Happy New Year!!!

We had a wonderful New Year's at home with KK, Carl, Martijn, and Danielle. Tom and Liz dominated in Monopoly. At midnight, after quickly downing some champagne, we all ran outside to light of fireworks, just like the rest of the people in Holland. They are available to buy three days of the year, and legal to set off for 14 hours. Most people, like ourselves, wait until midnight and then it's crazy outside. We got a few minutes video of it, but it will probably be a while before that makes it on the computer. After returning inside we noticed more and more of our neighbors gathering in preparation of building a bonfire... right in front of the house. But hey, what can you really do about it.

In this picture you see our house, well part of it... the windows all the way to the right are from our bedroom, the windows you can't see because there's a big fire, are from Evie's room.

Meanwhile, fireworks were still going off and the fire just kept getting bigger. Numerous Christmas trees, plenty of wood, and all the leftover firework packages made it's way into the blaze. At one point we even saw a mattress be thrown on top of the fire.

The police officers did show up a couple times to keep things under control. They saved two of our neighbor's bikes from being thrown it, yet another brand new kids' bike was not as fortunate. At one point we thought there was going to be some serious trouble between the fire-makers and the cops, but the cops were way outnumbered.

This morning the streets were completely dead and we see the remnants of a successful new year's eve. In the foreground, the aforementioned rescued bicycles. Hopefully this will all be cleaned up tomorrow.

And the most amazing thing of all. Evie slept though the whole thing!!! All that commotion right in front of her room, and she slept through it. And she slept in until ten in the morning. Thanks, Ev!