"Klaar for Grandma Condo"

There is no other way to put it except that Max is currently obsessed with going to Grandma's condo. At least 10 time a day for the past week he talks about "Grandma condo". He is constantly referring to airplanes, big suitcases and grandma's auto (Grandma lets him drive). Yesterday he pulled my little suitcase in the kitchen, opened it up, sat inside and then said, "Klaar for Grandma condo". Klaar, in dutch, means ready. The day before he found a big Ziploc freezer bag and after putting all his Matchbox cars in it, put it outside in the hallway for Grandma condo.
We don't have tickets booked yet, but good thing we are planning on making a trip to Chicago at the end of the month. Admittedly, the trip isn't just for Max...I'm looking for some weather that is warmer than 65 degrees!

Roman Holiday

Well, actually maybe it was more like a long weekend than a holiday. My friend Heidi and I left early Friday morning and returned late Sunday night. It was a perfect weekend. We saw the major sights, did some shopping, enjoyed the food and each other's company. Having never been in Rome before I was surprised at how everything looks like it could come right off the pages of a history book. Everything is REALLY old and looks like it too. From the buildings to the streets to the ruins, all of it is so different from Holland. I enjoyed being in a different culture and weather of course.
My boys did just fine without me around. In fact, on Monday morning Bas and I were talking and Max was upset I was taking his papa's attention away from him so he told me "Mama weg". This means "Mama go away." I don't think Max even noticed I was gone until I got back, he had so much fun with his daddy. And after being away from Max for 3 days, he doesn't look bigger, like most parents would think. Instead I think he just looks and acts more like Bas! The drawback for me is that Max is speaking only Dutch right now, even to me. I guess it will take a couple days to get him back into speaking English again...I hope.

A Day at the Park with the Dames

Yesterday, we spent the day with the Kooijmans, Hans, Heidi, Marith and Kirsten. We went to a huge outdoor park for kids. I don't think we have anything like it in America to compare it to. Needless to say the kids had a great time and the adults has some time to sit and chat in the sun. After the park, we came back to our house and enjoyed a nice dinner and evening with Hans and Heidi while the kids played and then slept. The cutest part of the day was right before bed when Max and the girls kept giving each other really tight hugs. It made my heart melt. Thanks for the pics Heidi- I look forward to next weekend. It will be similar to yesterday except, no husbands, no kids and we'll be in Rome!

Thijs & Max

Yesterday, for Mother's Day, we were at Oma and Opa's house, so Max and Thijs had a chance to play together. Thijs is Max's cousin and 1 year older. They have so much fun together and really get along great with each other. It is actually fun to watch them interact. What is also interesting to observe are the personalities. The boy's mimic those of their father's. Thijs is quieter and more reserved while Max is the naughty loudmouth. I think it must also be interesting for Bas's parents to see history repeating itself.

"Hoppy Birfday"

Hearing this makes me cringe...because it is coming out of my child's mouth. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of hearing a Dutch person sing "Happy Birthday", that is how they pronounce it with their Dutch accents. Max seems to have picked this up from Peuterspeelzaal (preschool), when they sang, among other songs, "Happy Birthday" in English. He now goes around the house singing it "Hoppy Birfday".

I love to hear Max speak Dutch, it quite frankly amazes me. But I can't bear to hear him mispronounce things as the Dutch do when they speak English. I can't have my little boy speaking English with a Dutch accent, it makes me feel that in some way I am failing. Bas of course thinks this situation is hilarious and rightly believes Max will grow out of it. He isn't laughing as hard when I remind him of how he pronounces that stuff we use to brush our teeth with as "thoothpathe".

Acting Like Tourists

Yesterday, mom and Max and I had the car (thanks Bas), and it was a beautiful day. So we decided to do a little sightseeing. We first drove to Hoorn, an old fishing village. Mom and max posed for the first pic here in the old harbor. It was really quite quaint. We sat and had a cup of coffee here and then hopped back in the car and drove over the Aufsluitdijk to a little, little town called Makkum (the pic of the cute little house) which is known for it's pottery. We thought we would pick up a nice piece for each of us. However after seeing the prices ( a coffee cup was about 300 euros), we decided it wasn't that pretty. We had lunch here, outside, and then Max enjoyed and ice cream cone. It was a lovely way to spend Grandma's last day with us. She left this morning and we are, needless to say, sad.