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 💗

Young At Heart…If Not In Our Senses


09/24/21

Oma Inge took Lake for a bike ride, so that I could have a child free morning to get myself and our things together, as we were once again bound for Germany for the weekend.

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Before heading there though, we were stopping in at a cousin’s home.

And before getting to the cousin’s home, we stopped at one of the few Starbucks scattered across The Netherlands.

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I was so looking forward to a coffee like I’d have at home annnnd they messed it up because I forgot they don’t do cream here 🙄 It’s milk or nothing, so instead they tried a cloud foam on top, and it just turned out to be a very strong, mostly black iced coffee, which had a weird flavour once the foam settled. Needless to say, it was disappointing 🙈

Being served traditional and delicious Norwegian waffles made by our cousins Norwegian wife, lifted my spirits 🤪  (yes it is probably somewhat obvious that she’d be Norwegian, but just in case there was a question as to why the waffles would be ‘authentic’ I thought I’d clarify 😜 ).

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After we’d eaten, we headed to go bowling. 

Which turned into mini golf, some air hockey, and a roller coaster simulator… as well as some bowling 🤪
The glow golf was a bit over stimulating at times and I felt horrible that Lake had to come along on the roller coaster simulator, but he hardly complained and really was a little champ 😉💗👍🏻

We had fun being kids though and truly enjoyed our afternoon together ☺️
Even though all of the noise, dim and or flashing lights, really made us feel a little old, once we excited out into the now, seemingly ‘serene’ out of doors 🤪

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Sadly, Lake had begun to feel a little under the weather the day before and thus, he was pretty subdued for all the above activities, and this is how he sadly looked during the remaining drive to Aunties.

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Judith’s was gotten to nearer bedtime than not, so once the kids had gotten in their hellos, it was also time for them to say goodnight, and we adults followed not long after.

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Grands, Greek And Good Times

09/23/21

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

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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 🤪

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

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

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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 😜👌🏼

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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 🤪

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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😉

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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 😉

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