Picking Up Our Parental Duties

10/05/21

The view we awoke to, was slightly different than the previous mornings 😅

D5996FC8-075F-4EB7-9C2C-72FE320CE5C6

I had no idea where we had driven to the previous night, and asked Mike how long it would take to get back to his parents.
He said we could text his mom to have cappuccinos ready, and that would be about how long it would take 🤪 

So, about ten minutes later, we pulled into the driveway, Lake being held up in the window to see who was arriving 🤓

52C9B394-1616-4CDD-A950-AE361868A136

We greeted him with gusto and he began babbling and wanted to go back and forth within seconds, between Mike and I for a few moments 🤪💗

531E9C50-0D40-4FC2-B684-3427E09E1429


The RV was slowly unloaded, bedding brought in, refrigerator emptied, and our things being hauled back to the top of the house to our room. 
Some of Lakes cousins came for a visit later that afternoon, so he was preoccupied with them, and they with him 😉👌🏻

459A0A21-9740-4E35-AC90-EB74ECF00BBA

I tried to catch up on blogging.

939E57C0-D896-4D78-84B7-42C402BACEF6

I wrote but I did not catch up, as this post is the very proof of that fact 🤪🙈

Oma took him out for a bike ride and then later that evening we got to catch up over coffee and sweets in the living room.

C8EDBD2B-6907-4CCB-A720-3FD52636C834

Where Lake promptly made himself at home upon the coffee table.

C5F2160B-0187-492B-936B-C47482ED7367

You leave for a few days, and the opa lets the little guy take over 😉😜

10/06/21

Memory has once again failed me as to what occurred during much of this day, but I believe we stayed around the house for the most part.
We did go out to a Dutch grocery store or two, to purchase the last of the Dutch items on our ‘take home’ list.

For humours sake, I photographed the size of their sugar bags.

06788D40-F9B5-4EC9-9106-00B6ECCAEF85

It was so funny/unbelievable to me the first time we went grocery shopping there when we lived in Europe, and this was the size of sugar bag I was told they use 😅 Memories 🤪

We were going to the brother and sister-in-laws for supper that evening, and as they are in Germany, we got to stop at a German grocer too 😏 Where I remembered to take a picture of the flour bags as well 🙈

8C28639F-76EF-4146-B542-FB1C4548AEA5

Schnitzel round two was partaken of.

DDB3B01D-E8D0-4B75-9BCE-C108525CF384

And enjoyed just as much as round one had been 😉

CF0DACA5-6AAC-4443-B9F9-8B79B259651D

After dinner and dessert, important things like massages took place 😉

0CF9CD1B-99FB-439A-9CD4-1E275B1C9015


10/07/21

I woke up to the boys making coffee, and heating up some breads purchased the day before ☺️

2F1D51A1-CD9F-4D98-A26A-7DE61CF7C15C

5F988FA1-E531-40EC-A214-EC205141FB3C

After Lakes morning nap, we went out to do a little afternoon shop perusing.

A3DD1A5C-F6FF-467E-93F0-F81EB254C363

Finding things that we could not take home with us 🤪

We had to get back home for the little to get in another nap, and while he slept, Mike went out and got us ice creams 😋

8897B5FA-0FFC-48E6-934B-1C310DA82604

He also got me another margarita pizza and himself, the Chinese loempia, one last dish on his ‘to eat’ list 😉

5FA5805F-AAA4-484F-A64F-9C581CB204F1

Though Lake had supposedly done very well when we were away, napping easily and sleeping through the nights, once I returned, he showed his emotions about our having been away.
Requiring me to rock him fully to sleep, lay him down as gently as possible, before tip toeing out of the room, hoping I wouldn’t have to do it all over again if he twitched open an eyelid.
That went on every night, until we left.
Where as before we’d went on our road trip, we were able to lay him down with a bottle, leave the room and that would be that 😅

Mission: Accomplished


I slacked in keeping up the day to day journaling whilst on the trip, due to usually just wanting to go right to sleep, whenever bedtime finally came around 😅 And typically being too busy during the days, to post.

But in doing so, I now have no posts written up in advance and have to rely on photos to stoke the embers of memory, which saddens me because I know I have forgotten potentially interesting details. So from now on, it’s all just out of recollection and not from recent happenings.

Forgive me if the details are lacking 😉

09/27/21

The children were in school, so Judith had the morning to go out with us ☺️
We went to Coffee Brew Krefeld.

