The House (continues)

Some of you regular readers out there have been asking (and rightly so) what is the deal with the house. As it is, after all, the big reason why Ellie and I are stateside at the moment, I figured it was time for an update.

The good news is when you've abandoned all hopes and expectations, things are a lot less stressful. On previous visits, I arrived expecting progress. After all, the house has been a couple of months away from completion since February! Only two or three weeks away from completion in May! I had intended to come back in July to see it finished. But more delays and more excuses were reported, and I began to realize (and accept) that nothing was EVER going to be done without my being here. So, here I am again, this time without hopes or expectations and therefore slightly more sane than could be imagined. Thank goodness I arrived with these thoughts, because (surprise surprise) nothing much had been done since I left in May. I'm happy to report that now, however, we are much closer to the (apparently unattainable) goal of a finished house. The tile for the downstairs arrived last week and installation began. Once the downstairs is done, the kitchen cabinets and countertops will be installed (the cabinets are ready and waiting), and the bathrooms should be finished off (though I haven't seen any supplies for that as yet). Carpets are scheduled for installation upstairs tomorrow (but as rain has moved in, my faith in that has moved out).

On my end, I've had six trees felled (one VERY fortunate choice there; I had one relatively small one taken out because I didn't like its proximity to the roof, only to discover upon removal that it was completely rotten on the inside and could have fallen at any time). I found and paid for a landscaper for the front yard, and that work will happen at the end of October (by which time one could reasonably assume the house could be finished at long last!). The house has been treated for termites and pests, and yesterday I ordered a houseful of appliances that should be delivered and installed on Tuesday. We're getting there, people. Now all that's left is to show you some pictures, so here they are.

The Hokey Pokey

Our little one has been giving directions and commanding an audience since before she could talk. This morning, Mary's sister and friend stopped by for a visit, and it wasn't long before they were enlisted in providing some world class entertainment! Ellie has been a bit stuck on the hokey pokey of late, and she was thrilled to have two new singers/performers (and a few stuffed animals) to add to the ranks!

Size does matter

Today, Ellie convinced herself (and therefore everyone else) that she needed to be accompanied in the day's work by a very large stuffed doggie of Mary's. I tried to dissuade her as she could barely walk and hold it, but she soon proved why this was important.

Little Shedheds

Last night, Ellie, Mary and I met friends for dinner and "got fed at The Shed." If you know us, you know we are big fans of Shed BBQ, a dedication that brings us under the fan club of "Shedheds." Now we have matching t-shirts to prove our loyalty that proudly proclaim: "I'm a little Shedhed. I only look sweet and innocent."


For some added cuteness, here's a shot of our wee one in her very colorful new shoes.

Way down South

Here we are once again in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The fact that we were in Paris a week ago seems a bit surreal from here, but whatcha gonna do? There are things I have to love about being here: the small-town,community feel; the genuinely warm and friendly people; the manners; the peacefulness of the bayou and the waters of the Mississippi Sound; still being treated a regular at a favorite lunch spot despite the fact that I live an ocean away most of the time; the kid-friendly environment; of course, eating at The Shed BBQ...

But it is all a bit of a trade-off when at age 30, I'm called "ma'am" because I really am that old. Alas.

Paris

Last Thursday, the dipe squad boarded a train in The Hague bound for Brussels, where we changed over to another train headed directly to Disneyland Paris. Yes, there is a train station right at the entrance to the park. As our hotel room wouldn't be ready for another few hours, we stowed our bag and headed into Disney. Ellie was soooo excited! She'd been talking about Mickey Mouse for a few days already, and she knew something interesting was bound to happen in the park. We entered on Main Street USA (just like in Florida, though much smaller I'm sure) and grabbed a bite to eat (having been starved on the train). Before we could even get to lunch, Ellie was a proud owner of a large mylar Winnie the Pooh balloon and was watching a parade of characters through town. Of course, it only got better from there, because after lunch, we got ice cream with sprinkles. We probably could have given it all up and gone home at this point and still have called it a great trip, because if you know Ellie, you know that a balloon AND ice cream with sprinkles is just about as close to Paradise as any of us will ever get. But oh...it got better. Disneyland Paris also has a carousel. With a short line. YIPPEE!!!!! AND the Dumbo ride (AKA "the elephant carousel")! AND the teacup ride! AND we can ride on the carousel more than once! WHY HAVEN'T WE BEEN HERE BEFORE??!!!




