Tom & Marieke's Party

Yesterday our friends Tom and Marieke threw a party for themselves to celebrate the fact that they are both thirty, and that they have been together for twelve and a half years. (Here in Holland 12.5 years of marriage is a celebrated milestone, so as 25 years of marriage... halfway there!). There was great food, a bbq, plenty of drinks, good music, and a blow up castle for the kids (small and big). We had a great time!!!

Evie was a little apprehensive at first, but eventually loved the jumping thing

It's even better when Papa plays with you

There was also a DVD set up for the kiddos - smart idea!

Once the children were sent home to bed, the adults decided to go crazy

Dance! Dance! Dance!

Parent/Teacher Conference

This morning we had our first ever parent/teacher conference at Evie's daycare.  For about fifteen minutes we talked about how wonderful the Little Miss is.  Everything seems to be going really well.  Evie plays well by herself, and with others.  Her language skills are above average for her age, and she knows all the names of the kids there.  They have never even seen her cry at the creche!  It was almost all positive, except for the fact that Evie sometimes skips her nap in the afternoon.  But for the rest, it's all good!  Tomorrow will be her last day in the baby group (0-2).  She will be moving to the toddler group (2-4), and will be going three days in the week.

Kiddie Pool

These pictures were actually taken last month, but we never got a chance to post them. 

Evie gives Dora a shower

All wet!

...and a little cold

On the big girl swing!

Two Year Check-up

Yesterday Evie went for her two year check-up.  Everything is in order and she is growing beautifully.  She weighed in at 13100 grams (28 lbs 14 oz), and is 90 cm (2 ft 11 in) tall.  That puts her in the 76th and 87th percentiles, respectively.  As a part of the visit she had to point out the nose, feet, ears, etc. on a doll.  She passed with flying colors!  Her next visit will be in January.

Orange

In case anyone was wondering, Holland is out of the race for the EK (European Champions).  Saturday they lost 3-1 against Russia.  If only....

Thank You Grandma & Grandpa

Yesterday, before the party, Evie received a dollhouse from Grandma and Grandpa in America. Here is the footage of her opening her present. At first she thought it was a big book. Eventually she saw it was a house.

Birthday Party!

Today we celebrated Evie's 2nd birthday with a "Beestje Feestje" - Dutch for bug party, but it rhymes!

The Cake

Lemon Square Bees

Butterfly Cookies

Ladybug Cupcakes

Mr. Potato Head

While waiting for the guests, Evie tried a cookie.

Nijntje Blocks

From Grandma & Grandpa a dollhouse.

Tom quickly assembled it, and it was an instant success.

From Oma & Opa a ball tent.

Liz was busy doing the video (another post with movies to come).

Linde was there, too!

Many, many presents!

Evie managed to blow out the candles in one go (though the wind may have helped).

Enjoying dinner at the kiddy table.

Birthday at the Creche

Today Evie celebrated her birthday at the creche. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of the celebrations, but we can show you what we made for all the children in her class.
First we made a card
"Evie is Jarig" = "Evie is the Birthday Girl"
Then we made a ladybug out of a box of raisins
And then we packaged it all up nice and pretty!
And it only took us the whole week to make all twenty of them!!

A Touch of Dutch

We've recently discovered another blog coming out of the Netherlands which is worth checking out, called A Touch of Dutch. It is written by another American woman living here in the Netherlands. She updates it daily with stories and information about Holland and what's going on here. This week she's talked about football (soccer), Amsterdam, birthday celebrations, and bread. There's also a "dutch word of the week" area.

Father's Day

After sleeping in until nine, Papa had the pleasure of waking up to Evie giving him presents in bed.

He was then treated to a large breakfast.

After breakfast we all went to the swimming pool. Evie doesn't often get to swim with Papa, so it was extra special. Overall, I think it was a successful Father's Day!

Birthday Mail

Today Evie received her first birthday package from America. She was so excited to start celebrating her birthday a little. Of course, we sang Happy Birthday before opening the presents. In this way, we're hoping she'll more fully understand what it means to be the birthday girl. :-) The presents came from Aunty Panda (Amanda) in Colorado and are wonderful!!

Evie got a new Fancy Nancy book, which she absolutely loves. It is a book full of fancy words "from accessories to zany." 

She also received a giraffe raincoat/rain-boots and gardening tools.

Isn't it adorable? Evie brought the gardening tools to her sandbox straight away, and this evening we read her new book.
Thank you, Aunty Panda & Roxanne!!!

Holland vs. France

This evening was the second game for the Dutch national football team in the European Championships. They played against France, traditionally a strong competitor.
HUP HOLLAND HUP

But whaddya know, Holland wins 4-1.  It was a great game.  Here I have a video of the last goal scored at 92 minutes!!! 

This means that Holland will definitely move on to the quarter finals next weekend. Before that, though, they will have to play Romania on Tuesday.

Eviegaai

In Dutch the word for parrot is Papegaai (pronounced: papa-guy).  The other day, while Evie was repeating everything we say, Papa asked, "Ben jij een [are you a] papegaai?"  And Evie replied, "Nee [no], Eviegaai."

Proof...

.... that Evie is not always smiling and happy. 

More England

We arrived in Sheffield on Friday morning.

After having lunch at an little sandwich shop, we all took a walk down to the center of town.  Along the way we stopped at the Botanical Gardens. 

The men hit up a pub, while the ladies went shopping, of course.  Instead of making the 1.5 hour walk back to the hotel, we hitched a ride in a real English taxi.

Sunday afternoon we had a couple hours to ourselves before the plane back to Holland.  We went for a walk and took lots of pictures and simply enjoyed the sunny weather.

The European Championships

As some of you may know, this year the European Championships for Football (soccer) are taking place in Austria and Switzerland.  In Holland we call it the EK.  Last night The Netherlands played their first game against Italy.  To everybody's surprise, we creamed them 3-0!!!  Apparently this is the first time in thirty years Holland has defeated Italy in an EK game.  Holland plays again Friday against France.

Not only the stands in the stadium turn orange during the championships, but all the streets, houses, bars, and people show their Holland pride.  Another telltale sign that a football championship is going on are the empty beer shelves in the supermarket.  And on game night, that lovely smokey barbecue smell.

Wedding in England

Congratulations to Matt & Jolijn who were married this past weekend in Sheffield, England.  Here is the beautiful couple leaving the church.

Partying it up!

Liz, Tom, Dimitri, Terhi, Marieke, Tom

Walking back to the hotel while enjoying a midnight snack of chicken wings.

Click here to see more pictures from the wedding and reception.