New Friend

This afternoon, we took Ellie to Blijdorp to see the animals. We visited the fish in the Oceanarium, the elephants in the Asia house, and the birds in the pond. Just before we headed home, we decided to make a last stop to see the giraffes, who were all inside because of the afternoon rain. The tallest giraffe was leaning up and over the enclosure and letting some older children give him a gentle pat. Ellie was sooooo excited! She kept reaching towards him and shrieking "NICE!" (what she says/we say about friendly pets so she won't be scared). I took her over to see the giraffe. He regarded us for a moment, and then he leaned down to lick the sleeve of my raincoat and let me pet him. This terrorized Ellie to no end, but it made my day! I made friends with a giraffe...not something that happens every day!



We have a photo after all. Hooray!

Porch Sitting

Whenever we enter or exit the house, Ellie insists that we take a moment to "Sit!" Ellie is a porch sitter. She sits on the front stoop and watches the world go by. Although we live in The Hague, it seems that we are raising a Southerner.

When Creative Perfectionists Bake

I have been on a foodie binge lately, which has led to discovery of some awesome foodie sites out there in cyberspace. One of today's sightings elicited a huge "WOW!" when I saw Vegan Yum Yum's knitted marzipan cupcakes. I consider myself creative, and I know I'm a perfectionist...and folks, this is what happens when creative perfectionists bake!

A visit with Tony

For the past week, our friend Tony has been staying with us while in town for business. He concluded his work on Friday afternoon, but his flight out wasn't until today. We decided to make the most of his extra day with a day trip to Antwerp. Nothing like good Belgian food and chocolates! And nothing like a good day trip to completely wear out the kids...

Letting it breathe

Wine connoisseurs will tell you that certain fine wines require time and patience to mature, and even when they are ready to be uncorked, they need time to breathe to reach the perfect finish. It turns out desserts can be like that too. Yesterday, I devoted over two hours of Ellie's naptime to baking a new-to-me, multi-step, from-scratch dessert recipe for "caramel slice" (shortbread bars topped with homemade caramel and a layer of chocolate)...only to be hideously disappointed with the outcome. Even Markus the brave intrepid husband man who will eat just about anything I fix couldn't smile through it. It was that sad. With heavy hearts and not much hope, we decided to give it one more chance today before throwing it out, and HELLO! Tres yum-may!
Apparently, it just needed time to breathe.

Big car, small spaces

We live in the center of The Hague, and we own a Volvo XC90. This is not a small car, people. It is a beautiful, comfortable, very-useful-for-long-drives-with-the-kiddo vehicle, but small it ain't. The Hague, on the other hand, is a cramped European city, particularly when it comes to driving. Garage entries are tight. Driving lanes are narrow (and few people feel obligated to stay between the lines), and parking spaces are small (again, see comment about lines). I don't generally mind this because our central location was chosen for the fact that we can walk or cycle just about anywhere we need to go during the week; however, today Ellie and I discovered toddler swim lessons in a nearby town that would require (eek!) driving twice per week. Oh dear. The real question now is whether or not Jennifer has the stamina and determination to cycle it instead.

Jetlag is exhausting!

As many of you have noticed, we have been slightly incommunicado this past week thanks to jetlag. We seem to have made pond-hopping the favorite sport of our family in the past two years, but that doesn't mean we get off scot-free in the jetlag department. This time seemed particularly hard on Ellie, who handled it beautifully stateside. Our nights have been interrupted with two hours or so of extreme wakefulness on Ellie's part between midnight and 2am. Any attempts to ignore this have resulted in screaming jags that put soundproofing between us and our neighbors to the test. Experts (whomever they are) say that children adjust one hour per day, so we should have the worst of it (if not all of it) behind us now. Ellie has slept through the night the last two nights, but only after a late late bedtime. Now Jennifer has the worst of it; being a creature of habit means she now stays wide awake until 2am or so (I suppose to compensate for the habit of Ellie waking up during those hours anyway). Let's hope this week gets us all back to normal!

Meanwhile, I have a recipe to share. My beautiful, Hawaiian-livin', vegan master chef friend has been posting and sharing some amazing recipes of late (you really must try her roasted pepper sandwiches and zucchini bread!), so I thought I should share one too. Once again this week, I made wild rice-cranberry soup, the cover recipe from Paulette Mitchell's a beautiful bowl of soup cookbook. Although the colors and flavors really say "autumn" more than "spring", we can't help loving it anytime. The only real downside is the sheer amount of preparation time involved. I make the vegetable stock in advance (usually in huge batches so I can freeze it for later use), and it's easiest if I make the wild rice a day in advance too, as it takes around an hour just for that. Those of you with food processors should have no trouble with chopping the veggies, but those without have to plan on some time investment there too. But it's worth it! I promise you!

