Reading with Grandma

Grandma Nan has now gone back home to Maine. We greatly enjoyed having her here. Some of the nicest times with Evie were reading together with Grandma. Dr. Seuss and Fancy Nancy were the favorites.

Beelden aan Zee

Last week Tom took Grandma Nan and Evie to Beelden aan Zee a museum of sculptures at the seaside.
Evie and Grandma talk about the museum.
"I like this one!"
"What an interesting composition..."

Grandma Nan

Yes, the rumors are true that Grandma Nan is here visiting for a week. Sorry we haven't reported anything yet. This past weekend we went up to the north of the country. It was the firs time Grandma has been outside the province of North and South Holland. While there she got to see a hunnebed. Hunnebeds are old graves from about 3500 BC made from huge stones transplanted during the ice age.

Maternity Leave

Today marks the last day of work for Liz until August 2nd. After today she is officially on maternity leave. Every woman in The Netherlands is entitled to at least 16 weeks of paid maternity leave. Leave can start as early as six weeks before the due date, and MUST start at the latest four weeks before the due date. Liz has opted for maternity leave as soon as possible, meaning that six of the 16 weeks are before the birth and 10 of the weeks are after the birth. If the baby comes before the due date, then the leave ends 10 weeks after the due date as planned. If the baby comes after the due date, then leave ends 10 weeks after the birth of the baby. Liz will be expanding maternity leave slightly by taking two weeks vacation time at the end. But no matter what, come August 2nd it's back to work.

Blijdorp- Zoo in Rotterdam

Saturday we went to the Zoo in Rotterdam, called Blijdorp. Blijdorp literally translates to "happy village." Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great, but the kids managed to have a good time anyway.
Some of the new penguins.
Evie as a penguin
Finn as a penguin
Finn in an egg.
Zebras!
Finn is a turtle.
Evie is a turtle.

Meet the Baby Dolls

Evie would like to introduce her baby dolls to you all.
"Jeanine"-"Lola"- Evie -"Baby Evie"- "Rosie"
Being that Jeanine is a Cabbage Patch Kid, she came with a name on her birth certificate. But the rest of the dolls where given their names by Evie, without any help. There is also Baby Isa, but she wasn't able to make it in the picture. (If anyone has seen Baby Isa, please let us know!) She's got a knack for picking out good doll names. She also has named her biting Lion toy "Lisa." Once a doll or toy has been Christened, Evie never forgets or changes the name.

Coloring in the Lines

Recently, Evie has been getting a lot more controlled in her coloring. We are quite impressed with her ability to color inside the lines. Last night she colored in these three shapes. Of course she doesn't stay completely inside the lines, but she does a darn good job!! Last week she also made a circle and put two dots in it for eyes. Today she colored in this page so beautifully!

Children's Farm in Zoetermeer

This past weekend Evie spent at Oma and Opa's in Zoetermeer from Saturday morning till Sunday afternoon. Saturday they made a visit to the "kinderboederij"/Children's Farm/Petting Zoo... whatever you want to call it. It is a much bigger farm than the one we have here in our neighborhood. Evie saw sheep, cows, bunnies, peacocks, birds, etc. She even got to see a baby goat be born!!!
The bunny corner.
On the teeter-totter with Oma.
There you have it, a goat giving birth. Check out the little legs coming out the back. You might have to click to make it bigger to see it better.

32 Week Ultrasound

Today Liz went in for a growth scan. The baby looks wonderful and is growing very well and is head down. Most of the measurements were slightly larger than average, but all well within normal range. His current estimated weight is just about five pounds (2235 g).

And finally an ultrasound picture posted on the blog! It's not the best ever picture, but you can see him, can't you? To the right is his profile where you can see his perfect little button nose. His hand is resting on his forehead. In the middle you can see the umbilical cord and the rest.... ?

Alise & Elias

Yesterday friends Alise (3.5) and Elias (16 months) came over to play and have dinner.Evie and Alise played with the play-doh for a while.
Elias showed us how to be a bunny.
And the girls find a fun place to play - under the coffee table.

Portraits

Two weeks ago a portrait studio was set up at our local grocery store. Of course we had to have pictures taken. The photo session costs 2.50 euros and you get one free picture. They then proceed to print ALL of the pictures and try to sell them at a crazy expensive price. Today was pick-up day. The free picture was little dissapointing, so we did spring the extra 9 euros for a much cuter picture. Still a rip off.
Our "free" picture. Not exactly Evie at her best.
The purchased picture. Much cuter. Probably not worth the money, but she'll only be two years and eight months once, right?
Let's compare this to America. In December we visited the portrait studios at Wal-Mart. We actually did this twice, once in Denver and again in Maine. The photo session was free. Meaning, it was free. The pictures taken were much better than the ones here. We then got to choose one picture, and for $3.99 plus tax we received 33 prints ranging in size from wallet to 13" x 18". The total with tax was a whopping $4.18 in Denver, and $4.22 in Maine. If Maine they did try to sell us another more expensive package, but we politely declined. She didn't even bother doing the sales pitch in Denver.
Evie in Denver in December
Needless to say, we will be heading back to the Wal-Mart portrait studio this summer to get pictures of Evie with her brother. How could we pass up prices like that? The current package deal is $7.99, so it's twice the price but STILL very reasonable!

Bas & Wilma 26 years

Yesterday was the 26th Anniversary of Oma Wilma and Opa Bas. Of course that calls for some celebration, so we went out to dinner with the lovebirds, Rachel, Juriaan, and Evie.
Oma & Opa - still happy after 26 years
Evie received quite the full plate of food.
Liz & Tom - still happy after 20 months
""Mama, take my picture! CHEESE!!!"
Evie's dessert came in a frog cup and had a sparkler in it!!! Unfortunately, sparklers don't show up so well with the camera flash...

Another weekend, another playground

This time it was a much bigger playground filled with new and exciting playground equipment!
On the bridge.
Driving the train.
And making friends playing with the sand on the table.