Singing with Daddy

We sing with the kids a lot.  Here is Campbell singing a song with the kids.  Archie is "playing" his guitar.  It is his little bunny that he calls Poppity-bush.  And Sylvie is singing and dancing.

Christmas Markets

We headed to Ghent for the Christmas market one day.  We went later in the day so we could see the lights and enjoy the city.

Hot chocolate and a movie

We had a Christmas party at Sylvie's daycare.  It was her last day with the group as she starts in the Nursery Class with Archie in January.  We did a neighborhood walk with lanterns and candles.  Then there was a nice meal.  It was a sad goodbye to the ladies who took care of Archie since our arrival and Sylvie for the last year.

We had a party at Archie's school as well and Santa made an appearance.  We had a little chat with him and then had a quick photo.  It is Archie's first photo with him.  We even wrote a letter and put it in the mail this year too.

We went for a long weekend to Strasbourg, France for the best Christmas market we have seen yet.  Archie called our hotel the "Bourg House."  We arrive on a Friday night and took a stroll through the markets.

Entrance to the old city

Gingerbread products, a specialty of the region

We had to have some gluiwein or mulled wine.  It was nice to sip and walk with it.

Many of the buildings were decorate with things as well as with lights.

A little blurry but you get the idea

The first of many crepes we ate that weekend

Looking down the street to the cathedral

The next morning the kids took their scooters and we headed to the city.

This is the large Christmas tree with a beautiful house and decoration display that lights up at night.

smelling the tree

More mulled wine

Many of the French families had their kids drinking the mulled wine (little kids) in the evening.  I bet they slept well!

Some of the pretty items in the stalls for sale

miniature French houses for sale

Enjoying some more crepes

This was a little neighborhood butcher shop.  They had pig decorations above the shop.

It was super busy Saturday night.  So we called it a day.

One more day out before our drive home

We stayed just across the canal from the city center.   It was just a 10 minute walk to the center.  And there was a beautiful new development that we walked through.

I am making some of these decorations in felt as I thought I could easily make my own.

We tried two times with no success to get the kids to ride a carousel.  They were too scared.

Our last set of crepes for the day

This a photo I found on the web.  Better than I could take so I wanted you to see what we actually saw when we were there.

Not my photo:  Houses under the big Christmas tree

Not my photo:  Market stalls in front of the Cathedral

Not my photo:  Street lights to the cathedral

Not my photo:  big Christmas tree

Not my photo:  Entrance to the old town

December and Holiday Busy Times Arrive

December arrived and with that a very busy time of the year for us.  The Netherlands has "Sinterklaas" and his helpers arrive in late November.  He then leaves on December 5th.  For good little kids, he leaves presents at their doorstep in the evening.  The kids started to understand the festivities with the decorations at school and at home.

A day out in the 

We went to a local home and garden store.  It decorated throughout and very festive.  We took the kids to look at the lights and decorations.  There was a little house inside with a talking Santa, albeit in Dutch.  The kids loved seeing Santa.

At the cafe

Archie's school and class went to a really great science museum for kids.  Sylvie was able to go along as I was a chaperone.  There was a little kids section with little "city".  This is the ambulance where Sylvie was saving Archie!

This is the automotive shop where the kids are changing the wheels.  There are actual jacks for lifting the car up and down.  This was by far the favorite part.  There was also a real car in their they could play with too.

Can you tell he was in love?  There was also a 20 foot crane at the construction site with wheel barrows, blocks, hardhats, etc.  There was a grocery store with stocked times, a check-out, and grocery carts.

Before we left we went to the bigger section and the kids played with sheets of bubbles.

Archie and one of his friends blowing away!

The school play was coming up and this is the costume for the fox.  We had it home so I could do some alterations.  Archie LOVED the costume and wore it all day.  He didn't want to take it off.  

I will be finding him a costume of his own to keep.  He still asks if he is going to get a fox costume for his own.

Archie was a snowman for the school play.  He was a little hesitant to put on the costume but finally enjoyed it.

Getting ready with his snowflake friend!

And because there was a wave of the flu going around, an understudy was allowed to join the play.  Sylvie was so delighted to dress up as a snowman and join Archie on stage.  She tried to do the movements and sing the songs.

Getting ready for the play!

Four mischievous snowmen

Action on the stage.

The tree went up and the kids were loving it.  Archie decided to play with the trains and had a great time.

Super Sylvie!

Archie received a costume from Sinterklaas.  We had a knock on the door one evening and were surprised to see some gifts for the kids!  It was so sweet and nice that Sinterklaas visited us.  Archie's favorite Dutch teacher lives a few houses down the street and her daughters are our babysitters.  And they were very excited to hear that Sinterklaas had visited us!

Double trouble at the local grocery store.  The older ladies and men were a little frightened as the kids went running through the store.

We put up an advent calendar and the kids were super excited to find a "treat" of sorts every morning (that they remembered).  Next year I will have to have the bags a little more prepared!