Wild rice-cranberry soup

4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1/2 c finely chopped onion
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 c vegetable stock
1.5 c cooked wild rice (we like to use more)
1/2 c dried cranberries
1 c milk or half-and-half
2 Tbsp dry sherry
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrot, celery and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrot is tender, about 8 minutes.
Add the flour and stir until smooth. Gradually add the vegetable stock, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir until the soup is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and cranberries. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries are softened and plumped, about 15 minutes.
Stir in all the remaining ingredients. Stir occasionally until warmed through. Season to taste.

This recipe is vegetarian, and it should be easy to veganize. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Urban Babies Wear Black

When Ellie was born, we bought a funny board book called "Urban Babies Wear Black". Each page has a different yuppie-baby thing: urban babies jog, urban babies do yoga, urban babies drink latte... It's this last one that caught our minds when we took Ellie out this week. She was happily spooning the froth off my coffee drink when I looked at Markus and quoted, "Urban babies drink latte." Immediately, our cheerful little myna bird grinned and shouted, "LATTE!" How many 20 month olds have that in their vocab banks, I ask you.

Dipe Squad on the move

The Dipe Squad is back in The Hague, but we took a little time for R&R between Ocean Springs and Holland. Over our past few visits to the DC area, Markus has started to realize the beauty of Virginia, but he still hadn't seen much of it. To remedy this and our desperate need for a mental break from all stressful topics (job, house, moves, etc.), we reserved a few nights' stay at the Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah National Park just about halfway along Skyline Drive. If you haven't done this, you really should! Shenandoah is absolutely beautiful! It is the most popular in the fall for the leaf-peepers, but we had gorgeous weather in May and the trails were relatively empty of hikers, making it easier to see wildlife (so many deer!) and enjoy the abundant wildflowers in bloom.






We brought the baby hiking backpack to carry Ellie along the trails, but we forgot to clear this with Ellie first. She was not a fan. As it turned out, we did only one hike: Rapidan Camp. Thankfully, it turned out to be the best choice, as we were the only ones there and received a private tour at our destination! Prepare yourself for a little history lesson, folks!

Rapidan Camp was the private retreat of Herbert Hoover, America's 31st president who was in the White House from 1929 to 1933. Herbert Hoover was the first full-time president. The 30 presidents before him took 3-4 months off in the summer like Congress and they returned to their homes during that time. Hoover decided that wouldn't do during the Depression years, but he did require occasional time away from Washington. He sent out one of his men to find a spot that met some very specific requirements: it had to be within 100 miles of Washington, it had to have great fishing and it had to be above 2500 feet to escape the worst humidity and mosquitos. A site was found in what was to eventually become Shenandoah National Park. Hoover bought over 100 acres with his own money, but 150 Marines cleared the spot and the roads to it and built a camp with several cabins for guests, cabinet members, and important visitors, as well as other buildings including a mess hall, a "town hall" (where games were played and everyone could meet to chat), an office to request items from the Filipino servants who had been reassigned from the mothballed presidental yacht...


Rapidan Camp is located at the headwaters of the Rapidan River, and Hoover apparently was so eager to get fishing that he would often be in the river with his rod and reel without changing out of his suit and tie straight from the drive from Washington. When Roosevelt was elected, Hoover offered Rapidan Camp to him, but Roosevelt didn't like the spot. He found a different place and named it "Shangrilah"...a name that was later changed to "Camp David". So there you have it. Rapidan Camp--a fairly humble and quite cozy cabin in the woods--was the first "Camp David." Be prepared to be quizzed later.

Ellie handled the trek to and from Rapidan Camp with minimal complaints, but she made it clear that repeating such hikes would not be advisable. The next day, we drove instead to Luray Caverns (the largest cave system on the Eastern Shore) and then on to Monticello (home of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States) and Charlottesville.




During this trip, we purchased a National Parks Passport for Ellie, and we're starting to collect some good stamps. She's been to Mount Vernon and Monticello, on the Appalacian Trail (though just for a dozen yards or so), and in Shenandoah. She's also been to Great Falls National Park, though we didn't get a stamp yet. We're so happy to have the opportunities to visit these wonderful places. The US truly has an amazing national parks system, and we love to take advantage of it!

On the way out, we stayed one last night with Mimi, whom Ellie was THRILLED to see! That part of our stay went way too fast, so we hope we'll be able to plan a real vacation with Mimi sometime in the fall. For now, we need to recover from jetlag and unpack the massive amounts of luggage we always seem to take with us.

New Week, New Pics

Plugging along! The house is starting to resemble a house! Yes, folks, we now have walls. The sheetrock is up and finished. It's amazing what difference that made in my sanity. Now, we can really see how the many small changes we tacked onto the repairs are making a big impact. The house really will be beautiful, if it's ever done (which I'm starting to believe may happen this year, possibly in the next several weeks). With Markus here to party with Ellie this week, I was able to accomplish many of my tasks towards house completion, including (drum roll please) purchasing kitchen cabinets! For those of you who've heard too much about the house, you know I had a complete kitchen worked up with Home Depot which didn't come through for a myriad of reasons. Happy am I to have found all of the cabinets for the kitchen in stock now at a local warehouse for half the price! Score! The countertops will also be half the price when they are ordered post-cabinet install. Given the increasingly loud vacuum-sucking sound of money from our wallets by this house, we are thrilled to not only get a deal but get it NOW. This philosophy has resulted in all the lighting fixtures and flooring being purchased and ready to go this week as well. The search for perfection is over; the acceptance of acceptable look, good price and immediately available is here.
One unexpected bonus of being here is my new appreciation of my contractor's situation. While I have no idea (and really no confidence) that he works hard while I'm gone, he does work very hard when I'm here...but his people don't necessarily do the same. I was witness to the day his drywall finishers skipped a day of work to penalize him for using another crew to hang drywall since they were going too slowly. I have been witness to multiple useless days on behalf of his siding hangers. They show up at 10, are gone for lunch by 11 and can be gone for hours with no explanation...and I've been here to see him call them repeatedly and eventually hire others. The fact is construction people down here are tired. They have been working all day every day since Katrina for homeowners who all (like me) want their home done yesterday. There is always too much work to finish and take a break, and there will always be someone at their backs unsatisfied with the pace. At this point, many of them work with the philosophy that they will find other work at any time if they get fired...so they don't always care about what they do or when they do it. Of course it's not everybody, but for those who are wearing out, I can't say that I blame them.

Despite our little triumphs and larger epiphanies, the house remains a big strain on our nerves. On Wednesday, we celebrated a belated Mother's Day with a day off in New Orleans. It was the first time since Katrina that both of us felt like outside visitors instead of visiting what felt like home. The city has changed without us, but it was still nice to wander in the familiar, eat in the beloved spots, and see dear friends. Markus treated Jennifer to a massage at a lovely day spa and a necklace from New Orleans designer Mignon Faget. Spoiled rotten and oh-so-happy!


New Orleans cityscape from the Mississippi River ferry


dear friends Elio and Irina

Ellie has been very patient with all of this house madness, particularly now that Markus can play with her while Jennifer runs errands and gets fiesty. She is completely loved and is enjoying her playtime at the park, the beach, and in Mary's yard. Her vocabulary is exploding with new words every day, and she is a busy bee.


helping with the yardwork


two swingers

And finally, for those of you who have never been here, here's a look at why we are putting ourselves through this. This is the view from our new-and-improved back porch.

Pics of the week

House nowhere near finished, but check out that beautiful blue sky!


Happy bunny on the playground. This week's favorite word: "SLIDE!"


Local wildlife presents King of the Cat Food Pile

Quote of the Day

"Everybody got their bye-bye pee-pees?"

The House

Ellie and I are back in Mississippi to deal with THE HOUSE (dum dum DUM!). Although the agreed deadline had completion sometime in mid-April, the house is NOT FINISHED. The house is not close to finished. The house has no finished walls (it was and is gutted). This is a bad thing, especially when you come down for the purpose of installing a kitchen (walls are required for this) and flooring (also good to have walls first) and finding renters (again, walls handy). The good news is that the porch expansion looks AMAZING, and the other improvements we made alongside the repairs are making a big difference. The house is going to be beautiful, if and when it is ever finished. The bad news is that the contractor and his crew seem to enjoy the porch as much as we do, and they have set up a comfy lawn chair surrounded by evidence of much cigarette smoking. Given that I am a staunch non-smoker and even more importantly the fact that the house is all BARE WOOD and insulation, I am not amused. I may have to invite an alligator or two out of the bayou to help me deal with this problem.

Auntie Awesome

This weekend, we visited Auntie Awesome and marveled over her amazing array of jewelry. Of course, Ellie HAD to try it on...and the more, the better!

