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Back into the routine after a lovely few weeks in France.

We ate, drank, laughed, relaxed and spent a wonderful 5 days with the Australian side of the family.

Good to be home though too...

Monkeys

 

On Sunday I decided to bite the bullet and despite the rain take the children to the zoo.

I believe it was my first real outing on my own with the kids, ever.

It was a very successful day. We all had great fun. And although I had a splitting headache at the end of the day I was so proud of myself for having pulled it off. I love my three monkeys.

Heavenly

Last week we attended a church service that was organised by the school.

As a non-churchgoer and general atheist it was quite the experience for me. I'm thinking that out of interest I may go again sometime to have a proper idea of what's going on during a service.

 

I took this sneaky photo of the crowd reflected in the chandelier... I love it!

Getting (c)old

 

In Holland people have been complaining for years that we weren't getting any "real" winters anymore. Temperatures were quite mild, there was hardly any snow and we didn't get to enjoy any ice-skating. Well, not this winter!!

 

We've been experiencing true winter weather for almost two months straight now. Snow, more snow, ice, slippery roads and lots of cold. Don't let anyone dare complain of our lack of real winter in this country.

 

I'm no fan of winter and the novelty has well and truly worn off for me. However, nothing anyone can do about it. While I wait for spring to arrive I just keep taking lots of wintery photos!

 

Warm Sunday

 

We had such a nice and relaxing Sunday. Autumn really was at its best today.

 

We decided to cycle to the heath. Two bikes, five people... so cosy. The sun was lovely and warm.

 

At the heath the children ran about; there was so much to discover!

 

We soaked up the sun on a small hill, enjoying it all.

 

Then we went home where we had hot chocolate and pancakes.

 

Right now Michel is cooking, the children are playing and I'm doing a bit of sewing... I'm happy!

Perfection

I'm not a fan of autumn. Mostly because autumn means that winter is around the corner. All the cold, and the rain, and the dark... no, it's not really my thing.

 

That said, I must admit that autumn has its own specialities as well: the golden light, the colourful leaves and toadstools. And on our walk on Sunday we had a bit of all that.

 

But this little fellow was definitely the most gorgeous thing we found. Pure perfection if you ask me.

 

There were many other gems to be found as well.

 

The secret garden.

 

We love this place. And are certainly grateful that we can step right out of our door into this lovely bit of Holland.

 

 

It finally happened

After many attempts we finally got to fly in the hot air balloon last Friday!

 

It had all started in 2006 when Michel gave me a ticket for my birthday. Since then we nearly went twice and had a couple of other cancellations. However, this time the weather conditions were good, so we actually went.

 

It was amazing and very exciting. We went as high as 2000 metres to catch the right wind. We went through the clouds! At that point looking down was a little scary :)

The silence was fantastic, so very peaceful. And it's not cold at all up there since you're going as fast as the wind is.

It was an hour and a half of bliss and then we had a soft landing. Now have a great experience to look back upon!

At the beach

 

Mmmm, we spent a gorgeous day at the beach today. It was the same beach that we went to last time.

It was just warm enough to be comfortable and although the wind was quite strong, it wasn't bothering us.

I was once again reminded that I love the beach. I do also love the forest or heath, but for me nothing beats the feeling of sand between my toes.

The children had so much fun. Simon was mostly in the water digging for little animals, Amber was literally rolling around in the sand and Linus loved to chase the seagulls. And Michel and I watched them and read (a few pages of) our book.

The surroundings, the company, the weather and the pace made this truly a perfect holiday-day.

A summery haven

We're getting about quite a bit while we are enjoying our summer holidays. On tuesday we went to a public garden that we've been passing for years. It turned out to be a wonderful hidden spot!

There was a little building where you could buy tea or coffee, which you could then drink under the trees. There was also a little shop selling flowers and a shop selling organic produce.

The flowers and plants were so carefully put together with beautiful colour combos.

The whole place breathed a warm quietness that made us wish we a had a garden like this. It was a very relaxing and inspiring visit. And it made us realise once again that you don't have to go far to find pretty places, this is only a 20-minute drive from us.

I put some more photos on Flickr.

Up in the air

We tried to fly again today. In vain :(

 

It turned out that the wind was too strong to fly safely.

We still enjoyed ourselves though.

It was a spectacular sight to see the balloon fill up with air. Unfortunately that was all the action we were going to get. Although, we were also supposed to help fold the balloon and put it in the bag. Well, makes a change from folding the laundry :)

Next week we will try again! Fourth time is a charm?!