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.