Happy 5th Birthday, Jude!

We got Jude's birthday celebrations started early when I kept him home from school the day before his birthday for a special mommy and son day in the city. In the Netherlands, there are strict truancy laws that take effect when kids turn 5 so it felt like one of my last opportunities to spend the day with him without jumping through hurdles. We spent the day at NEMO and had a blast on the roof in the sunshine.

The big day was on a Saturday. Started with pancakes with daddy, soccer with mommy, presents with Maeve and then his birthday party at the house with his friends. It was such a gorgeous day- sunny and warm! We lucked out for our garden and park party. 

Jude asked for a transformer themed party, so we rolled with it. 

The kids "transformed" and then were off for training and games in the park near our house. 

Back for cake and presents before setting off on a scavenger hunt.

Thanks to our friends for helping to make Jude's day extra special! And to the real life super hero that day, Pete, who was battling a severe cold, but gave his all for a day of fun.

The final celebration was last week at school where we brought in the requested angel food cake and watched Jude glow while looking at the card from all of his classmates.

We hope this year brings great things, Jude! 

Oh Joy Begin

5 years ago today, on my mom's birthday (happy birthday, Mom!), I went into labor with Jude and life has never been the same! I have been reflecting a lot on those early days with Jude, as we sit in disbelief that he is soon to be 5. I could never had imagined then what this little boy would mean to me.

On that fateful day, I was in severe pain and was terrified as labor progressed. I would love to say that the moment they put Jude in my arms the following morning, I only felt bliss, but I was too shell shocked to feel much of anything. Those early days were really bad between sleep deprivation, difficulties with nursing (syringe feeding Jude when he couldn't latch for days), hormonal swings and so.much.pain down there! I wanted to go back in time to "before," when a colicky baby didn't have me feeling like a lactating hostage destined to bounce my whole life away on the yoga ball!

I asked Alexa to play Dave Matthew's today and the song, Oh Joy Begin came on. Woah, serendipity. I had never heard it before and it couldn't be more fitting for how I'm feeling today.

"Let’s not forget these early days

Remember we begin the same

We lose our way in fear and pain

Oh joy begin

Oh joy begin"

Jude placed in my arms after 4 hours of pushing. Perhaps my initial lack of joy had something to do with what the birth canal did to him! (dying laughing looking at the pic!!)

Another winner. When people told me what a beautiful baby he was, I thought maybe they were on crack ;) Or just being really kind to me in my emotional state. 

You know what they say, bad rehearsal, great show. When the fog of those early days had passed and he began to sleep more, I finally started to feel parental bliss. We were awed and amazed by all of his firsts. Jude was just the loviest toddler. So gentle, kind and loving. Cheeky, too and oh so verbal and precocious. He didn't tantrum, he wasn't aggressive towards other children (his sister ages 6-12 months excluded!) and he was a social butterfly. He soon entered school full time at ISA and really took flight, enthusiastically participating in every new experience. He made best buds, was introduced to cultures from around the world and thrived. He cares for his sister like no other and watching their relationship blossom has been the best thing.

Jude, we love you so, beautiful boy! Now let the birthday celebrations begin!

Age 1

Age 2 

Age 3

Age 4

Rioja Time!

We had a two hour drive south to the Rioja region. I didn't expect the area to be so green and mountainous. So beautiful. The rainbow didn't hurt, either!

We had already made our wine tour reservations in advance, so we headed straight to Ysios winery in Laguardia. I was thrilled to see all of the spring trees in bloom. We were a bit early so we walked first through the sleepy town (siesta time!). 

You can't miss this vineyard as you approach it. It was designed to be modern, but to blend into the countryside. The roof is meant to mimic the mountain range behind it. The name is a combination of the Gods Osiris and Isis.

I'll put "tour" in quotes because we were basically walked into the building and shown the barrels and that was it. The tasting was a bit more in depth and held in a room with great views over the vineyards back to the town of Laguardia. We tried two of their wines (priced at 45 and 60 euros each, respectively). I, for one could not taste the different between these wines and the 10-15 euro bottles we usually get. The other people on the tour, a Parisian couple and their baby living in London with a wine making father in Bordeaux had other opinions! The Iberico ham with this tasting was 100% though!

From the winery we went to our hotel for the next two nights, Finca de los Arandinos (also featured on the Bachelorette of course). They had a "low price deal" (actually called that, didn't we feel classy checking in ;)), which included hotel, breakfast, dinner at their great restaurant including their wine, and a discount on the use of the spa. The hotel room was really cool with a bathroom that came out of nowhere (you had to fold out all of the doors to create the spaces).

It was sunset when we arrived so we took a walk around the property, taking in all of the beauty!

We settled in for dinner at the early bird seating of 8:30pm! And we didn't leave until midnight. Audra is good company and apparently we had a lot to talk about! Plus we had to get through all of the wine they served us.

 The theme of the day Saturday was pink. Fitting for a girl's trip, no? It should be clear to see why!

Balcony view. Good morning, Rioja!

Long breakfast followed by the morning spent at the spa.

Rose in the sun

We had our next wine tasting at 4pm and Audra humored me on an adventure to find this beautiful field of flowering trees that we could see from the hotel. The concierge gave me general directions how to find it and we went off roading! Turns out they are almond trees and while they looked purple from a distance, they were a gorgeous pink up close. 

Then it was onto our tour and tasting at Maques de Riscal also near Laguardia. This tour was really informative and they took us around to almost all of the buildings on the property dating back to the 1860s! All of the wine is still made and aged on site. The 4 million bottles are aged under the striking hotel designed also by Frank Gehry. The tri colored metal roof is meant to symbolize the local sandstone, the wine and the bottle top.

We stopped in the town of Navarrete on our way home and went into the cathedral. We were blown away by the glitz of the altarpiece. It was so tall and so gilded, especially for a relatively short church.

Home for another sunset and long meal. The next morning we savored our hotel breakfast and then high tailed it back to Bilbao to head home. I'd say it was smooth sailing, but it was not. Our descent was really rough as the Netherlands was covered in low lying clouds and there were high winds. We were lucky to make it home though as other friends traveling that weekend had cancelled flights. So grateful for a safe and wonderful trip!

And grateful for our husbands for making the trip possible!

Look at that healthy spread and clean house! Well done, Pete!