As I write this I’m quite sick. I think it is just a challenging moment. Hopefully a moment and not a long period of time. A bit of a round up since my Christmas Corona post. After the new year we took the Eurostar train to London and had a fabulous time. Flora was so excited to see Harry Potter’s platform 9 3/4. It was great to see how excited she got. London was beautiful. The kids noticed how friendly everyone was. We met up with Antoinette at the Tate Modern. Thibault was happy to ride the double decker buses and the Tube. I finally saw Wicked and Flora fell in love with Wagamama. Mom is ..read more

We found our pumpkins for 2022! Due to illness last weekend, we had to miss the Pumpkin Parade. The first time we have missed it since I was pregnant with Thibault. Well, we found a great replacement. Thibault and I pass the pumpkins for sale sign in ‘t Rooth every week on our drive to swimming lessons. We checked it out with Jaap on Saturday. The pumpkins were beautiful, plentiful, diverse, and inexpensive! I loved it. Thibault’s job was to design the front porch pumpkin display for the second year in a row. He has a talent for design. I swear he does a better job than me with these things ..read more

Another successful birthday cake and kinderfeestje for Flora! I love her choice this year. An artists pallette with different colored paints. Very cute and luckily, easy to execute. We had such a great day painting ceramics with her friends in the city. Walking to the bus in Ceramique and having Italian take out back home. It was fun. I think she had a great time. Tomorrow, Jaap and Flora will go to pick up the finished products. It was super. Here they are! First day of school 2022. Flora groep 6, Thibault groep 3! Wow. Time flies by. It really does. Thibault is really ready to start learni ..read more

Another incredible summer holiday in the books. Camping in the Ubaye valley at the foothills of the Alps followed by a week in the Gorges du Verdon region. Our first long summer holiday in France and I understand why so many Dutch travel there every summer. France is a wonderland and huge! We really lucked out with the weather having missed the long heat wave. Camping at Rioclar was beautiful. Every morning the views took my breath away. Taking turns with Jaap (and once Thibault) going to pick up the croissants and baguettes each morning. Those views from the pool will stick with me forever ..read more

I love this photo. It is THE photo that encapsulates our experience at Disneyland Paris. Disney really is magical. I loved it, my kids loved it, the family was floating on a Disney high for almost a week. We spent three nights there at the Davy Crockett Ranch and two days inside the park. It was wonderful! It was what our family needed. It really brought us together in a super fun way. I really was entering with low expectations. I have so many incredible childhood memories from Disney World that I knew nothing could live up to it. But you know, it really did. It was perfect. We went on so m ..read more

At Easter, Flora and I had a girls weekend trip to Haarlem. It was so beautiful and so much fun to spend quality time with this girl. She is the easiest, happy traveler. I really love her so much, it’s hard to put into words. We finally visited the Corrie ten Boom huis. I think this was more fun for myself, but weeks later when we were reading about her with Thibault in the Rebel Girls’ Book, I could see that she was really proud that she had been there and knew who this person was. Haarlem was beautiful. Tulips blooming, sun was shining, and lunch outdoors. We had dinner one night at a sushi ..read more

It’s been a feel good time for me lately. I spent the second half of Carnival break (two nights) in Amsterdam. One with Erika and the first night alone. I feel like Amsterdam always rejuvenates me. We walked into this beautiful little courtyard Begijnhof in the center. It was an oasis right in the middle of the city. Drank pisco sours outside on a chilly terras and enjoyed the views of happy Amsterdam life on the canal. It was heavenly. I ventured to the Stedelijk museum the next day for a quick peak at one exhibit. Art imitating current life with war in Ukraine. The kids had a studie dag last ..read more

We invited Jan and Trees to join us in the Ardennes for a post Carnival vacation. Four nights in Libin, beautiful sunshine, walks in Libin and Boullion, and finally a trip to Grottes van Han. These caves and wild park have been on my Belgian bucket list for a long time now. It was a great day out. Nice walk and tour through the caves, long safari ride to see some animals. A bit too long, but still beautiful. Lots of beautiful sunshine, beers outside, and some good quality family time ..read more

Well, it finally happened. Our Christmas trip to New York turned into a great (but very anxious), fun ten days, followed by ten days of quarantine (and stress!) and a flight home. It was so weird, but I do not regret the trip. I realized how essential it was for me to travel to my home country, see my family, my extended family, friends, and speak my language in my country. It just filled my soul up. It felt so good. I will never forget sitting in Vivian’s kitchen, drinking coffee with her, and chatting. It just felt so good. I feel so much better now that I am no longer running from Covid. I ..read more

My favorite beach: Baia del Vento They say Paris is always a good idea. Italy is always a good idea, 100%! I always struggle with— is it too touristy, too crowded, too hot? The answer: No! I love to do, see, and visit on vacations. I see that my family is less in that mode. So when it’s too hot to do anything, but swim at the pool, go to a beach, stop for a cool drink somewhere, well that’s just perfect. I completely understand why Lago di Garda can be busy in the summer. The temperatures are hot, you’re near the mountains, the lake is warm enough to swim in. It’s a perfect storm. Moniga del ..read more