Merry Christmas!

Tis' the Season

The holiday season is here and we have a blend of many holidays to participate in.  On November 11th, Saint Martin's Day, there was a nice parade of school children from the Catholic Church with coloful lanterns in the evening.  They then go door to door asking for candy....sounds like similar doesn't it!  Your lights have to be on.  So we didn't have any knocks....or candy.  So it worked out fine.  We will be prepared next year.  Sylvie and Archie looked out the window and waved to the hundreds of children passing by.

We were lucky again to celebrate Thanksgiving with some wonderful friends this year.  It was a mix of Brits, Scots, Americans, and Portugese.  It was a wonderful dinner and the kids actually have a good time playing with the other little ones there.  It was quite a nice dinner with fried turkey.

Then Sinterklaas arrived again in mid November.  He came by boat on the canals from Spain.  We didn't have much participation in it.  Archie had a little party at school and he enjoyed the little cookies, pepernoten.  Sinterklaas left on Dec. 5th and took his boat and helpers (Black Peter) back to Spain.  

Image from wikipedia....visit there for more info if you like!

Pepernoten or Kruidnoojes cookies

And now time is leading up to Christmas.  We have been to 2 Christmas markets, Dusseldorf and Aachen, Germany.  We had a lovely time in both but loved the market in Aachen.  There were many booths with mulled wine, beer, pretzels, sausage, chocolates, and more.  There were also lovely wooden ornaments and other holiday crafts.  All the booths are wooden huts and decorated with garland and lights.  It is such a nice part of the holidays here and we were happy to drive to Germany to see it.  Tomorrow we head off to Brugge to see a market there with our good friend Luke.

 

This is a view down one of the aisles toward one of the cathedrals.  The booths are decorated, there is music, and you can smell the mulled wine!

Some crafts

This was the best chocolate store we saw.  They had a beautiful window display but was too crowded to even enter.

We went to the gym and they have a huge Christmas tree set up.  The kids had a great time checkingout all the lights and ornaments.

Our Christmas tree this year!  It is from the Christmas market.

Some TV time early in the morning!

Sylvie enjoying the Oliebollen!

Every area of Holland has a signature food that is served at different times of the year.  In our area, it is Oliebollen (yes, oily balls).  They are rounds of dough that is fried and then sprinkled with powdered sugar.  So good but so bad for you!  I let the kids have some and of course it was a hit of a dish.

Trying to get a photo goether where everyone is smiling and looking the same way: Fail.

Putting up our decorations

Archie and his favorite toy, Mater.

Sylvie is my wash bucket

And this is a block of Blue Stilton cheese that is being marinated with a bottle of port.  This is what we have to look forward to during our trip to the UK for Christmas.  Not this particular one but a great one that our good friends supply.  I will write another post after Christmas about the good times we have there.

More fun in October

The rainy weather has arrived and we have pulled out our warm jackets, hats, and gum boots.  

We were lucky to have our good friends Pip and Marc visit with their 2 daughters, Alice and Zoe.  It was a really nice to see them amid our massive wind and rain storms.  They have kindly invited us to their home for the holidays again.  So we will be heading to the UK for another festive Christmas.  Since we feel the lack of festivities and decorations here, it will be really special and nice to be somewhere that is.  Here are a couple pictures of the kids and dads enjoying a nice movie.

Archie's first viewing of Toy Story 2.  He was in heaven and glued to the screen to see his pals Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

And then Halloween arrived.  I didn't attemp anything grand this year after making the past two costumes for Archie.  I purchased a pirate outfit for him.  Lucky for me I didn't spend hours on it as he REFUSED to put it on.  He understood the kids at school were dressing up and he wasn't scared but he would not put on a costume.  He like it but wasn't having anything to do with it.  So Halloween was a little lack-luster for us.  It is such a fun and festive holiday in the states.  I missed getting to share it with our kids this year.  So next year, I am back on making them costumes!

We did buy some festive gordes and a pumpkin to decorate.  Archie enjoyed them as he thought the were good drumming sticks.

Sylvie enjoying the toys at Ikea.  We always have fun there.

Toastie sandwiches after our swim at the gym.  Sylvie and Archie love having swim class every week.  They like the cheese toasties even more.

And we had some chips/fries because they ate ALL the snacks I packed.  I thought I overpacked until I realized they ate them all in the daycare while each other swam.

To Provence and back

Autumn is here and at the start of October we went for a week in the south of France.  We met up with Alan and Caroline and their son Joseph.  Alan was in our wedding and they have been friends of Campbells for years.  And two other good friends (also Kiwis) theirs joined us.  All in all there were 6 adults and 4 little ones.  It was a great week in a wonderful place.  We stayed near a town called St. Remy.  

City of Avignon.  Really great old roman city with a palace that the Pope once called home.  The city is surrounded by a wall and ramparts.

In the gardern/yard of the house we rented.  There was a pool and it was warm enough to swim several days.

City of Arles.  There  is an old Roman colluseum which is still used today for bull fighting. It is an amazing structure that they are restoring.

French market in St. Remy

We enjoyed great food while there.  Every morning we had fresh croissants and pan au chocolat.  For lunch, fresh baguettes with cheese and ham.  And dinner, we had fresh food from the local markets.

City of Aix.  It had beautiful streets and markets. 

Kids in one of the many road stops along the way.  They were enjoying driving the play truck.  Luckily there were two seats and steering wheels!

Bathtime with Joseph!

Storytime!

More bathtime!

There was a lot of fun and laughs.  We were all spent after the week!