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On 26th June, we headed for Sydney airport for our flight to Europe. As last year, the inflight entertainment system worked wonders, with this time Emma also being absorbed. At these moments, we are glad we normally only allow the kids one hour of video time per day. The trains from Schiphol had to make a detour due to railworks, but once we arrived in Eindhoven, the kids settled quickly. Emma started a jigsaw puzzle with oma, while Piet kept himself occupied with drawing in the special notebook he (and his sister) got from oma. We were told by a knowledgeable grandmother that his drawing is actually quite advanced for a boy his age.
The kids were allowed one sandwitch with sprinkles each breakfast and lunch, a novelty that wore off after a week. Emma helped baking poffertjes. On Saturday, Jan's sisters arrived for oma's belated birthday celebration. Emma and Elisabeth quickly found a common interest in dolls. In contrast to our holiday in France last year, Emma would play more with Elisabeth (nearly three years older), while Piet would play more with Tiem (three months younger) or Bento (five years older). We took a family picture in the back yard at a moment Piet did not want to have his photo taken. The main activity was a canoe trip down the Dommel, the slow flowing river that runs through Eindhoven. The sun came out. The kids paddled and splashed and swapped canoes and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.
Zwolle
During the week, we went to a large playground with a
kids-operated ferry and stayed at home to
serve tea and eat raisins in the backyard. On Tuesday, we went to Zwolle to celebrate
Laure's birthday, which probably none of us had ever attended. Laure was honoured with guests from so far. We hung out
inside for iPad and iPhone games and played
outside,
jumping and
sitting on the trampoline (photos courtesy of Thirza).
Back in Eindhoven, oma read an old Richard Scarry book in the backyard and we played in the garden with mum.
Oostzaan
On Thursday, we made a trip to Oostzaan, where we inspected Jan's sister's 'new' home. We picked up Elisabeth and Tiem from school, played in the
sandpit, had lunch and dropped them back at school. Coming home for lunch from primary school is still custom in the Netherlands (and much of continental Europe), unchanged from Jan's schooltime. In the afternoon, we cycled to a playground in the nature reserve next door and beat the traffic jams on our way to Eindhoven.
On Saturday, Jan's sister had organized a family get together in Zwolle. With 25 cousins on his father's side, these get togethers are necessarily just a small part of the family, but it is nice to
catch up with family who we hadn't seen for four years. There was water to play for the kids and with an
ice cream at the end, all was perfect. More pictures are in this
album on Facebook (opens new window).
