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.

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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. 

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

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

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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 🤪

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

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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.

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

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

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

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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 😉

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Where We Once ‘Winkled’

09/21/21

Winkel –  To shop.

A Dutch word that never fails to amuse me 🤪

We’d pre-planned a shopping date with Oma as babysitter for Tuesday, so we readied ourselves and drove to Arnhem.

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That’s the city we’d typically go to for a day of shopping when we lived here. It’s street shopping, meaning in and out of stores, walking down streets and allies, where I’d be completely turned around and lost if not for Mike always seeming to know which way to go, to get to wherever we are headed 🤪

It didn’t take too long until we felt like we needed food, so we went to one of Mikes favourite places to get fries. Spot him ordering below.

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It’s very much a Dutch thing to eat fries, but Mike REALLY loves them. 

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I love the mayo and peanut sauté sauce that covers up that fact that I’m eating fries 🤪

We walked and shopped and didn’t really find much. The stores being on what I consider to be the slightly pricier side and a fair chunk of them currently having very similar styles.

I always enjoy ‘Dille & Kamille’ a shop with a variety of home and gift items.

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Mike gets sick of my picking up all the little cutesy things, wishing I’d just look at something of substance, but I can’t help that A; little things are cuter and B; we have only suitcase room, so that’s what I’m keeping in mind 😏

This adorable wooden seashell hairbrush set was spotted in a children’s shop. I found it to be extremely precious.

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The €60.00 price tag meant it stayed there and wouldn’t be a gift for the newest niece though 🤪  
A follower wisely reminded me though that there aren’t only mermaids but also mermen, so technically it could have been for Lake 😜🙌🏻

There was a ‘pepernoten’ pop up shop due to it being fall and nearing their Sinterklaas season (look it up if you’re curious, I find it confusing 🤪 It’s like a pre Christmas thing, which is very much like Christmas 🤓) so we purchased a bag to take home. I remember mom getting ‘peppernut’ cookies from the farmers market when we were young, so there must have been a seller of European decent 😊

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Back at the house, nearly empty-handed from shopping, it was decided that a calzone, kapsalon and pasta would be ordered in for supper.

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Babysitting had gone well for Oma, and she’d taken Lake on a 20 km bike exploration 😅

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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 🤪

Dallying Through Doesburg

09/16/21

The day after he turned one, Lake truly matured in the area of sleeping. Deciding it was time to grow up, go to bed nicely, and stay that way until 9:30 for the sake of his under-rested parents 🤪👍🏻

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There were no more coffee beans in the house, so that of course had to be taken care of asap! So, Daddy and Lake hopped on the bike and went to the store to purchase some 😅

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Lake is loving his bike rides… or at least, that’s what I hear 😜👍🏻

We had a lazy morning and then went into Doesburg to do a little bit of exploration.
Walking through the streets, popping in and out of shops.

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Lake did his best to hold onto mommy’s first purchase 😂👌🏻💗

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Struggling with his chunky little hands, to maintain his grasp.

Hans is a little specialty sweet shop we went into, and though the chocolates didn’t grab my attention, something in the front display case did.
A lemon meringue tart. I couldn’t believe my luck at finding one so quickly during the trip, as usually it takes stopping at multiple shops to find one
😉

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Mike also purchased a coffee/hazelnut dessert to try.

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The style here is really beyond what I can attain, so clothes shopping in the ladies boutiques has never yielded too much 🙈

 

 

Ferry Snacks, a snack bar in town, was our ending note. The owner/sever paused in his helping Mike, looking at him before asking if he lived around here because He recognized him, but felt like it had been a long time since he’d seen him. So ensued the conversation of how yes, he was from there, and yes, it had been awhile 😜 We left with a promise to be back again before out trip was over 😉

7B6772FF-C349-41A7-A9F8-B6FD0ECF6E89The main course was nasi ballen, a frikandel and fries, then followed by ice cream with sprinkles 😉👌🏻

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Lake was introduced to the sprinkle addition and it seemed as though he enjoyed it, though it’s rare that he seems NOT to enjoy something so ya
😏
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Mike ordered and picked up ‘Kapsalon’ for supper, as his mom had worked the whole day and our plan of purchasing kibbeling (fried fish) for supper hadn’t been possible since the fish shop was closed 🙄

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Not that we didn’t want to eat kapsalon while here as well 🤓

As I’ve explained all of these dishes before, I’ll refrain from doing so again. So if you really have a question about a dish, feel free to ask in the comments 😉

* 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 🤪

 

To Do, To Eat, To Visit

May 2nd –

Come Thursday our ‘to do, to eat, to visit’ (not eat who we visit 🤪) list, was greatly shrunk… one remaining item was to visit our other set of grandparents.