Fun at the festival

And you think you had an exciting Saturday! When is the last time you remembered to bring your mouth harp and a back-up dancer to a party?



And yes, I took this little video. Mimi was going wild at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival as only a knitter could, so Ellie and I settled ourselves down in front of the stage for some live entertainment. This little segment was during the break of the band whose instruments included a washtub bass, a washboard and cans rhythm section, a fiddle, and a harmonica. Ellie LOVED it!

Stateside

Ellie and Jennifer are stateside! Right now, we're in Virginia visiting the Mimi, and we're having soooo much fun! Ellie is crazy about her Mimi, so she's doing her adorable best to be cute every second for extra love and attention (as if that were necessary!). Her vocabulary is undergoing a mini-explosion. She says new words every day, and she tries to repeat almost every word she hears. Just in the past few days, she's started saying "geese", "cool", "rice", "slide", "apple", and so many others she just attempts. So far, almost all of her words are English, expect of course the ever-popular "nein", and one of her favorite vegetables: "mais" (corn). This week, she's added "ei" (egg) when she watches her favorite movie, "The Ugly Duckling" (which we downloaded here after repeated requests for "SWAN!"). It will be another week before Markus can join us, but we are already looking forward to it! We miss him so much, and Ellie is starting to notice that the workday that must be keeping him away is getting a bit too long.

Baby Lolo

There has been a new addition to the family: Baby Lolo. For all you edge-of-the-seat types, calm down! Baby Lolo belongs to Ellie. Our little love seemed to want a little love of her own, and now Ellie has her first realistically-featured baby doll (whose eyes open and close; very important!). After trying out many names, we settled on Lolo since it's the only one Ellie will consistently repeat. We're not quite sure if Ellie let Lolo out of her grip for a single second during the first 24 hours. Even in her sleep, the bond was tight! So, this weekend, we bought a stroller for Baby Lolo. Oh boy! Let's just say this has gone over EXTREMELY well.


As you can see, wearing oneself out is no excuse to let go of the stroller.


This weekend was exciting for many reasons. Top of the list for Ellie, of course, was Stroller Olympics with Baby Lolo. She walked her all around Blijdorp, and she even remembered to pause at different exhibits so Baby Lolo could see. She strolled down to Parliament to feed the birds, and when we got near the water, she made sure to press her foot down on the back of the stroller like Mama does (to brake, which her stroller lacks...but why be particular?). In the adult realm, Markus's good friend Alex from Cape Town finally caught up to us! He stopped in town for a brief (less than 24 hour) visit on his way from Canada to South Africa. Markus hadn't seen him in 8 years, so it was a fun reunion! We hope Alex will be able to stay longer next time! Now, we are slowly gearing up for a trip back to the States. While we are soooo excited to see family and friends, the main drive for the visit at this time is to finally sort out the house. The house was supposed to be finished three weeks ago, but of course, that deadline seems irrelevant to our errant contractor. With a small miracle, he may be close by the time I get into town. Wish us luck!

Motherhood isn't for wimps

Speaking as someone who is admittedly sensitive, I have to say that becoming a mother has increased my sensitivity on all topics relating to children and babies at least tenfold (if not hundred-fold). Classic example: Ellie really enjoys watching the Pixar shorts we have downloaded from iTunes. To provide some variety, I also downloaded several of the Disney shorts for her. I remember watching them on the Disney Channel when I was a child, and I liked them. One I specifically remembered and downloaded is "The Ugly Duckling." Well, now it seems I CAN'T WATCH IT. That sweet, good-natured little swan hatches, and no one wants him. The duck whom he thinks is his mother is mean to him and rejects him. The only acceptance he finds is from a decoy, until it bonks him on the head while bobbing in the water. He cries and is miserable and all alone, and I CAN'T STAND IT! I cry every time! I even start crying of happiness when the mother swan finally finds and embraces him.
And don't even get me started on "The Little Matchgirl."
This did not happen pre-birth.
Sensitive women be warned!

A very Dutch experience

Yesterday afternoon, Charlotte and I were out for lunch together in the beautiful sunshine while Ellie slept soundly in her stroller. I ordered a coffee, which turned out to be undrinkable. Charlotte insisted I tell the server, though I had no belief that the server would care (it wasn't a coffee place, so it isn't their specialty). At the end of the meal when we had our server's attention, Charlotte politely informed her that my coffee was undrinkable and tasted quite bitter. The server's response did not disappoint. She merely said, "Yes, that's how it tastes."
Welcome to Holland.