Markus and I had naively presupposed that Ellie would only last two or three hours in the park before she was completely exhausted and overstimulated, but really that applied more to us. She LOVED it! She was so happy and excited! In fact, the only way we bought ourselves a little rest was taking a break for kettle corn (or as Ellie called it, "pop-maize"). I haven't been to Disneyworld since I was 9, but I believe it must be much bigger than Disneyland Paris. This was actually okay for us, because Ellie's realm of enthusiasm encompassed the three above-mentioned rides that were all conveniently located right next to each other. When we finally saw her wearing down, we plunked her in the stroller and wandered to a different section to see what we could see. We decided to risk one more ride and go on the Pirates of the Caribbean, because I had liked that the most when I was a kid in Disneyworld and Markus had never been. Despite the fact that it was pitch black most of the time, had all kinds of animatronics and included more than one small dip in the dark, Ellie was completely mellow in her exhaustion until the end of the ride, when an animated skull and crossbones gives instructions for disembarking. She was having none of that!!!! Luckily, we were at the end, so we left the trauma behind and headed out to Frontierland, where we wanted to take the steamboat ride before going to the hotel. We nearly made it too. Mama spotted Mickey Mouse posing for photos with almost no line, so we gave it a go. Ellie had been talking about him for days, after all. She would be happy, right? WRONG! Mickey Mouse is a fun, loveable character friend who is most safely admired at a distance. He is not to be trusted, this Mouse. He has big shoes. We know this, because approaching him resulted in SEVERE trauma and Ellie is still days later recounting the tale of "Mickey Mouse. Big. Shoes. Sad. Ellie. Go."


The next day, Ellie took a late morning nap, so we decided to eat lunch at the Disney Village before heading into Paris. Disney Village is just outside the park, and it's a collection of chain restaurants (McDonalds, Planet Hollywood, Rainforest Cafe...), movie theaters and shops. We opted to eat at Cafe Mickey because the menu looked the most acceptable. We had been told that on birthdays, you can request a special cake and the characters will bring it out and sing and dance and take pictures with you. It was indeed Ellie's birthday, so we asked about this and the hostess agreed we could just let them know closer to the end of our meal whether or not we wanted it, since we were a bit afraid of the trauma returning. So we settled down happily in our booth. Ellie started coloring with the set they gave her. We ordered lunch. All was happy and well. UNTIL. What they had neglected to tell us was birthday or no birthday, the characters come out anyway at Cafe Disney. They mingle through all the tables, pose for photos and TOUCH PEOPLE (horrors!). It was all over before our food even came. Ellie was climbing me like she wanted to hide under my skin and her misery was so extreme that we had to leave (and maintain at least a 100 meter distance from the door). Markus quickly ate his meal, and then he took his turn outside while I rushed through mine. Ellie refused to return. At least I didn't have to eat all alone. Goofy came and sat with me for a while, but given the level of trauma in our little one, I opted not to pose for a photo with him. I'm sure you understand. At this point, it was fairly clear that it was time to leave Disney behind and head into the city. Ellie really did have fun in the park, and we can understand her trepidation about the characters. They are pretty big and strange and intimidating. And, as we have been repeatedly informed, they wear big shoes.


Our Paris hotel was just off of the Royal Palace Gardens, and despite its central location, the room was blissfully quiet. We checked in, wandered through the gardens, and made our way to the Louvre and the adjoining Jardin de Tuileries.


Ellie was a huge fan of running along the Louvre fountains, watching the boats in the Tuileries fountain, and of course the "piece de resistance": ice cream in the gardens. We were on a mission for some cake and coffee, and we headed to the recommended locale only to get caught up in rush hour madness (even on foot, the manic panic was stressful). Markus managed to find a restaurant in a little out of the way alley in a seriously upscale shopping district. This made for some very interesting people-watching (boy, were we sore thumbs there!), and Ellie was all about helping Mama consume the molten chocolate cake.


We headed back to the hotel and cleaned up a bit for dinner. Our concierge had recommended a little spot around the corner. He said our (very) casual dress was fine and they were okay with children. The restaurant was "Le Grand Colbert" on the Rue de Vivienne. If you have seen the Diane Keaton-Jack Nicholson movie "Something's Gotta Give", yes, this is the restaurant where they meet in the end. And it's good! The staff were so welcoming and friendly that we were amazed to still be in Paris. The food was fresh and well-prepared, and the atmosphere was charming (you've seen it if you've seen the movie). Markus had the foresight to pack our portable DVD player, which also helped make for an enjoyable meal.

We woke up on Saturday to a gorgeous summery day. We used the morning to take a boat tour of Paris, something we hadn't done before and truly recommend, especially with a small child. It was a great way to see the beautiful architectural highlights of a huge city. It was also a great way to enjoy the sunshine.


