cow, but close enough!)

fish

Elmo (terrible, I know)

nose

bone (he loves the dog's bone)

help

water

juice

keys

up

down

open

no (doe any toddler not know this word??!!)

yes

mmmMa (that's Grandma at this point)

mmmPa (Grandpa)

girl

baby

shoe

Anyway, the hair is also starting to get quite unruly, so at some point I am going to have to cut it but wanted to make sure I had a good shot of the curls!  So, here he was playing with his trucks this morn....pretty good bed head, eh?!

Hot fun in the summertime

We are well into July in Austin, and it has pretty much felt like August ever since June hit.  This heat is not for the faint of heart, but somehow Sam seems to stay insanely active despite the sweltering temps.  There is really only one way to survive this heat, and that is to find water, and lots of it!  We pretty much spend every afternoon in some form of water, whether it's one of the local fountain parks, Little Stacey pool, or the pool at our gym.  This weekend, we decided to head out with the Fudge's to a local waterpark called Volente Beach.  Now, I must say, this may have been the cheesiest place I have ever seen, but the kids managed to have a total ball.  My son is officially a mad man in the water...he has absolutely NO FEAR.  He will go under all day long, and could seriously jump in over and over again for hours if you'd let him.  He was particularly digging the slides at this park.  They had great waterslides for Toddlers, so he and his buddy James really enjoyed themselves.

Since it's been forever since I've posted, I've also attached a belated 4th of July pic.  Lets just say that Sam loved the cupcake, but his hands and you know what else were stained blue for days!!!!

Hope everyone is having a fun summer!

Happy Mother's Day 2009

Today was a lovely (but HOT) Mothers Day in Austin.  I can't believe it is already in the 90's in May...I am afraid of what that might mean for summer!  We still managed to have a great time, and are quickly learning how to become "one with the heat" here in TX!  The day started with Robert allowing me to sleep in, which is always a nice treat!  We then headed to Zilker park where Sam had a great time playing at the playground and riding the train.  We even paid a visit to Zippy the Clown who made Sam an awesome airplane balloon (which Sam then proceeded to keep sticking in his mouth pretending that he was "blowing up" the balloon like Zippy...hilarious!)  We came home for a nice long nap, and then headed out to the pool at our gym for some fun in the sun.  We capped off the day with chips, salsa and Micheladas at Chuy's....which meant no cookin for Mama.  Yeah!  A big thanks to my family for making the day so special.  And a special shout-out to Grandma Ennis and Oma Anneke for being such supermoms themselves!

Driving the fire-truck at Zilker

Riding the Zilker Zephyr with Mama

Fascinated by Zippy the Clown

Taking a break from the waves at the pool for some fruit snack

Sam - 15 & 16 months

Lots to talk about over the past month.  Sam continues to grow and change every day - it really seems like he has grown up a lot in the past month though.  He is finally starting to say some words (I'm confident that he has "up", "dog", "duck" and "ball" down pat.  The others I can't be too sure about...but clearly he knows what he is saying!)  And he has really mastered his hand-eye coordination.  You've never seen a kid hit a t-ball or tennis ball as precisely as this one!  And the basketball hoop?  Forget about it...it's an obsession!  So, I think it's clear that we are raising a little athlete over here (or at least we'd like to think so!)

The other big news is that Jen, Adam and Celia came to visit over Easter.  That was a lot of fun.  it's amazing how quickly you forget what it is like to have a 6 month old!  It was only 9 months ago that Sam was that age, and I honestly had no recollection of the sleepless nights and the sitting still and playing with the same rattle all day long!!!!  But, she is so cute and pleasant.  We were really happy to have them, and I think they enjoyed the warmer temps!

Here are a few pics from the past month.  Enjoy!

He never misses!

A rare glimpse of my child eating veggies captured on camera!

Playing at the pool with Cousin Celia

Checking out his Easter basket (He totally didn't get the "finding" it part)

Attacking Celia in the ball pit!