Maeve is 6!

Our sweet, spunky, sensitive, hilarious, clever girl turned 6 last weekend and we had a full day celebrating her! She wanted her birthday party to be at the gymnastics studio affiliated with her club and their only availability was on her actual birthday. So it was a day of presents and sugar overload! Starting with french toast for breakfast... 

And presents shortly thereafter... 

Jude explaining the merits of her new Pokemon cards

She loves all things crafting and I am equally excited about some of the crafting presents she received! 

Just happiness all around... 

She needed a gymnastics-themed cake to go with her party and knows that "homemade cakes are better than ones you buy." I've taught her well! 

A little clay molding to create the apparatuses 

Then after lunch, it was time to head to her party with all of her classmates and her neighbor friend. 

The space was great and the 2 instructors led them through warm-up exercises. Then they just told them to "do what you like" and didn't interact with the kids again until we asked if they could engage them in a game. We could have used a bigger dose of Dutch directness but didn't really understand what the expectations were of the trainers. 

The kids didn't seem to mind the lack of direction and thoroughly wore themselves out! 

It was a really warm day and a LOT of juice boxes were consumed!

Cake and snack time!

After delivery pizza dinner, Maeve wanted to try out her new rollerskates so we headed to the playground. She was really persistent and didn't get discouraged. We officially no longer have any little kids! Exciting and sad at the same time. 

Jude's 6th birthday was just at the beginning of the COVID lockdown, so we did not take this special day for granted. We were so glad Maeve could have such a great day and be with her friends. We love you sweet girl! 

Tulip Day 2022!

I was so excited for our annual tulip field peeping trip. The kids not so much. We learned about a nature preserve, Buitenplaats Leyduin, near the tulip fields and started the day with an "adventure walk" to try to pump up the kids. There were interactive kids guides available for download to help motivate them along the trail. At the end, there was a cafe where we had lunch on the sunny terrace. 

Then the moaning began as we announced that we were going to look for the tulip fields. Our first stop was the nearby Annemmieke's Pluktuin (picking garden). Jude remembered picking tulips with me there and was game, Maeve took some convincing, but then had a great time selecting the best tulips. I said, "see, isn't it fun to visit the tulip fields!" to which she replied, "only when you can pick them, the rest is boring!" We'll take what we can get. 

Don't ask about her outfit. Every morning it.is.a.thing!

True to her word, as we continued driving around looking for fields in bloom, Maeve stayed in the car and didn't get out to look at any of the fields with us. Her loss!

We had a beautiful day for our drive. I love when the blue sky is punctuated by fluffy white clouds. I think it adds a lot to the photos. 

Perfect imperfection. Couldn't help but think of my daily work conversations about mosaic embryos.

I wasn't paying attention to the navigation and we missed our turn. Then we saw these gorgeous fields along the road. Happy mistake! So many colors and varieties in one area. Both kids stayed in the car while we frolicked. 

Bloemencorso Bollenstreek Flower Parade Sneak Peak

After a 3 year COVID hiatus, the Bloemencorso Bollenstreek made its triumphant return. Pete was in Poland on the day of the parade and I didn't want to go alone with the kids. I still wanted to see it though and read that you could visit the warehouse where the flower floats were being built in the days leading up to the parade. They started building them on Wednesday and were complete when Melissa, Violet, and I arrived late Friday morning. While it would have been cool to get to help place some of the flowers and watch them being constructed, it was even cooler to have up-close access to see them all and then get to watch them all being driven out of the warehouse as they made their way to the parade starting point. Our own private parade (everyone else had left and no one kicked us out!). 

They were really stunning. Equally stunning was the smell in the warehouse. Like stepping into a hyacinth! Sorry, that can't be conveyed in photos! 

Close up on the details on the side of the fish. I mean... 

It was celebrating its 75th anniversary this year! 

I loved this rainbow one! 

Details on the rainbow float

Violet does not look impressed, but we were! 

We weren't sure why there was a Native American in their parade, but the headdress was spectacular! 

This was a take on the famous kissing Dutch man/woman. They made 3 sets: kissing man/woman, kissing woman/woman, and kissing man/man. The whole thing spun around with the front of the float spelling out FREEDOM, using both letters and hands in sign language. 

The first float of the first parade 75 years ago was a whale. So this (much more elaborate) recreation was the leading float again this year. 

Ready to roll! 

We did a quick drive through some of the tulip fields before Violet let us know it was time to go home. A sneak peek of our tulip day the following weekend!