We walked back to the hotel via Ile de la Cite and discovered a peaceful little square near the point with some nice bistros. Based on menu, we wanted to eat at the Cafe George, but they were full so we kept moving (we did return to it for dinner, though, and we HIGHLY recommend it!!). We ended up eating lunch in a restaurant off of the Royal Palace Gardens, and that was a great choice. Ellie ran around in the dirt while we ate and kept herself more than happy. Afterwards, we headed across town on a mission for "the best chocolate cake in Paris" at Pierre Herme and on to the Jardin du Luxembourg so Ellie could play. At Pierre Herme, the line was out the door and down the corner, and let me tell you people, THERE IS A GOOD REASON FOR THIS. All of the pastries looked beautiful and amazing, and the chocolate cake is out of this world! But I digress...
Ellie had good fun in the gardens. The Jardin du Luxembourg is a great spot for families, with lots of open playspace and some big playgrounds. Being such a gorgeous day, the playground was completely overrun, so we put Ellie on the carousel (another carousel! hooray!). We watched the boats in the fountain. We ran on the paths. And we went back for dinner and bed.

By Sunday morning, we were all partied out, but we had a few hours to kill before our train so we headed to the Musee d'Orsay for some beautiful Impressionist paintings and impressive sculptures on the ground level. Even the building itself is nearly worth the entry fee. What foresight to transform a huge old trainstation into a fabulous museum!

All in all, we had an amazing fun trip! We were all happy and relaxed, which is the only way to survive Paris. There is far too much to see and do to try to do it all. Visiting the city with Ellie forced us to slow down and just take it as it comes, which made for the most enjoyable Paris visit to date. So, Happy Birthday, Ellie! We're sure you'll wonder when you're 16 why we took you to Paris for your birthday when you were 2, but trust us: you had fun.

Back from Paris

Yesterday evening, we returned from our four day birthday weekend in Paris. We had SUCH A GREAT TRIP!!! We have a bit of work to do getting caught up with chores and the to-do list before Jennifer and Ellie head stateside on Wednesday, but be on the lookout for a new post with photos. One will be coming soon!

Parenthood

We're not quite to this point yet, but we can already identify...and benefit from the giggles and commiseration!

September

Today is yet another gorgeous fall day in The Hague. Somehow it feels a lot more sane to say that now that it's September instead of July. The trees must agree. Yesterday, we noticed the leaves are starting to turn. They've been waiting all summer 'til now so they don't look too confused, but September 1st was the kick-off. Not that we're complaining. After almost 5 years of summer year 'round, our shorts have earned a rest. And although it's been rather cool, the weather has been relatively good to us with lots of sun and little rain by Dutch standards. Between England's flooding and Greece's heat and fires, we are most content with our fall weather (even when it was July).

MIA: Spices of any kind

Tonight, I munched a "Cajun chicken sandwich" in a department store eatery while doing some Thursday late night shopping (the only night shops are open past 5 or 6). While the sandwich was fully edible, I must say that they wouldn't know Cajun if an alligator crawled out de bayou and bit them on the behind.

Hello out there?

Are you a family member or friend reading this? Total lack of commentary is demotivating! You check in on us; the least you could do is say a little something from time to time! Come on, people! Bloggers need love too!

Bumper Crop

In the past few weeks, three of our friends have had babies. Next month, we're looking for two more. And another in November. It's a bumper crop o' babies! Welcome to the world, all you beautiful sweet little ones! Wowsers.

Deep thoughts

Why are McVities chocolate biscuits called "digestives" when one side is slathered in milk chocolate goodness?
That's the kind of digestion I'm talking about!

Wednesday fun

Every Wednesday morning, Ellie and Jennifer go to music class. Music class is really a playgroup where the parents sit on the periphery singing songs while the kids dance and play with (or chew on, depending on age) instruments. Ellie LIVES for music class. She talks about it from the moment we leave until the moment we go again. We listen to the CD ad nauseum in the car. She is a baby obsessed.
Lately, music class has gotten a little too popular for us, and the crowded room has resigned Ellie to my lap for a few weeks. Don't you know she was thrilled when it was closer to the norm this week and she could party her booties off! Ever since she learned to jump unsupported, bouncing has become a huge part of Ellie's day...and her dancing! The ultimate excuse for bouncing comes in the "Sleepy Cows" song, which starts with all the cows (kids) sleeping on the floor and continues with the scarecrow jumping up and dancing around. Well, you must see it for yourself...(you will get a chance to meet Mieka, who proves Ellie isn't the only one interested in seeing the camera in use).



Also on Wednesday mornings, we have been fortunate enough over the past month to have had help with housekeeping. A woman named Kathia has been coming to help clean, and Ellie really likes her. She also, of course, likes to help. Ellie is a big fan of housekeeping.