Besides that, we didn’t have any specific plan and decided to let the day take us where it would 💁🏻‍♀️

It took us to Utrecht because Mike found a store there that carried Tout Patisserie macarons 🤓
Which are the best macarons we’ve ever eaten and had planned to get from Amsterdam, depending how our trip went.
The place we went to only had two of the pistachio flavour, which is our very favourite, so we purchased them and thought maybe they would satisfy the sweet tooth enough that we wouldn’t need to make a stop in Amsterdam.

As it turns out, it only intensified the desire and Tout Patisserie was typed into the GPS 🤪😂
Not immediately, as we did think of some stops along the way but it was the destination none the less 🤓 Continue reading “To Do, To Eat, To Visit”

Filling All Facets

April 30th –

We had planned to do some shopping more focused on Mich, (since I had my day in South Africa 🤓) so we drove to Arnhem to check out our old shopping grounds 😏

It was chilly out while walking between the shops but not too bad and luckily the warmth of that ‘accomplished shopping trip’ feeling, was with us, as Mike quickly found a new pair of jeans that were on sale, fit and in a good color… three rarities . Plus I got a free, in store coffee to enjoy while he tried stuff on 👍🏻

This art caught my attention during our walking, the bright colors calling out to be seen 😁💜

We got a freshly made large stroopwafel to accompany us for a few steps down the chilly streets and shopping continued.

Ending with Mich finding three shirts, riveting details I know 😉

 

Plans to visit cousins for dinner had been made, so we headed there, pausing at the Starbucks along the way 🤓☕️

Probably one of the only Starbucks that he can say his full, actual name at and they will even spell it right 😉

We dined on ‘bami’ and chatted awhile before settling onto the couch to converse between watching the soccer game that was going on. True bonding time for the boys 😉
We left there around 11:00 or so, having over an hours drive to get back home.

 

May 1st –

Mike finally completed his house painting assignment around 12:30 that afternoon 🙌🏻


The whole upper portion of the house went from dark blue and creamy, off white windows and trim to entirely dark grey 👌🏻🏠
Some of the lower areas being left for the father-in-law to finish up, as the heights aren’t his favourite thing. Thus they were the main focus for Mich to complete.

The littlest niece from nearby was spending time at Inge’s home, so when Mich and I went to town for loempia’s and ice cream, she came along ☺️

A few of the groceries we wanted to take back home with us were purchased during the quick town trip as well.
As always, I thought we’d have spacious suitcase situations post the gift giving but our shopping has proved to be rather, successful.
Which is always a mixed feeling of satisfaction and trepidation, depending on just HOW successful 🤪

We left Doesburg a bit later in the afternoon, along with Inge and the niece, to go to Germany for the birthday party of our brother-in-law and another niece.
Moments after arrival, we had cake and coffee in our hands… not a bad way to be welcomed 😉
Mich had his, as well as my piece, of the chocolate banana ‘mole’ cake and I had a crunchy, white chocolate & cornflake sweet, served with strawberries.
No pictures available… as it often is when food is handed to us quickly and we forget that pictures are the only enjoyment for those reading this 🤪

The BBQ was lit, the meat grilled and the spread of food greatly enjoyed 👌🏻🤤

A strawberry and white asparagus salad, a couscous salad, fried mushrooms, seasoned feta cheese, a feta sauce for the meat, a pull apart garlic roll, fries and a variety of meats to choose from.


It was all delicious and ate with much pleasure 👍🏻

Our brother-in-laws grandpa asked us if we’d like to go for a ride in his 1995, Jaguar.
So we of course politely declined, as the shiny forest green car with that well known jaguar emblem on the hood, held no interest for us 😉 <- Lies.

Before the car was passed to him, his friend had originally bought it for his wedding and kept it in pristine condition until he passed away.
We were told about all aspects of the car in great detail, hearing the attachment and reverence in his voice, more than the actual facts 😉👌🏻

Once we left the party, we drove to Roermond to the shopping outlet there to look for some soccer shoes for Mich.
He didn’t find any of those but he did find everyday shoes instead 😏👍🏻

Mall-Nourished

April 13th –

We arose and readied ourselves to leave with one our personal driver/tour guide/shopping companions, to meet the other, for breakfast 😉

Eating at Lacoco C Food Purveyors was a very enjoyable experience 😁
The restaurants and food that we held in memory, were indeed the same as we recalled and that’s pretty impressive because I feel like usually people either build up, or tear down in their recollections 🤪

The decor and overall ambiance was so enjoyable and the eye could wander they entire time, catching some new detail or feature that begged for further attention 👌🏻💕

I ordered French toast, Mike got an egg and bacon breakfast sandwich and I also got my first juice of grapefruit, pineapple and mint 🤤🍴🍍 Continue reading “Mall-Nourished”

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