DD501F6F-491D-4B6B-ACED-653EB5089E0B

A modern/earthy little breakfast spot with tasty drinks and a menu filled with healthy, yet intriguing breakfast options.
Mike went for what was possibly their only non-healthy option 🤪

It sounded good to me too, but I didn’t want to just get two of the same dishes, so Judith and I went for smoothie bowl style dishes. 

AC946248-DCDA-4AD6-A36E-F6EA7C7F2B80A27A8599-D8DB-4C43-B16D-7BADDDBE77A8

All of us got specialty drinks which were very tasty and the presentation of it all, made it all the more enjoyable 😉

FE136D7A-E6BF-40CE-90C2-D8F95CBE7ADB20344586-E326-49A5-B3C2-2602D13C4605

From there, we headed into town to do some shopping. 

AA6F7399-E5CE-4FFE-A7AC-3A230D286130

Judith making it her mission to find me some clothing stores after our failed shopping in Arnhem 🤪 
And she didn’t disappoint!

In the first store, C&A, she and Mike took off, loading their arms with clothing for me and then ushering me to the change room 🤪

82250368-FC8A-4D8E-B901-A24D02A204CA

I left with 5 skirts, one costing a whopping €2.99!😅 
Redeeming the shopping aspect of the trip 😉👌🏻 

963D278E-D821-438F-A902-492B2CCDD6EB

I also ended up purchasing a slightly dressier winter coat from Vera Moda. 
So then I decided the shopping excursion must end 🤪

Actually our time for being out before the kids got back home from school was up as well, so it was timely 😉 
Mike made us all some poffertjes for an afternoon bite to eat, and once we’d enjoyed those and packed up, we began our journey back to Doesburg.

DAB901FD-B751-479F-AF9B-D7C12EE5E8E32692CCFE-6B86-47D3-8CCA-3BCAEE21FE36

Not before some photos could be taken with each other though 😊

CB3713B2-CDE6-4680-9D26-66AACC42BCCB0B505491-6D3F-4788-AB27-2EFEEE53903C6EAD4EBD-FD36-4743-AEE0-117009A71275

E5814FDC-ED6B-4548-976B-1FED033A694A

(Elaine had quickly changed into the same outfit as me when she’d gotten back from school, so it was no coincidence 😉)

A95C6BAC-CAF9-45AB-87A3-DAC5D4229F02

Since Lake still wasn’t feeling 100%, we decided to stop in and see Oma at her pharmacy job for some advice 😉

B87B4D43-477C-4980-A2B4-37A7EAFC6475

It was also raining pretty good so we stuck around to give her a ride home from work, rather than have her bike home. The delay due to traffic jams, which we are so not accustomed to anymore, and then the little wait for Oma, put Lake over the edge as far as being in the car is concerned. Oma held ‘Luca’  in Lake’s view and that appeased him until we got back and it was Opa’s turn to help get him back into a happier frame of mind 😉

86C6E6B2-DD71-4D3E-B565-405B8B5A3045

Savouring – The Snuggles, The Food, The Family Time

09/26/21

Lake and I had church from the couch on this specific Sunday.

He slept in until 10:30 and was back down for a large nap only an hour and a half later, after only having laid on the floor, or me, during his awake time between. Refusing any food or drink, aside from coffee 🤪

I can’t lie and say I didn’t actually sort of like the snuggles and calmness 🙈
It truly was the first time in his first year of life (aside from the baby days when he didn’t really have any say 🤪) that he willingly clung to me, and wanted to continue doing so 💗

The rest of the family that had attended church, returned with lunch from another Greek restaurant that we had on our ‘to eat’ list 😉

We decided that it did have the better meat compared to the first Greek restaurant we’d went to.
Looks aside 🤪 Why does it seem like some of the tastiest foods, look the least appealing?
So, if you’re ever in the area, make a point to go to ‘Grill Am Bahnhof’ and order Gyros, you can thank us later.