Her vocabulary has exploded recently, and Ellie talk talk talks all the time! She is such a chatterbox, and it is delightful! I will try my best to capture some of it on video and post it for those of you who are interested. Again, it's tricky taping her, because as soon as she sees the camera, she stops whatever adorable thing she is doing and demands I turn it around so she can see the baby or watch the movie I made.

As you may or may not know, we adopted two kittens (Smokey and Bandit), and life with cats is going swimmingly. They are from the same litter, and they play hard together all day. They are inseparable most of the time, which is great. They have the best temperaments we could have hoped for: they play, they aren't destructive, they wear each other out and then they come to us for snuggles, purring and happy as clams. They are very patient with Ellie and have yet to retaliate when she pulls their tails or whacks them overenthusiastically. Despite this, we know their favorite part of the day is after Ellie goes to bed, and they join us in the living room for what we've dubbed "Kitty Love Fest." They lounge all over us, purring away.


Bandit didn't want Markus to get lonely or cold laying on the floor all by himself.

Last but not least, Oma arrived today for a week-long visit!


Tante Ulla will be arriving on Saturday, and she will stay for a week as well. Everyone will be here to celebrate Oma's birthday next Tuesday! This also marks the start of completely claimed days for the dipe squad. From today until the end of October, there is not one day we don't have out of town plans or houseguests. Amazing. Wish us strength!

Warmest welcome!

Our goddaughter has been born! Carolina Irene Duarte-See was born on August 13, weighing in at 7lb 9oz. Isn't she beautiful? Welcome to the world, little one!

Weekend outside

Summer came back yesterday (hooray!), so we spent most of the day at the beach. Ellie LOVES the beach! There is something magical about running around naked, splashing in the water and playing in the sand (and if you think Ellie is the only one who thinks so, check the post from a few weeks back). Once again, there was a cool wind, but fortunately we have a sun tent that blocks wind as well. The sun was nice and toasty, and we had a great time burning energy and digging holes. Ellie is quite intent on Markus making "kuchen" ("cakes" AKA sand castles from overturning a bucket), which she usually knocks down, trounces or tosses by the fistful with glee. Yesterday, she was entranced temporarily with decorating the kuchen with shells. The beautification efforts were quite impressive and thorough until she remembered that stomping kuchen with gusto was loads more fun.


This morning, we took advantage of more good weather with a day trip to northern Holland and a visit to Apenheul ("Monkey Hill"?), a part of a nature preserve that is an open monkey zoo where several monkeys are allowed to roam free.





We saw many, many monkeys, but the best for us was the glorious weather. The nature preserve is beautiful, and Apenheul is so well-designed. Ellie was not really in the mood for monkey viewing, so she exerted most of her efforts acting like a monkey herself, climbing things, jumping around, inspecting the plants, and chewing on her shirt. We didn't last too long, but we did go twice around the Rainforest merry-go-round on our way out (and experienced many tears when we left that behind).

Old Fart, but Young at Heart!

On Thursday, Markus suggested I take the evening to myself and go see a movie I've been wanting to see while he stayed with Ellie. The very idea was such an indulgent treat, particularly because I can't remember the last time we watched a movie in the cinema. The only problem was my movie started at 8:30...SO LATE! I wouldn't even be home before 11! My goodness, how would I cope with the exhaustion?! Would I fall asleep in the movie? What to do?!
The real question is: when did I become such an old fart?
(the answer: when I gave birth)

I feel somewhat redeemed because the movie was the latest Harry Potter (which I ended up watching Friday at 5; hooray!).

Visitors!

We've been off the blog for a little while, because we have been playing our days away with some fabulous house guests! Laura, Peter and Cy came to visit for almost a week on their way home to Qatar, and we had a wonderful time with them!


Cy is about 6 months younger than Ellie, so we were all a bit curious how the sharing-toys-and-space thing would go. Happily, all went well, most of the time. The few meltdowns we experienced were so dramatic and traumatic on both sides that the adults couldn't help being amused.
Our friends' visit coincided with actual summer-y weather here, which was a real treat! There was even one day that we felt hot outside. Let me tell you, after four years in New Orleans and nearly one in Qatar, I never thought being hot outside would be a novelty...but it was! Temps here have been autumnal for most of our Hague tenure, so 7+ consecutive days of sunshine and warm weather was wonderful! Conveniently, we own four bicycles, so trekking around was easy. The kiddos really enjoyed riding in the Chariot together.


We went to the beach, Clingendael, Blijdorp (by car), and Antwerp (by train). Clingendael was a huge hit, because there are wide open spaces where the kids can run and run. Farm animals are a big bonus (more for Cy than Ellie, who remains unsure about the wisdom of getting close to large creatures), and Ellie loves sitting in the grass and picking wildflowers. In Antwerp, adorable Mr. Cy became a tourist attraction when he was drawn to a puppet street performer and did an interpretive dance.




