Delft, Netherlands

in the background of this picture you can see the girl on the right making the famous dutch stroopwafels. she is kneading the dough in her hands and the bottoms/tops of the stroopwafels are on the griddle. the middle of the stroopwafel contains stroop which is like a think syrup. it's a yummy sweet treat! oh and the ice cream cones we purchased from this stand were really yummy!!

view from downtown Delft - Delft is a small town on the west coast of the Netherlands

a chair made from Delft pottery pieces

the entire time we were walking towards this church we couldn't help but wonder - is it leaning towards the right? hmmmmm.

one false parallel parking move and you'll be in the water!

tomboy princess?

she put her soccer shoes on with her dress to play with her brothers

making helicopter noises with her mouth

spinning the blade

is it possible to use these 2 words together? i think these 2 words describe helen very well. the other day i found her playing with this helicopter outside.

running buddy

i have a new running buddy - jayden! he has really taken an interest in running with me. the other night he ran 2 miles with me. he wanted to run more - but i thought it would be best to start off small.... the next morning he woke up and asked me "mom - are you ready for another run today?"

there is a kids run associated with my half-marathon in amsterdam and he is going to try to run that in october.

food face!

jillian has food all over her face and it doesn't even bother her :) gotta love the life of a baby!

but i just have to wonder - is it a natural instinct for a child to turn away when you try to wipe their face? or their nose for that matter? seems that even at 6 months - they can see the kleenex coming and starting turning their head!

my jilly

with each of the kids around 6 months of age - i try to get a picture of them chewing on their foot. i have taken each kid's image and made into an 8x10 black and white photo - i had them all displayed in my bathroom at home.... the other day i was trying to capture my image if jillian with her foot in her mouth to complete my set!

happy girl in her crib

wow - i can't believe my baby jillian is 6 months old already. we have been through so much as a family over the last few months - but everyday jillian wakes up with a smile and i'm so thankful that she is such a good baby! she loves to watch her brothers and sister. she weighs 14 pounds... my little peanut! still has those baby blue eyes and blonde hair....but i still wonder if the blue eyes will stick around :)

happy half-birthday to you!

note - her tongue is out ready for a lick!

didn't take her but a second to grab a cupcake on the bottom tier!

graham carefully decorates his cupcake

jayden adding some sugar sprinkles

helen stands up to carefully decorate her cupcake

yesterday - jillian turned 6 months old. the kids and i were looking for something to do yesterday afternoon so we decided to make some cupcakes and celebrate jillian's "half-birthday" - we even sang "happy half-birthday to you (jillian)" after dinner. although jillian did not eat any cupcakes - she did enjoy the song!

-safety disclaimer - in the photos above - i am standing next to jillian with my hand extended out while taking the pictures - she was not in any danger of falling off the picnic table :)

the dolfinarium

a few weeks ago, we visited the dolfinarium as a family. we got season passes so i decided one day last week to take the kids up there for the day. i thought by going during the week that it wouldn't be very crowded and we could see all the shows with no crowds! but i was WRONG! it was so crowded that we waited in line for 2 shows - only to be turned away as we were almost at the gate! so after that happened twice to us - i decided we would just have our picnic lunch and play on the playgrounds at the dolfinarium. (the time we came as a family - the kids wanted to play on the playgrounds more than they wanted to see the exhibits!) they were perfectly happy playing all afternoon - and i was happy to let them play!

see the windmills in the background?

jillian has her tongue sticking out!