Lake stayed asleep until after lunch, which is always a nice treat 🙈 Once he awoke and seen the kids, he really perked up and seemed to be doing better ☺️

We went for a little visit to some family/friends from church later that afternoon and then popped in to say hello to some more family after that 😅 Mike has no shortage of family, friends and friends like family and so on and so forth, so if we ever had ‘spare’ time, it wasn’t hard to fill 🤪

Originally we’d planned to go back to John and Inge’s that evening, but after learning they’d both be working, we figured we’d might as well stay another night at the sisters, if she’d have us 😉

Once the children were all in bed, we were treated to an evening spread of veggies, sausages and bread with a feta/tomato dip 👌🏼

Untimely Unwellness

09/25/21

Saturday morning began with a family breakfast ☺️🍞🥐🧀🥓

6FABB20D-F75F-4E56-8CDB-2F3E38F80C09

0B78AAB2-6CA3-4E3C-AF5C-901C3976EF3B

Afterwords, Mike went to the barber, Tim, our nephew going with for some guy time 😎 They returned with churros 🤪

95F108FE-792B-40C0-A03B-BE8DAC0FE929

During their time away, Lake was entertained by aunty and uncle, and I got to relax.

29F7275A-0663-4B01-9223-9C1B2837164D

Writing and being served coffee 😉

F8363994-5D75-4603-B49D-8055B5C42FF1

Judith and I went for a 6 km walk, knowing the rest of our day probably wouldn’t hold much movement, as we were headed to a garden party 🤓

2F3C6783-005A-4A5A-8E01-F35652C0B67C

Walking a new route with a new companion (no offence to my regulars 😉) surely makes the walk go by quicker 😅

423E8080-02E2-4F62-854C-61A7C7F7ED07

Lake had been fading in the health category for a couple of days, but it was really showing up this day.

FF3C54FC-78EB-4464-99CE-C61667611CD8

Snuggling with us after his nap instead of jumping up and wanting to be taken out of the room to play, and then slowly becoming more and more clingy as the day went on.
By the time we got to the garden party, he only wanted to be held and didn’t want to play, or eat anything aside from watermelon. All out of the ordinary for him 🤪

A7E7C3BB-9716-4926-8CDA-FFBD3F9B9C4B

We partook of all the food items available, enjoying the variety of goodies 😉

CA042504-50B9-4157-B814-13B5DD8028A1

We eventually took Lake for a walk in the covered wagon supplied by our hosts, to try to get him to sleep. It worked… for a few minutes.

819153E9-5E35-4104-9A16-D5071FF73F41

He then just lounged in it, as he was gazed up and wheeled around…

C685B5FC-9D18-4962-B9B5-8CECF1AA9B94

making it really seemed like a pretty luxury accommodation for a special occupant 🤪

Dinner was served, and we happily indulged in that as well, of course, as we’re no strangers to accepting food 😉

3CE6CECB-1C8A-4136-82AE-62FBE68E727C

After that, we took Lake inside where it was a cooler and less strenuous for our arms, as we could sit on a big comfy couch with him.  Mike went back out to mingle after Lake settled a bit, and I stayed until he fell asleep… and then I actually fell asleep for 20 minutes too 😅

7DC3DD20-11A2-461F-A30F-CF13286901D2

I felt bad once I awoke, as they’d put a note in the doorway to be quiet because there was a baby sleeping…but it wasn’t just a baby 🙈

5C3ACA32-A53A-48A0-9224-FD5253599B4C

The guys went to play a game of soccer late that evening, after the party ended. So Lake and I were taken home to go to bed. 
He threw up before bed, and the poor little guy was very warm and having a hard time getting comfortable. 
Making for a pretty restless night, with many wakings due to his cough and phlegm, causing many paci losses and hasty replacements 🤪😞

It was a little disappointing that the day Lake had his first real bought of ‘cuddle inducing, don’t put me down, and comfort me’ sickness happened during a day that held beautiful weather and multiple people I know a bit better than some, and could have really visited with, but that’s life 😉

 

Grands, Greek And Good Times

09/23/21

A pretty sunrise and macarons for breakfast, meant that the day began on a good note 😉

C68A1F35-AB28-463F-B9DF-2527F52FA3EC

We made arrangements to go and visit with Lake’s great Oma and Opa at their home during that afternoon, where Mike and I were served some hot chocolate and Lake was given a cookie to gnaw on for a while, as he’s still only got two teeth 🤪

8EA3F719-4B94-4312-81D9-1FA366E92421

The toy trunk was opened and all kinds of goodies were taken out and examined.