Most of the time, we just played with the kiddies and had big laughs over the fun things they say and do. Cy's obsession with "ca-ca" has no end; Eddie Murphy may have a rival in the bathroom humor department. Cy certainly added a new dimension to bathtime and alerted us to the dangerous window between diaper removal and being placed in the tub. They do look awfully cute running around half-naked, though!



The kids seemed to have a blast having each other to play with, and playtime just before bathtime was the best!


All in all, it was a fabulous time! Such a treat to have wonderful friends to share our days and evenings! Ellie was certainly out of sorts when Cy left. On that day, she wouldn't eat certain food items with her lunch because she was sure they were Cy's. She also picked up a few words he uses (the favorite being "BUM!" when she falls down), and it makes us smile to know she has a good friend, even though we can't visit nearly as often as we'd like.

Over the river and through the woods...

...to Oma's house we go! This weekend, we bit the bullet and piled into our big car for a drive to Oma's house. Although three and a half hours is nothing by US standards, the distance is a bit daunting here in Europe, particularly with a busy toddler in tow. We opted for a nighttime drive on this test run, hoping Ellie would sleep the drive away and wake up in Germany. We were not disappointed. The only thing we hadn't accounted for was the sunlight until nearly 10pm, which confused her and kept her awake (though quiet and sleepy) until dark. The woman who coordinates the baby music class made a CD of all the songs we sing, and we keep that CD in the car (and only in the car...toooooo annoying not to be limited). Of course, this makes Ellie LOVE trips in the car now. We listened to those songs more times than I can count, and Markus and I both leapt at the eject button the moment Ellie fell asleep. The drive was uneventful, though there was a lot of road construction once we crossed the border. Driving at night has its advantages in light traffic (confirmed on the early ride home, which took an extra two hours to traverse a 6km distance!).

Oma was so happy to have visitors! The weather wasn't overly cooperative, but we still played and had a nice time. Markus and I both noticed how our perspective on the village has changed. In the past, we always felt it was small and cramped. This time, it felt so open after the claustrophobia of The Hague. Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler is nestled in a wine valley, and you can see the vineyards rising up along the hills all around. The smallish Ahr river runs close to Oma's house, and we took many walks alongside it. It was nice to get out in the countryside. We even visited a wine shop for a small tasting and missed a true Kodak moment when Ellie was given a proper crystal wine glass with red grape juice to sip. Ellie certainly enjoyed eating blackberries straight from the bush in Oma's garden, and you know from previous posts that rain doesn't get her down because it means SPLASHING! We think she must have charmed just about every last stoic villager who passed her splashing and laughing in the puddles dressed in her ladybuy raincoat and boots.





Although the trip was exhausting in many ways, we are happy we went and enjoyed the visit. We're so lucky to have an easy traveler. Ellie handled the change of scene without blinking. Thank goodness for portable DVD players, though. She has a new-found obsession (I don't use this word lightly) with Baby Einstein. She wants to watch one about sign language all the time so she can practice, and she asked for it again and again while we were away. Luckily, we were able to bring it with us. It saved us in that massive traffic jam on the ride back, too. Another quirky little obsession surfaced during the visit: use of the words "Time Out!" Once, two weeks ago, in a fit of pure exasperation and desperation on my part, I gave Ellie a (pointless) time out when she wouldn't stop (unintentionally yet repeatedly) ripping fur from the cats. I sat with her and told her she had a time out, that she needed to take a minute to calm down and remember to listen to Mama's words, yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah...the last part of which being all she heard because she resumed her kitty chasing the second I moved away. Suddenly, there we were at Oma's and Ellie announced a picture in the corner had a time out. A doggie barking at her got a "Time out!" "Time out!" was a very popular command this weekend from our knee-high dictator, though where it came from I have no idea.

Dutch weather

We are enjoying a rare sunny day with partly cloudy skies. There is a light breeze. The temperature is around 60 degrees. The sky is mostly blue, and the sun is warm. The conditions are close to perfect for being outdoors. Except for the fact that it is raining. Somehow, it is raining from the beautiful blue sky. Welcome to Holland.

Sugar cookies and sugar baby

Today I hosted a baby shower at home for one of the moms in Ellie's baby music class. I made baby block sugar cookies as favors, and I'm proud of the results (idea from gail who recently did the same)...so I had to share.

Markus was wonderful! He helped me get the house ready, took Ellie to the zoo during the shower, cleaned up afterwards, and then told me to take a nap while he took her to the playground this afternoon. WOW! I have the most amazing hubby EVER.

