Sunday, June 28, 2015

Claire's Back!

We had a very productive week. I only had to work 7 hours or so, and that meant a lot was able to be accomplished. The wine caddies I have been working on are ready to be finished and Naomi and Claire took a car load of stuff over to the cottage yesterday. On Thursday we had a nice time in Delft picking up a few gifts and saying goodbye to our favorite city in the West.

Plenty of other little things have been crossed off the list, and we are getting mentally prepared to say goodbye to our life in Rotterdam and make the loooong journey to Michigan. Good thing Claire is coming along to help us!

Today we will get a chance to relax a little bit, but Ron and Edith will be coming for dinner. Should be a nice evening. Still trying to track down a few more items for the woodworking business we want to start up in the fall before we leave the population density behind. Hopefully I can find them!

Marinus, Alies's partner, came for a visit.

Amélie's milk mustache. 

Trying to escape into the kitchen.

Biker baby.

Amélie caught up with her sister - now she can stand up!

Sunday, June 21, 2015

To the East

We headed back to the Cottage for our last 'weekend trip' and are enjoying it. The next time we come will be with a moving van...

Erna was having such fun babysitting the girls yesterday that she offered to keep them for the night. It has been strangely quiet around here! Naomi and I have been able to get a lot done to prepare for the move.

This coming week in Rotterdam will be quite relaxed. I only have to work for 8 hours or so. We should be able to take some nice trips to the zoo, Delft, and maybe the Hague. If the weather cooperates I can also work on my little woodworking project. Finally a bit of fun!

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Project Week

We have an official project week at school which constitutes the student's last week of the year. Mine was this past week though. I finished up early with the stuff I had to teach, so I got to come up with a nice project about designing a eco-friendly house. The kids are getting pretty into it - nice to see some interest and motivation for a change.

I also have been working on my first little woodworking project that I would like to go commercial with. The only problem I can see with starting up a business at this point is the noise that the machines will make. Not only could it bother the neighbors, but the 'chamber of commerce' might not allow such a business in a residentially zoned area. Something to figure out next year.

Abigail started actually crawling on her hands and knees yesterday. We thought she might just skip that step and jump straight into walking. Amélie has been making progress too. She is pulling herself up on things and can climb over large pillows now. They are starting to play together much more nicely now, and they miss each other when separated. On our way back from the cottage they cried for a lot of the trip (which hasn't happened before), but as soon as we got them out of their separated car seats and put them together in the crib it was a party of laughs and happiness. I am sure that being together will help when they have to go to daycare in the fall...




Sunday, June 7, 2015

Warm Weather

It has started to feel like summer here. On Friday it was so warm in my classroom that after lunch I couldn't teach without sweating. After we got the car packed up some big thunderstorms rolled through, so that cleared the way for a beautiful weekend. The weather now couldn't be more perfect!

In a couple hours we will go visit some family and enjoy the sunshine in their garden. No need to pack up the car and drive back today though! I have another job interview tomorrow in Deventer. Not really sure if it is legally possible for me to work there - my immigration situation is really a mess - but at least I will get my name into the system.

If the weather stays so nice, I will have to start up a few small woodworking projects in Rotterdam. The beginning of the business - a few gifts for people. Not sure how well I will be able to make things here at the Cottage, so best to annoy the neighbors in the big city before we depart.

Another food coma.


I put a big mirror by their play zone, and they love it!

First walk with the newly configured buggy - Naomi replaced the bed with seats.

Exploring together.

So it begins...