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Piet was already into cars and trucks before we left London. At christmas in Melbourne he got his first tractor, which promptly became a vehicle-of-interest too, a passion he shares with granddad, who happily read him a picture book on tractors and trucks. In the evenings, partly because the adults became a bit bored with the children DVDs, we watched a steam train DVD from opa's collection, which was entirely to Piet's satisfaction.
Piet helped oma baking quite a few cakes. He got something to lick in return, which he enjoyed with opa. We all enjoyed the cake as a dessert after our dinner. As part of a family tradition, we marked again Piet's and Emma's height on the door frame next to the fridge. Piet was well aware of it's significance: he would stand next to the fridge and point out: "Piet up here; Emma down there".
Delegate hill
On a bright day, mum and dad took the kids up Delegate hill. We drove to a spot just beyond where Sarah once lived with her parents and walked the remainder to the top. It took us only 45 minutes as both
Emma and
Piet fell asleep quickly. They missed the beautiful views at and near the top, which included a view of
oma and opa's place (the buildings around the two tall pine trees in the bottom of the picture). On the way back, the kids woke -
Emma first - and they were keen to walk and run the full stretch down. As parents, we only had to pick up and console Emma each time she fell over: every 50 meters or so.
Piet liked being involved in the veggie patch work. He spent various mornings removing weeds from the beds, adding horse manure to the beds and planting potatoes and beans with opa. Another morning, he helped oma with the planting of oak trees. First he got the seedling
out of the pot, then he put it
in the hole and watched oma
press the soil, and finally he
watered it generously. Emma watched it up close. At other moments, she might walk around the property with the little
wheelbarrow, which mum had found in the shearer's quarters. She and, it needs no mention, Piet were also keen observers when opa got the
digger and later on also the bulldozer out to move some dirt. The kids also jointly enjoyed
feeding the birds in front of the kitchen window. Finally at the end of our stay, we managed to get Piet
on a horse. He is shy in general and rather reserved with animals, so this was a milestone. Emma is opposite and had been requesting to pat the horses nearly every day; to her dismay, Abbey and Shandy normally prefer to walk away instead of being patted.
Only Kreger is generally happy about physical contact.
Back home
Life resumed it's normal course at home. Zeke came over for a visit and Piet was keen to show him the inner workings of the
music van. Jordan came over too, but he was too young to play with. However, when he got on daddy's lap, the kids were quick to
join him.
On a Monday morning, we checked out the local tulip festival east of Melbourne. We did not expect a Keukenhof. But as the rain had turned the fields into mud and most tulips were not yet in bloom, we were still disappointed. The poffertjes were a consolation for dad, while Piet was quite satisfied watching a tractor taking the tourists past the fields.
Cars
Piet has always loved vehicles. Red buses in London, tractors on holidays, planes and choppers in the air, trucks, trains and cars everywhere. Gradually, Emma has become just as much a car enthousiast as her brother. This week, she collected cars at the
bottom of the stairs, continued by putting them one by one on the
skirting board at the top,
running them down and
watching them crash at the bottom (or disappear behind the book shelves).
Piet has become keen on helping mum with cooking and baking. He might hold a measuring cup, flatten the dough with the rolling pin, or put the gingerbread men on the baking tray. He is also good at helping mum with the bread maker. We unwrapped another book sent from the Netherlands and read it attentively. Piet and Emma continue to play a lot together. Popular are Piet towing Emma arround in the little trailer or Piet hopping on the back of the tricycle.
In the last days of September, we unwrapped a kitchen set sent from Eindhoven. As Piet is keen on cooking, often sitting on the bench when mum is preparing a meal, we knew it would be a hit. Now he could cut the fish himself or show Emma how to cut some corn on the cob.
