swim lessons

the boys started swim lessons on thursday at a really nice pool in bussum. they will continue lessons over the summer and into the fall.

in holland, children earn a "swim diploma" once they have mastered the required swimming skills.

helen enjoyed a nap in her stroller while the boys had their lesson.... or should i say mommy enjoyed some quiet time while the boys had their lesson

over the hills and through the woods to helen's school we go

yet another great "adventure" story from this euro-mom....

today was helen's first day of preschool. we have enrolled her in a dutch preschool 2 mornings a week and today was supposed to be her first day. as i have learned, here in holland the best way to get around is by bike. so yesterday i took the kids in the bike (along with the tom tom) and we found her school. when i got home, i told ross that i thought the school might be a bit far away by bike to get helen to school and then drop off the boys at their school. i thought i should probably take the van. ross told me that with traffic (currently a main road near helen's school is closed due to road construction) - it was probably better to take the bike. (bikes get to go everywhere! - even when roads are closed.)

helen's school starts about 30 minutes before the boys school, so we headed out 30 minutes earlier this morning to get to helen's school. well, i knew the ride home (from our "trial route") was too easy... it was downhill :) there is a short-cut literally through a forest and open cattle grazing area - so we set out on that path - UPHILL. by the time i got near helen's school i was in a complete sweat! phew! or should i say p-u!

at the school, i had a hard time figuring out which classroom helen was supposed to be in for the morning .... once i figured that out - helen decided she did not want to stay! ugh! this was not part of my "plan"this morning. this is coming from a girl who attended preschool in the states and barely waved goodbye to me when i dropped her off :) i guess i don't blame her... i was a bit confused as to where to drop her off and it seemed that many parents were staying for the morning with their children. i still needed to bike the boys over to their school... with more UPHILL biking. so, after talking with the teacher i decided to take helen with me to the boy's school (and yes the boys were late for school) and bring her back later in the morning.... AFTER i went home to get the van!!!

that's exactly what we did. we went back to the school, jillian and i stayed with helen while she attended that last hour of her preschool. she had a great time playing with her new friends.

now i sit here tonight..... my legs are still burnin'from all those hills...... and i know we'll take the van on thursday to drop her off.... i will drop her off AFTER i take the boys to school until helen is comfortable with the drop-off process.... and me too!

i've included a picture of the kids in the bike.... it's not from this morning - but from a few weekends ago when we watched the bike race. the kids were so tired that they fell asleep!

i will get a picture of helen at her preschool on thursday for sure!

De Haar Castle

History Lesson (information taken from a brochure we received on our tour):

This castle was built in the 12th century on an embankment along the Rhine River. Haar was the early mdeieval Dutch word for an elevated stretch of land of this kind; hence the name of the castle and the family that lived in it. The original castle was nothing more than a fortified farmhouse and later a simple brick residential tower.

In 1434 Josina van de Haar married Dirk van Zuylen. Their descendants adopted the surname Van Zuylen van de Haar. In 1482 the castle was stormed, set ablaze and seized. The house was probably given back to the Van Zuylen van de Haar family in the early part of 1500 and was rebuilt. In 1536 it was given the status of castle. The castle was destroyed again in 1672 during hostilities with the French and thereafter it gradually fell into disrepair.

In 1890, Baron Etienne van Zuylen van Nijevelt inherited the ruined remains of the castle. The Baron had married Helene de Rothschild a few years earlier and they decided to rebuild the castle in grandiose style. No expense or effort was spared in the reconstruction.

Presently, the Van Zuylen family decendants and their guests spend the month of September at this castle. The castle is closed to the public during this month.

Our Experience:

The castle is currently under renovation again and should be complete sometime in 2011. Although no cameras are allowed inside the castle - we were able to see a few rooms on our tour. I can't wait to go back and see the entire castle!! The rooms we saw were truely AMAZING!!

Domkerk

when we took our honeymoon trip to europe nearly 9 years ago - i remember touring many churches. they are an amazing site! we found this church in utrecht.

at the end of this month we're going to try to make it back to the church for an organ concert.

giro d'italia

the giro d'italia (from what i understand) is a bike race in italy that is similar to the tour d'france. the giro d'italia does a portion of their race every year outside of italy - this year it happend to be in the netherlands and the route passed right by our house! so on mother's day we went out to watch the racers and then we took a train to a town nearby (utrecht) to watch the finish.

helen's baby

ever since i was pregnant with jillian - helen has claimed to also be carrying a baby in her tummy. as jillian's birth approached in february, i told helen that my baby would be coming out soon. she replied that her baby would be coming out soon too. when jillian was born i asked helen if her baby was ready to come out. she replied "not yet!" over the last 12 weeks at varioius times helen has informed me that her baby has not come out yet. she usually lifts up her dress or shirt to show me her big tummy.

the other day, helen decided that her baby came out of her tummy and she just happened to name her baby JILLIAN! wonder where she got that name from? now that her baby has arrived, helen decided that her baby needed a diaper........and she decided that it needed to be one of MY jillian's diapers.........so that's what we did - put a diaper on helen's baby jillian! as you can see in the picture - the cloth diaper that she chose is almost as big as her baby!

4th trimester

no ....it's not an overdue baby! it's the first 3 monthe after a baby is born. the every 2 hour (or less) feedings, sleepless nights, body recovering from pregnancy and birth, sibling adjustment.....the list could go on for ever! we have a rule in our house during this "4th trimester" - anything that is said between 10pm and 6am is "forgiven" - no questions asked :)

jillian is 12 weeks old today.... hard to believe that she is 12 weeks already but at the same time i am glad to say goodbye to this stage of sleepless nights and feeling like i'm "in a fog". she has really discovered her hands and puts them in her mouth often. she is starting to make the hand to object connections. at the grocery store this week (i was carrying her) she was "talking" throughout the store. she smiles at her siblings often.

i've included a picture of her when she first came home from the hospital and one that i took today. she's changed so much already