Keukenhof

Beware: if you aren't interested in my picture fest, RUN AWAY NOW.

Yesterday morning, the dipe squad and Profesora Brancaforte visited Keukenhof, a spectacular public garden that is only open two months per year when the bulbs are a-bloomin'. One danger of having an amazing camera with LOTS of memory is taking too many photos. I shot over 200, deleted down to 88, and narrowed it further from there to post here. I still had a hard time weeding things out, so don't get lost as you tiptoe through the tulips!










Given its limited availability, Keukenhof was quite crowded, even early in the day. As we left before lunch, cars were lined up for several kilometers all the way back to the main highway. License plates were from all over Europe (The Netherlands, Germany, and the UK being the most prevalent). We heard that Easter weekend saw over 25,000 visitors at Keukenhof! As happy as we are to have avoided that madness, we were sorry that Markus's mom and sister missed it. We just hadn't thought of it...a side effect of being a first-timer! Looking forward to next year! If you have a to-do-before-I-die list, we suggest adding "see the tulips blooming in Holland" to it. You won't be sorry!

Good times with good friends

This evening, we enjoyed a visit from our friends Michiel and Aafke and their three gorgeous blond kiddos. Beautiful springtime weather allowed for a relaxing dinner outside. The kids ran and played like mad things, and the adults were able to sit and chat over good food at (once again) the delightful family-friendly place nearby.




The weather has been amazing this past week or so. We have been blessed with sunny day after sunny day. Ellie and I are being sure not to take this for granted, and we have spent all available time playing outside. Indoors, the dust bunnies are starting to get territorial, but they may have to wait for a rainy day before there is serious intervention.

I realize I've been running a picture-heavy blog recently, and today will be no exception. Here are a few more shots of our latest fun. The first two were taken on Oma's last day in town out at the Scheveningen beach; the other is pretty self-explanatory. Ellie is just as dessert-obsessed as her mama. I have myself (and her papa!) to blame.





We hope you all enjoy a lovely weekend!

Outside Central Station

Something tells me that the Dutch would manage well if there were to be an energy crisis...

Happy Easter!

Greetings from the tail-end of our four day Easter weekend! Markus's mom and sister came into town for a visit (their first since Christmas!), and it was wonderful to spend time with them!



Ellie held everyone in thrall. Her development has hit the fast-forward button lately, and she is doing new things and trying new words every day. The weather also cooperated beautifully, and we enjoyed a lovely Easter weekend together. We made a day trip to Gouda and spent some time at the Rotterdam zoo, as well as jaunts to the beach and Clingendael park. Unfortunately, the Gouda trip was the only one without sunshine. We drove out of it leaving The Hague and ended up with some cold greyness that may have negatively impacted our impressions of the city. We will have to try it again sometime in the future. The city hall was beautiful, but there wasn't much else to speak for the town as we saw it.




Blijdorp is always a favorite, and we had a fun time there. The zoo is so big that there is always something new to see. Springtime means the flowering trees are in bloom, and new leaves are budding everywhere we look.




Easter lunch was good food in good company! Jennifer prepared a vegetarian entree of pasta with asparagus, hazelnuts and mascarpone cheese with some bread and a side salad. Dessert was a heavenly strawberry icebox pie. Yummy springtime treats!




When all was done, we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves in the garden.



Alas, there are always chores. Having a little helper makes a big difference!



We hope you and yours had a lovely weekend! Happy Easter to all!

Clingendael

We were blessed with beautiful spring weather this weekend! Unfortunately, Markus and I took turns battling a nasty stomach bug over the weekend, too. Thankfully, it seems to have missed the third person in the house (won't mention names so sickness demons won't hear), and we were able to take turns keeping her busy (no mean feat these days!).


This afternoon's family excursion was to Clingendael park. What gorgeous grounds! What a beautiful place to soak up every wonderful bit of a sunny spring day! Clingendael apparently used to be a private estate (must research this to learn more), and it has truly amazing property. These days, the mansion house is home to an international affairs school. The grounds are both wooded and open farmland with lots of animals for kiddos to see and feed. We were so excited to see so many lambs, and of course, the many different birds must be chased and/or fed. Ellie was happy to run around and burn some energy with her pokey parents in tow.


just visiting the locals...(not the mansion house, in case you wondered)


practicing animal sounds for call and response? Ellie insistently "baaaa"-ed at the sheep to no avail.


so many stones, so little time


What do you mean geese don't eat stones?!