Riding to School

One of the highlights of our week is when we get to take Collin to school.  It is such a beautiful bike ride.  I have to admit that when it is windy or cold, I start missing my car and complaining a bit, but once I get out there I really enjoy myself.  Here are some pics of what Johnny and I get to see along the way.

First we head down the bike path in front of out apartment.

Then past the pond.

Stop at the light.  I think these stoplights with the bike on them are so cute.

Then we enter the forest....

and it starts to get really pretty.

We arrive at the building.

Park the bikes.

Head down the hallway...

and hang up his jacket.  His hook is the one with the little porcupine.

This is the waiting room, where we wait for class to start.

Time to head in the door.  Ethan always wishes he could go too.  Collin's group is called Pinokkio.

The classroom

Another playroom that the kids get to use

This is a room with a one way screen where the parents can observe their child without them knowing you are there.  I thought that was a really good idea, and has really helped me see how he is doing during school.

Waiting for class to start.  It was pet day, so that is why the teacher has a dog.

De Lichtjesroute

 A little over a year ago we arrived in Eindhoven and we were able to try out our new bikes on the light route.  Well, here are some pics from this years ride through the light route.  (I can't believe my blog posts are starting to repeat.) 

 The lights come on every September at this time to commemorate the liberation of Eindhoven from the Germans in WWII.  

A care package

We love The Park

I am posting yet more pictures of our kids at the park.  I said I was going to do some more "every day life" posts, and the park is definitely an almost every day occurrence for us.  These are three of the parks we visited recently, over a 4 day period.  I have to say, The Netherlands, has some really cool and inventive parks, and A LOT of them.  When I take the kids jogging with me I have to choose my route very carefully.  If I pass too many parks, they start whining to get out of the stroller.  

This is the little play area that is right outside our apartment complex. I call it Our Little Park.  It is not the most exciting, but you can't beat the location.

heading home

This next park I will call The Ikea Park, because it is on the way to Ikea.  Of course, there are quite a few parks on the way to Ikea, so I may have to refine this, oh so creative, naming system in the future.

We converted our trusty bike trailer, into a jogging stroller so, we could jog there.

This was scarier than it looks.  There was a handle on the other side that Johnny was hanging on to and spinning us in a circle.

This next park is Speelpark De Splinter. I didn't name this one.  In Dutch, "speel" means "play".

sand table (rained in the morning, so more like mud table)

satellite dish toy

big lego cage

This park has a lot of animals for the kids to look at.  This is definitely not one of the most attractive.

birds nest swing

Home Improvement

While cleaning my kitchen yesterday, I was thinking about blogging. So, that is how this post came about. When my dad was here visiting in May he spent a lot of time helping us out by fixing things up around the apartment. My favorite improvement, by far, was the re-grouting of the kitchen and shower tiles. They were so nasty. The grout had kind of an orange and brown moldy thing going on. Now, it is a clean and lovely, white and gray. I notice it every day. It really made the kitchen and bathroom so much more liveable. So, this post is to thank my Dad for a job well done.


BEFORE (I don't really have a good "before" picture, it is not something I wanted to photograph)


AFTER

Our Year Anniversary

We have hit our year mark!! It has now been just over a year since we moved to Eindhoven. Johnny and I have had a lot of fun reminiscing about how much things have changed for us in a year. I typically blog about our travels and other "camera worthy" occasions, but for the most part our life here is pretty normal. You know the drill- work, school, cook, eat, clean, entertain kids, sleep, then do it all again the next day. It is fun for me, however, to share with our friends and family what life is like for us here. So, in honor of our year anniversary I am going to try and do some more posting about our every day goings on here in Holland.

THEN


NOW