Dipet Update

Goin’ to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo . . .

. . . how about you, you, you?

We had a great day at the zoo on Thursday. About a 15 minute drive from where we’re living in NL is the Ouwehand Dierenpark. Caleb had requested a zoo trip for his 11th birthday and everyone thought it was a great idea.

With both Caleb and I battling the fences and glass for good pictures, there are loads to look through.  Here are the best of Caleb’s and my photos.

. . . and we were so excited to witness the wild storks (who were on the zoo grounds, but not caged). There were three nesting pairs at the zoo, busy with nest-building and other spring activites.  The stork was one of the birds on the list of birds we were really keen to see while in the Netherlands.

Enjoy!

Diana

Hoek van Holland

On Saturday we had a wonderful visit with relatives of Pete from his Mom’s side of the family.  We visited the ouwe tantes, Pete’s great aunts, aged 93 and 101.  After lunch we drove to the beach and walked along it, but the rain drove us inside. where we enjoyed a delicious hot chocolate by the fire.  For dinner we ate kibbeling met sla en chips (bread fish with salad and fries).

The kids on the walking bridge to the Klapwijk family home.

We had to drive all the way around the block to park our car as the canal is in the way.   Every street had a canal here either in front of or behind the houses.  From our Canadian context, this is hard to imagine.

The ouwe tantes, Teuna and Ali:

Our gang.

The sounds of crashing waves.

The oystercatchers.

Mmmm . . . it was so good!

Dag,

Diana

Birthday Notes

It was my birthday this past week. The kids made some wonderful cards for me with their limited supplies as well as time. (Since I’m often with them, it’s hard to make surprises for me).

Emma’s–I’m the second character on the left and everyone has gifts for me. There is a cake on the table.  If only . . .

Jonathan’s–beautiful colour compositions.

Hannah’s–A beautiful spring landscape.

Caleb’s–A backyard full of birds, of course.

Pete’s–Notice the Dutch greeting.

My gift, these beautiful bulbs waiting for spring in this great cup and saucer.  What do you think of a hot chocolate and Baileys in it once the bulbs have worked their charm?

Pete and I go out for a really nice dinner about once a year, often for my birthday.  This year we went to ‘Hotel de Wereld’ in Wageningen. “In the past ‘De Wereld’ has known many different designations, the most impressive of which is that it was the backdrop for the signing of the German surrender on May 5, 1945.”

The dinner was amazing.  Each plate was a piece of art and the flavours were surprising and unique.  It was a beautiful night out — a special treat.

Diana

Odds and Ends

We forgot to take a picture of the front of our new abode. Here it is:

We live in the left half of this building.  The area is built up of this type of housing in long rows.  We’ve since added a Canadian flag to the small window on the left.

Here are a few images of the Eurotunnel both inside and out for those of you who haven’t any idea of what it would be like.

We’ve studied chalk drawings during history and now we’ve seen one in person.  Very cool!  Except that this is a 21st century one, not an ancient one.  Someday . . .

Folkestone white horse, Kent

Enjoy!
Diana

A New Home . . . Again!

We have temporarily relocated in Wageningen, the Netherlands.  So far we went grocery shopping, got library cards, and had a walk around the neighbourhood with a home schooling mom and her son who live two streets away.

Caleb took some pictures of our new abode.

The living area:

Kitchen and dining area:

The bedrooms (and as you can tell, I haven’t enforced the making of beds–my Mom taught me well but I haven’t kept it up daily):

The boys’ room.

The girls’ room.

The landing/hallway between the second floor bedrooms and family bathroom.  Now that’s a bright floor to wake up to.

The master bedroom loft.

The spiral stairs.  There are two sets of these, both rather treacherous.  No running up and down these stairs.

The backyard covered in a fresh layer of snow.

Enjoy!
Diana

On the Road Again

We are traveling in Europe for a couple of months! We’ll be spending most of our time in the Netherlands. We hope to use this opportunity to reconnect with long-lost family, see the sites, and learn some Dutch. We’re headed for Wageningen, a university town in the centre of the country. We found a furnished house to rent and look forward to seeing the arrival of spring in a new part of the world.

We are thankful that our kids have been incredibly resilient as we move about. They have faced each change and challenge as a team and we are so thankful for that. We’ve made some wonderful friends here in the UK and pray that we will be back soon enough to see those relationships grow even further.

These moves do come with their challenges. I personally find it the hardest to divide our belongings for a third time, having to make the decision of what to take with us to the Netherlands and what to leave in the UK. We’ve already left so much behind in Canada, to have to go through this process again is really daunting. But we hope to be back soon!

Diana

Kenilworth Castle

We made a short trek out to the ruins of Kenilworth Castle on Saturday.  The kids ran around exploring in all the nooks and crannies.  It was so much fun watching them.  They would call out to one another from different areas of the ruins and encourage each other to come see this or that.  The views were spectacular as was the lighting.  We came later in the day than planned so the sun was fairly low in the sky.  The brilliant blue sky and the clouds just added great colour.

Enjoy the photos.

Caleb’s friend Pieter, from church, joined us for the weekend.

Diana

Hyde Park

In December, before returning to Canada for Christmas, the kids and I took a morning to walk around Hyde Park in London rather than a museum.  The kids needed to run around, raise their voices, and enjoy some fresh air.

Hyde Park Pictures:

This is the Marble Arch which both dwarfs and defines the intersection.

An incredibly large horse head that we thought was an enormous thumb at first.  LOL

Some photos of birds we saw as we walked along the Serpentine.

We had a wonderful morning.  It was sunny and a lovely temperature.
Diana

London Museums Resumed–Victoria and Albert Museum

Pete had business in London the last week we were in the UK in 2009 so we decided to all join him. The kids and I enjoyed visiting the British Museum (again) and the Victoria and Albert Museum.  We also had a great walk around Hyde Park.  One cabby gave us a great tour between the museum and our hotel–past Harrods and their Christmas displays, the city street Christmas lights, and other lighted London sites.

Some of the tops picks from the V&A.

Diana

The British Museum revisited

The kids and I always take a camera, sketchbooks, and pencils along to the museums we visit.  Here is Emma drawing images from the side of this item. She argues that it’s a bath tub, but it’s really for burial. But it has scenes from the Jonah story all over it, so I decided not to contest her four year-old logic.

A very cool snake sculpture, if you like that sort of thing, which is displayed with a mirror underneath it so that you can see the coiled detail from the bottom as well. Jonathan really liked it.

All the personalities are coming out on this picture. This is a remake of the Rosetta stone. The kids were fascinated with it because we use the Rosetta Stone language courses for our second language.

By this point Emma has had it, Hannah’s hanging in there, Jonathan thinks this is so cool, Caleb is still not ready to call it a day, and Pete just joined us and is smiling nicely for the picture and then reaching for his Blackberry.

Diana