2DD8FC0B-A12D-421C-AF9D-763A0501CD46

Daddy and Opa had to help show some of the toys and their uses 😉

77F8410D-816F-4A18-93CE-D462EBA94196

Among the things that were brought out for Lake’s entertainment were some traditional Dutch clogs.
We didn’t expect to get as much laughter out of them as we did, but I’m so happy this happened 🙈

Once he realized it was his feet making the noise, he definitely added some extra gusto into his kicks 😂  The other pair of clogs they had, which fit him better, came home with us 😜👌🏼

F90A29F6-954C-4E13-A976-FDD6DC73B81D

Time came for us to end our visit there and drop Lake off at his Aunty’s, so we could go out and enjoy the Greek restaurant in Germany, without him 🤪
Needing to put our full attention on the food 😉
Syrtaki, the place we’d frequent now and then while living in The Netherlands, welcomed us once again.

The complimentary starters of a very heavily dressed yet somehow still tasty salad, little toasted bread slices with two type of butters came out and this time we added a cheese stuffed pepper to go with as well 😅
We got our regular two dishes, planning to share, as we so often tend to do.
It was good, and we overestimated our capabilities as to how much we could eat, but that’s what to go containers are for 🤪

9D3860AF-72DE-48E5-AB1E-86327EA6D1B4

Taking that route along the Rhine river back to the car, we enjoyed the setting sun and Mike pointed out an overlooking apartment he’d once looked at getting for us before our wedding. Due to how far away it was from work and being in Germany where there’s even less English spoken, it had turned into a no go. But it’s interesting to think how things COULD have been in a way.

Dessert awaited us at the sister-in-law’s and little did I know, but she’d made one especially for me😉

1DDB44B8-4FFB-4B90-8A45-638AA621BA21

A lemon meringue tart!

I felt very honoured, and we enjoyed it very much, though we were very, very full at that point 😅
Lake had benefited from some personal bonding and we also, but then came the dessert and visiting with family thrown in, so it was a win-win all around in our books 😉

Uncontrolled Consumption

09/17/21

Friday morning’s breakfast was the lemon meringue tart we’d purchased the day before in Doesburg.

B0FDC73A-BF82-489E-B8D7-3987A154FB7A

(It fell over before we got it in the refrigerator and was then cut into before I could attempt a photo. That’s one reason I’m bad at food blogging, I often get lost in the allure of eating and thus forget to actually document the item, pre-consumption 🤪)

I take my lemon meringue tarts that we purchase during trips, pretty seriously, so I like to make a little event out of it 🤪
Appraise the presentation, taste the curd alone to see how lemony it really is, find out if the meringue is too airy or of the thicker consistency which I so enjoy, etcetera.

This ones meringue was on point, thick and texturally pleasing, not just an airy puff that disappeared upon biting into it 👌🏻
The curd was pleasant,  though perhaps not as wonderfully tart and smooth as some I’ve had.
The downfall of it, in my opinion, was that it had a white cake like base, rather than a crumb bottom.
I prefer having the crunch and contrast in textures, but understand them wanting to do something different from the typical tart.

That afternoon, I had a smattering of packing and preparations to complete for the upcoming weekend, as we’d be attending our cousin’s wedding and then spending a few days in the part of Holland it was being held in.

A dinner date at our sister-in-law Sarah’s was in place for that evening. So we, along with Inge, went for a little afternoon outing to the home and garden centre called Intratuin, to fill the void until we had to leave for dinner.

AC0B73FA-166D-4156-A914-991E5E6C534B

As always there was much home decor to see, and imagine finding uses for 😉 So it’s both a good and a bad thing, that we’ve only got suitcase space 🤓

After dropping Inge back at the house, we were then on our way to Sarah, who lives in Germany as you may or may not recall, depending how much attention you’ve paid over the years or if you’re a newer curiosity quencher and have only just begun reading along on our travels 😉

Schnitzel was on the menu 🤤👌🏻

1F543C67-C064-4238-91B2-986A32FB5419

That’s the thing about visiting… everyone makes sure the dish they feed you, is your favourite 💁🏻‍♀️🤪
The schnitzel along with all the sides, was delicious ☺️

B73A938C-BBC9-4DED-A154-78116A18AE39

We stuffed ourselves, no surprise there, and finished it off with some more after eight crème.

B2BA6086-08BC-45D5-9F88-46C8C7EC8F9D

Lake was as always, entertained thoroughly by the ‘children’ 😉👌🏻

ECBE2AC1-FFD9-49D5-B8C5-21EF2A0E5C3B

* 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 🤪

%d bloggers like this: