Flavours From The Past

09/28/21

I can’t really recollect what happened this day… will you all be able to make it? Not knowing the details of a day of my life?! 🤪 

As far as I can recall, I was actually not feeling fantastic, aching and having some very bad headaches throughout the day.

So between unpacking, laundry, Lake tending, showering etc. the day passed by.
Mike had went out and purchased supplies to make supper during my and Lakes nap, as Inge was working that day and we had no plans for the evening. He purchased what we’d have typically gotten some random day for a meal back when we lived in Europe.

Four, breaded and seasoned pork schnitzel €5.00

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Pre – chopped and seasoned potato’s €0.89

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Bagged lettuce, tomato’s and mozzarella €3.00

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Garlic baguette €0.50

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Mike also did most of the preparations for dinner ☺️💗 

Because he’d been bound to the house for most of the day, aside from him grocery buying expedition, he ‘needed’ to get out 🤪
Thus, meaning he wanted me, to go out with him too 🙄🤪
I suppose I should be flattered but really he just can not relax in a space… where I prefer to become a part of a space 🤪🙈
We opted to go to a nearby restaurant to grab a drink while Oma and Lake went for an evening bike ride.

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Since I still felt a bit under the weather, I ordered a mint tea and Mike got a hot chocolate.

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You probably know by now that I don’t advise tea drinking, but if you do it, the way they do mint tea with the actual leaves/stems, is rather a nice way to partake of the tepid, slightly confused water style drink 😉

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09/29/21

Oma Inge had the day off of work, and when that would occur, she’d urge us to make use of her grandmotherly abilities of babysitting 😉
Zevenaar was the town we decided to go explore for a little while, as well as begin some of the purchasing of items we desired to take back with us.

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We began with fries and ice cream. Knowing we’d be regretting it if we didn’t take every opportunity we had, to indulge in those two simple pleasures 😉🤪

As we wandered along the street, a sign for a men’s clothing shop that was having a closing down sale, caught Mikes eye 🤓
He entered in casual attire and left with a new suit and dress shirt in hand 😅

Unplanned and mostly unneeded, but the joy on his face while he tried on suits, was nearly worth the price tag 😜🙈

Oma paraded Lake around while we where out. Biking, walking, visiting neighbours etc. keeping him (and herself😉) ever entertained ☺️

Lake’s great Oma and Opa were over when we returned and Opa was quickly interested to learn which shop Mike had gotten his suit from, so he too could go shopping the sale 😉🙈
Such a different genre of men then I am accustomed to having grown up around 😂
Where the very idea of suit shopping would cause great unease 🤪

09/30/21

We three, along with John and Inge, drove to Utrecht to do some exploration. 

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A place in line was found outside of Broodje Mario.

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A restaurant that’s been around since 1977.
A ‘ Broodje Mario’ sandwich was ordered, being made up of cheese, salami, chorizo and a kind of coleslaw mix.
John said he would go and get the same thing when he was growing up near there.

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As the sandwich was shared, it didn’t do much to dent the hunger and not much farther along, some loempia’s were purchased and then a little further, a five guys burger 🤪 The two previous foods were much better than the burger 😬

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It wasn’t the nicest of days weather wise, being overcast and a bit windy, but we walked in and out of enough stores and down enough streets, to stay decently comfortable.

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We walked past the building John’s father had grown up in and it was interesting to see a couple of the places the generation(s) pre Mike, had experienced ☺️

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A drink and snack were gotten before we walked back to the vehicle and drove back in the direction of the house.

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I got another mint test, but as my unwell feeling had left, so had my enjoyment of said tea 🙈


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I snoozed a little during the drive to our next quick stop at John’s brothers office to say a quick hello, to combat the car sickness that taunts me all around Europe.

863F09D2-73D3-4501-9B82-C1F16B6C3C47Once we got back home, Inge mixed us up a salad for dinner and Mike went out to eat and watch a Vitesse soccer game with his cousin. He’d said I was welcome to go with them, but I respectfully declined 😜
Lake was tired from the day out, so he went to bed decently and I used that opportunity to chat with the sister back home 💗

The Sunday Rhythm

09/19/21

An early Sunday morning greeted us.

Once again, preparing of myself, the son, the diaper bag etc. took way, and then we joined the family for breakfast. 
Adorning the table before us, were baskets holding different varieties of breads, various spreads, sprinkles and butter, cheeses, meats, juice and coffee.
A classic Dutch breakfast 😉🥐🥖🧀🥨☕️

It was a one-hour drive to church, which we experienced in the company of our hosts, as we rode together with them since we’d be returning to their house again afterwards.

We then rode back with another couple (Mikes cousin and his wife), since they’d be headed back to the house sooner and that’s always a plus where taking care of Lake is concerned, and when my having to mingle with fewer people is concerned as well 🙈

Some McDonald’s was grabbed on the drive back and for the most part, we discussed food. Which when you write that maybe it sounds a little sad, but it seems to always be a satisfying topic if the people you’re with, are like-minded food consumers 🤪

We got to tour some of their newly renovated home and loved what we saw.

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Black kitchen cabinets, high ceilings with beams for added texture and some really unique, window style room dividers which gave the space some boundaries, while also keeping it feeling open.

They live right beside the home we stayed at, so we eventually crossed the yard and relocated over there for the meal of Dutch snacks that had been picked up.

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Our evening was then spent visiting and playing a game.

Amidst trying to get Lake to sleep, which he wasn’t so willing to do as the night before. This time being awake enough to realize he was in a different surrounding than usual.

All in all, though we were away from our home, and our home away from home, the Sunday rhythm changes little. Arise early, prepare for church, attend, a decent chunk of driving, afternoon lazing about, eating and so on and so forth 😉

 

* I ask that you do your best to ignore any spelling mistakes, as on my iPad the set up is different, and I can’t find an easy way to do a spelling / grammar check. Thank you for your understanding 🤪

 
 

 

Meneer En Mevrouw

09/18/21

‘…Going to the chapel, and we’re, gonna get married, going to the chapel …’

… or in this case, not ‘we’, but ‘they’, and in a converted barn and outdoor ceremony space, not a chapel. You get the idea though 😉

Packing and wedding preparing took up the morning, and then we were off on the two some hour drive to the wedding location in Groningen, where our cousin was going to be tying the knot. 
We ended up getting to the area a little earlier than expected, so we found some coffee and a cookie to hold us over until after the ceremony.

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It was humorous to us that the ‘to go’ cup proudly stated ‘I’m a big, hot cup’ when it was very clearly, ‘a small little cup’ in our Canadianized eyes 🤪
But that’s fine, and the white chocolate chip with macadamia nuts was actually really tasty 👌🏻

At the wedding location, Lake was more than ready to be out of his car seat and or stroller, walking with anyone who’d take him. Though going to anyone who’s willing to have him, has NOT been a problem whatsoever this trip 🤪

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He and I watched the groom arrive in a vintage mustang, and the bride exit the building, from a little seating area, away from the actual event.
He finally settled down and stopped his possibly unwelcome noises, once he found a stick to scratch the dirt with 🤪 
Daddy came for us, saying the announcer had said the kids were welcome to be decently free, since it was a smaller, mostly family wedding, with many of whom, had many small children 😅🙈 So, the stick held him over for a while, then his distant cousin the row in front of us and finally, the baby’s breath decorating the chair, is what took over in the area of distraction until the ceremony ended 😬

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‘Meneer en Mevrouw Ezra Hagenouw’, were announced 💗🎶💐 

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We were then dismissed, and the greetings began as everyone slowly made their way into the open courtyard area for the cutting and eating of the cake. 
That is when Lake and I again took our exit, as nap time was due.

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After sometime, the pleasant weather and jostling of the walk had its way, and Lake entered dreamland.
There wasn’t really anywhere to leave him that would be easily accessible/not loud, so I sat with him outside…catching up on blog writing while I had a moment. 
(While also trying to ignore my belly’s disappointment at missing out on the cake 🤪)
45 minutes later, his little nap ended and then his oma took over 😉

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Weddings in Holland generally have servers roaming about, taking drink orders, clearing away old ones. It’s such a nice  feature that makes it feel that extra bit of special. Though that could just be my perception of it since it’s not something I’ve ever experienced at a wedding at home 😋

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Chatting amongst the everyone passed the time until dinner was served, at which time Lake become our charge again, and we happily partook of the meal ☺️
An ice cream cart was presented come dessert time.

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Meanwhile, I’m not sure where Lake really was or what he was doing, but I assume he was for the most part with either his oma or opa 😅🙈 It was a smaller wedding and Mike was related to, or friends with almost all who were in attendance, so it was a nice place for Lake to mingle.

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He is also the one responsible for the destruction of this hay bale…

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These are the only ‘us’ pictures that were captured.

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The wedding moved into the enclosed side of the building as evening came and brought a chill with it.

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The time for speeches, slideshows and games thus began. 
Lake’s patience was waning but another nap via the stroller wasn’t going to be an option, as he knew not to fall for such trickery again 🤪

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Finally, the night drew to an end, and we drove a couple of minutes to the home of some family we’d be staying with over the weekend.

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Lake succumb to sleep the moment we drove out of the parking lot and stayed that way as we deposited him into the crib in our room…

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This Little Piggy Went To Market…

09/12/21

 

After the late bedtime, he did sleep in until 10:30, so it wasn’t too terrible in the end 😅

Our hostess had a tasty spread of homemade bread, seasoned scrambled eggs, bacon and a sundry of other choices waiting for us ☺️

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The kids were in school until early afternoon, so not long after we’d eaten, we headed to the nearby ‘Globus ’ grocery store. 
We’d been in it before, but it’s one of the largest grocery stores around, being known for its ‘American style’  in grand size and variety. 
It truly is a big store, Canadian, American or German 🤪

Having a huge grocery selection as well as all the other superstore style sections, baby, home, etc. 
Judith needed a few things, pork for supper being one such item on the list, but we also went specifically for a container she had shown me the previous day. A nifty little base with a detachable  top compartment, which would be perfect for the yogurt & granola Mike takes every day to work. 

We took our time there, having lots to look at and prices and selection to be in awe over, once more 😉 These aisles alone, being some cheese selections…

Euros to dollars mean things aren’t quite as cheap as they first appear, but not enough so to change the fact that SO many of the groceries are insanely affordable compared to what we’ve gotten used to back home. 
Lake got himself a free wurst at the meat counter, and he as well as we, were pretty thrilled with it 😜👌🏻

 

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Once we left there, the kids were back from school and got to see Lake for a moment before it was his nap time and their homework time 😉

It was a beautiful day out and after a little sitting to enjoy it, I went and joined Lake in his nap, wanting to catch up on some of the sleep we’d been missing out on. 
When we awoke, Mike was hedge trimming, which is seriously something he really enjoys doing 😂👍🏻

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Lake was entertained and lugged around via his cousins and Aunty for the following chunk of afternoon, pre-dinner 😉

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We enjoyed a dinner of chicken, bread, oven baked rosemary potatoes, a couscous salad and pork belly.

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A cut of meat my brother-in-law had been excited to try out and we, the willing and approving recipients 👌🏻😎

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We kept Lake up late with us, trying to stretch the bedtime as long as we could, since we were up visiting anyway.

In the end, that backfired on us… big time 🥴

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* I ask that you do your best to ignore any spelling mistakes, as on my iPad the set up is different and I can’t find an easy way to do a spelling / grammar check. Thank you for your understanding 🤪

Day One Desynchronosis 

09/11/21

Lake awoke crying about 45 minutes after he’d went to bed, so I settled him down and he joined us for the remainder of the night.

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So much for bringing his crib sheet from home so his bed felt more familiar 😜 My sleep was restless until around 2, when Lake then awoke, ate a big bottle and didn’t want to go back to sleep 🤪

Mike took him to the play room for a while and then Inge took a turn because she said she was awake anyways. Eventually he began to seem drowsy again, so they tried to lay him down, but that was a no go 😅 So we took him bed once more, where he flip flopped around, watched some Luca, crawled all over us and then finally settled enough to be slowly rocked back to sleep around 5.

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We all slept in until 10:30 and could have kept sleeping, but figured if we wanted to attempt to get into the rhythm of the days ahead, we’d better not. It was just us three for  the morning, as John and Inge had left that morning to attend a weekend church camp being held nearby.

We figured we’d see how the night/morning went and go from there if we’d join them at all or not.

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Mike made us coffee and sugar bread toast for brunch and by the time we ate, tided, cleaned up the room from the night before and got the diaper bag restocked etc.etc. It was time for Lake’s first nap of the day, which he took easily, in his crib.

We had to wake him up in order to go to the camp, which was around 25 minutes away.

He sat calmly and lazily in his car seat (not something he’s really done for any amount of time before🤪) for more than half of the drive, looking up at the trees through the sunroof. Here they let babies sit front facing from 9 months old, so he’s been enjoying the views I think 😉

We shall see how much he likes being faced back again, once we go home 🥴🙈

We arrived, and the meet and greet began 🤪

It was a lot of family/extended family, so it was nice to be able to see them there for a moment even,  in case we didn’t get a chance later on. 
Lake did so well with meeting everyone and being squished and squeezed and  handed around, not playing strange or getting upset at all, so that was relieving 😅 
So many remark that, ‘he is so soft?!’… I thought all babies were but it’s seeming like perhaps that isn’t actually the case? 😜

He got to meet both sets of great opa’s and oma’s and sat for a ‘four generations’ photo with his great opa Hagenouw, opa John and daddy 🙂

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We went to a cabin the family was renting for the weekend and used that opportunity to change him out of his wet clothes and give him a snack. The rained on grass having been too much of a crawling temptation 🤪

The coffee table was spread with tea and coffee, cake, cookies and sweet treats. The most classic of Dutch spreads 😉

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I truly still do not understand how they stay so slight of stature here 😅 Bread in the morning, the afternoon and the in-betweens, as well as some warm drinks and sweets sprinkled in and possibly some cakes/tarts depending on where you are 🤪

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We visited there for a while as the rain came down outside and then Lisanne took Lake to the nearby park before the church service began. Mike wanted to stay for the songs at least but midway through, Lake had more than enough so we tried to quietly exit and head back to the house.

Lake fell asleep on my shoulder a few steps out of the church, which I don’t think has ever happened during this first year of his life 😅


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He’s always been too easily distracted to relax enough to sleep out in the open, since he passed 5 months or so. 
The poor little guy was very done with the big day, but he did very well despite the lack of naps and all of the new faces 💗

He awoke at 1:30 am and played calmly for a couple of hours before I got him back to sleep for the duration…

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 * I ask that you do your best to ignore any spelling mistakes, as on my iPad the set up is different and I can’t find an easy way to do a spelling / grammar check. Thank you for your understanding 🤪

In-Laws – In Quarantine, A ‘Jem Moment’

Jem Moment 

It’s been a long while since I posted a ‘Jem Moment’ but I think it may be time to try to bring them back with a little more regularity 😉

To start off their renewal, I’d like to give a shout-out to my in-laws.

Not only did they travel to see us from Europe but they did it during a time in which they knew they’d have to be quarantined, in our house, for two weeks, with only one day of freedom before they continued on their way.

That would be tough to accept when paying for tickets and using up vacation days, even if you were going somewhere with nice weather to enjoy but they came to Saskatchewan, in November, a few days before a record breaking dump of snow…

I think we were all holding our breath a little wee bit, wondering how the family morale would stay high and contemplating just how slowly time would pass during those two weeks. In the end, it actually went rather quickly. Perhaps even quicker than a visit full of activities has passed?
That’s my opinion though… you may need to ask them personally, for theirs 😜

Along with the visiting and usuals of a visit from family members, there were some added perks…

I got spoiled with babe free mornings.
Mike took to delivering Lake downstairs to his mom, when he’d leave the house for work.
Meaning I got to sleep in… even later than I slept before Lake was actually born 😅

Along with sleep filled mornings, I hardly had to do any dishes, maybe half of the daily bottle feedings and very few #2 diaper changes.

I always thought it would be odd to raise kids how the royals used to… having a servant bring them their baby when they wanted and also taking them away when wanted.
But now, I’m not so sure 😂🙈

Mike got some help from his dad too, having him assist in insulating walls and then beginning to instal metal on the ceiling in the garage.

(Note the difference of height they are standing on their ladders?
I feel like I got a glimpse of how it looks when Mike asks ME for help. Always having to stand on something taller, stretching to my max to attempt to level out with his end of things 🤪)

 

So this little post is simply to say, thank you. Thank you for making the effort to come see us during these uncertain times and for the time and attention you devoted to Lake, along with all the treats and help you gave his parents 😉

They have now gone on to spoil the next grand baby and enjoy some well deserved sunshine!

…and a baby is once again laying in my bed come early morning 😉

Thank you for the rapt attention, cuddles and love Opa and Oma! ♥️


Love, Lake

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