Below is today's pic is of our ever growing girl. She has shot up like a weed just this week (you can see how her sleeves are no longer the correct length)! It's hard to get a good picture of her, because when she sees the camera, she just wants me to turn it around so she can see the baby (the digital image of her on the screen). For this one, she had crawled into my lap and was attempting to access the back of the camera from below. Very sneaky.

Sandy Places

This afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather by making a trip to the beach. We cycled to Scheveningen and then through the dunes a bit to avoid the main drag. The dunes are beautiful right now, covered in green and wildflowers. The cycle ride was a nice treat after all the yucky, weird weather we've been having. Although it was only around 70 degrees and lightly windy, we expected to see a crowd on the beach. However, when we arrived at a spot accessible from the dune paths, there were only scattered groups of two or three people each. Some people had brought their own sun shelters, but most people were just relaxing on towels and enjoying the sun (mostly wearing jeans and jackets to resist the cool wind). We were happy not to be crowded, so we set up right away and began playing in the sand (in Ellie's case, with gusto!). It wasn't long before we noticed something else about the scattered people in our vicinity. Some people weren't dressed to fight the wind; in fact, they weren't dressed at all. Yes, folks, we found ourselves in the naked section. Welcome to Holland!

Dolfinarium

A week ago, we took a drive to the north of Holland to visit the Dolfinarium and we invited our friend Chris and her daughter Amelia to join us on this adventure. The car ride was an adventure in itself for the wee ones, who were each fascinated to sit next to someone her own size. They watched each other, played, held hands, and clapped along to the music (too bad the camera wasn't accessible!). The Dolfinarium was great fun! It was very well laid-out with multiple playgrounds so kids wouldn't all bunch on top of each other. One of the playgrounds was on an open beach, so you could really make a day of it there if you'd like. Watching the dolphins with the girls was a lot of fun! They didn't seem to know what to make of them, but they couldn't take their eyes away.

Vacation in Italy

Warning: This post is going to be a long one. If you really don’t want to carry on, just know that we had a wonderful vacation and are very happy about it. You may even want to scroll down and glance at a pic or two. For those of you who can’t get enough (or simply have nothing better to do or are in work avoidance mode), read on and then follow up with the photo link.

Cinque Terre translates to “five lands” and is comprised of five small villages on the coast of Italy—Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso—where the mountains plunge headlong into the sea. Each of the villages seems to have its own distinct personality. Vernazza, where we stayed and where the wedding took place, only has one main street. The rest of the town is up up up stairs (to get into houses, hotel rooms, anything…there will be stairs and plenty of them). There is no real car traffic in the villages, because cars just don’t fit. Everyone is on foot, and there are beautiful hiking trails in the mountains and along the sea that connect the villages (they are also connected by train). Most of the tourists visit for the walks, though we were unprepared for the sheer amount of American tourists in this relatively isolated place. We hadn’t heard of Cinque Terre before Andrea and Fiammetta disclosed the wedding location, but we also don’t read Rick Steves’ guidebooks. Apparently, he has written a highly favorable segment about Cinque Terre in his Italy guide, which brought just about every American we spotted to that location. It was insane. I’ve seen more nationalities represented in Colonial Williamsburg on the 4th of July, but I digress.



The closest airport to Cinque Terre is Pisa. Since I hadn’t been there before, we decided to fly in Friday and stay two nights before heading to the coast. The ordeal that air travel has become was bad enough on our trip out that we were almost ready to abort the whole holiday and go home. As we finally boarded the plane from Amsterdam to Pisa, I smiled weakly at Markus and said, “Maybe we’re just getting all of the potentially negative mess out of the way now so we will have a fantastic trip.” He looked skeptical (rightfully so), but thank goodness it turned out to be TRUE.

We arrived in Pisa on a warm sunny afternoon. As we waited for our shuttle, Markus wondered aloud what I would make of the famous tower. In every picture I’d seen of it in recent years, it has been propped with steel cables and retention wires, so I wasn’t expecting much. Given that, I was unprepared for the beauty and the marvel of it. In most Italian cities I’ve seen, the glorious cathedrals have become enclosed by traffic and other buildings, everything being built close together in the race for space; this is not so in Pisa. The cathedral complex (the tower, the cathedral, and the baptistery) is surrounded by a huge, lovely grassy area (upon which are many sprawled and sleepy tourists).



Pisa itself is a fairly small, peaceful university town, so we had the cathedral area mostly to ourselves during off-peak times. No longer supported by cables and actually open to the public, the tower is really amazing. It’s hard to capture the lean in a photo because of perspective, but you can really see it at the base. I was surprised to learn that it already had subsided significantly after only three tiers were built. They stopped construction for many years, and then they added more layers to an already leaning structure. The top was added many years after that, using special construction techniques to try to correct the angle so the bells could be hung.

During our second day, we took a day trip by train to Florence. It is so incredible to walk around that city with its great history of art and culture. We strolled past the Duomo, the Palazzo Uffici with the numerous famous sculptures in the piazza outside, over the Ponte Vecchio, and then on to Boboli Gardens so Ellie could run around and have a play before lunch (which, by the way, was not nearly as fabulous as what we had in Pisa).



On Sunday, we took the train to Vernazza. Getting our luggage up to the hotel room was quite an ordeal (I am not joking about the stairs, people), but once we were settled, we were happy! The hotel Andrea and Fiammetta had directed us to (La Mala) was gorgeous! We’re convinced it must be the nicest in all of Cinque Terre (all white interior, Carrera marble in the bathrooms, flat screen satellite TV, included mini-bar and in-room coffee and tea). It is a beautifully renovated house, so it only has four rooms. Ours was actually a two-room combo, so Ellie had her own room for sleeping—ideal for us to actually have a vacation too! They also provided a crib for her, so she was all set. Breakfast each morning consisted of fresh pastry, juice and delicious Italian coffee in the bar down at street level. We’re not big coffee drinkers, but we drank huge mugs of café latte each morning and enjoyed it!

The wedding was on Thursday, so we had the whole week to explore. We took the train to the other villages (we made sure to visit all five) and hiked some of the gorgeous trails. The 4km mainly uphill walk from Vernazza to Corniglia was particularly gratifying, but we missed the Monterosso trail which several of our friends claimed was the best. Cinque Terre is a place we’d like to visit again in the fall or winter. Although the locals assured us that it was actually calmer than usual, it was way too touristy for us in the summertime and a bit too hot for hiking as well.

Although Monterosso is the beach town, Vernazza does have a small beach at the harbor that was perfect for Ellie. She loves getting in the water and playing in the sand. Two of our six days had rough seas, but we played hard the other afternoons (you can see Ellie and Markus below taking a stroll along the shoreline; she's clad in pink from head to toe).



Vernazza also has a small playground near the train station with a slide, one swing, and a climbing frame (there’s a bigger playground in Monterosso, for those of you using this blog as a travel guide), but this was more than enough for Ellie. Since the village is so small, we could walk from the harbor (close to our hotel) to the train station (the other end of town) in about three minutes. Italy itself is a great destination for holidays with kids, because every place is so family-oriented! Ellie was saying “Ciao!” and “Grazie!” by the time left Pisa, and this won her so many hearts! There was one old Italian nonna every morning at the bar who wanted so badly to pet and squeeze Ellie that she seemed ready to burst; she even gave her a 2 Euro coin and insisted we buy her a gelato with it. We felt welcome everywhere, and I love how gracious, patient and enthusiastic Italians are with my pathetic grasp of the language (if I try, they are wonderful to me, no matter how badly I butcher things).

Thursday was the wedding day, and we were excited from the start. I paparazzi-ed the bride at the hair salon and the groom at breakfast before we all got dressed. Andrea and Fiammetta had a civil ceremony in a non-religious church at the top of the village. Fiammetta looked absolutely beautiful in a gown she’d designed herself, and her father was the happiest, proudest Father of the Bride I’ve ever seen. After the wedding, Andrea and Fiammetta made their way to a prepared balcony in the center of town for the “blessing”, a wedding tradition particular to Vernazza. It’s customary for the bride and groom to toss chocolates and sweets to the villagers (and tourists) after the ceremony. They were advised to purchase hefty amounts of sweets for this event, and it drew quite a crowd! One of the locals who takes it upon himself to rate weddings gave Andrea and Fiammetta 4.5 stars based on guests’ appearance, formality of the ceremony, restaurant choice and set up, and the blessing (which actually caused the missing half star because some of the sweets apparently weren’t up to snuff).



If you’ve ever been to an Italian wedding, you know it is all about the food. The wedding lunch lasted for five hours, after which many of the guests ended up at the beach trying to remember their own names and imagine how they might ever eat again. This experience was repeated the next day with a five-hour “brunch”. Unfortunately, Ellie woke up with a cold the morning of the wedding, so we missed out on quite a bit of the festivities, taking turns being in the room with her so she could nap and trying to give her space away from the other guests with small children. This also prevented us from having a good family photo of us all dressed up, because she was having none of it. At least the cold was relatively minor and short-lived. We’re sure the gorgeous climate and the fresh sea air did her good. Regardless, we were happy to see whatever we could of the wedding. Andrea and Fiammetta put a tremendous amount of effort into planning it (even arranged accommodations for all guests since little is online), and they looked so happy on their big day!

Saturday morning, we took the train back to Pisa and began the trip home again. Due to delays and the waiting game that is plane travel, the total journey lasted around 12 hours. Ellie was a trooper as usual and didn't complain, but we could tell how happy she was to be home!

Rainy Days

We returned from a beautiful sunny week in the Meditteranean to a grey, rainy autumnal Holland. This is the same weather (temperature and all) that we experienced when we moved here in October...only it's JULY! I've been wanting to update the blog with stories and pictures from our wonderful holiday, but this weather has been wearing us out! The three of us are perpetually sleepy. Ellie is taking marathon naps and going to bed early each night. It must be the readjustment to low pressure after all that warmth and sun (can't we go back?!). Be looking for that update soon, because the holiday was too good not to share! In the meantime, I thought I'd share the latest from Holland. The best part about rain is the puddles! At least someone is enjoying the mucky weather.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Having freshly returned from a wedding in Italy, it's time to reflect on our own three years ago today. Happy Anniversary to us!

Out of Town

Tomorrow morning, we will travel to Pisa for the weekend and then on to Cinque Terre (Italy) for the wedding of our friends Andrea and Fiammetta. We'll be back the first week of July with new pictures and stories! Until then, "Ciao, bellisimos!"

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Markus! We celebrated with a day of something-different-and-fun all day long. In the morning, we drove to Rotterdam and took a Spido boat tour of the harbor and shipping port. Spido's central location also took us past several of the world famous modern architecture Rotterdam has to offer, including the Erasmus bridge and those crazy yellow cubist apartments. The boat was probably the most fancy we've ever been on for a simple tour, and it was well-equipped for tourists, giving an audio tour in four languages (Dutch, French, German, and English) broadcast over the PA with detailed videos on the monitors and lots of interesting info as we passed the various sights. In typical Dutch fashion, it rained off and on, and almost everyone sat at little tables inside drinking extremely strong coffee from a machine on board. Still, there was plenty of space, quite a few other small children for Ellie to watch, and room to run around. What else is needed?



The last leg of our tour took us past the New York Hotel in the old Holland-America Line building. That little island is the up-and-coming spot for yuppies, with a huge residential tower (called Montevideo) that contains six restaurants (and you never have to leave home in the rain...bonus!). We figured that would be a safe bet for lunch, so we drove over the Erasmus bridge and fought against the suddenly-strong wind to eat at Odyssey, a ground level cafe in the Montevideo Tower. It turned out to be a great choice. Despite its spartan decor and lounge-feel, there were already two other families with very young kids inside who were running around and screeching like mad things. We figured this meant we would be safe to bring Ellie in (although thankfully she doesn't usually go wild in restaurants, the owners don't always appreciate this). We snagged a low, comfy couch for our table and ordered up some tasty sandwiches on freshly baked bread. Yum.



By the time we were all done, Ellie was completely exhausted. She'd skipped her morning nap (increasingly common), and the boat/lunch/weather combo had sapped all remaining resources. This is a touchy zone, because if she falls asleep in the car, she won't keep sleeping if you take her out again before her nap is done. To dodge this, Markus suggested we drive to Haarlem (an hour or so away) to see what we could see. Excellent choice!

After having spent most of our weekends in The Hague and Amsterdam, we forgot that most cities close up on Sundays. Haarlem is such a city. All shops were closed, which turned out to suit us fine since the weather also cleared quite a bit when we arrived. The center is very pretty, and there is a large open central square near the cathedral where children were running and playing. Because everything was closed, there was very little traffic or people about, making city walking even more pleasant. We discovered some truly beautiful little spots completely by accident, including Ellie's favorite...an Italian gelato shop that also serves Belgian waffles (what else is there in life?). There were a couple of irresistable photo ops you'll see below: one of Ellie seated on a bench outside an Ellie-sized house (she found it and sat there; I just snapped the picture) and the other of Ellie and Markus strolling past a particularly good sign for Father's Day.






We drove home in time to make some dinner. I tried two new recipes (half-someone-else's, half-my-own-invention), and even that worked out fabulously! It had been fairly cool, grey, and rainy most of the day, so it was extra-good to have pasta with creamy tomato sauce (I added goat's cheese to my homemade sauce) and freshly baked beer bread topped with sea salt and blended with fresh rosemary from the garden. Beer bread is so painfully simple and so amazingly good that I highly recommend you stop reading and go bake some right now. Really.
All in all, we enjoyed a fabulous Father's Day as a family, and we wish a belated Happy Father's Day to all of you out there who find themselves in the category.

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!