Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Girl!

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Caraval -aka- crazy party in S. Netherlands

Carnaval is a very funny time around here! Schools are out all week and most companies take 2 days off to... well I'm not really sure! We went to the parade in our village on Sunday and then Travis and I headed to Eindhoven on Monday to see what it was all about. All we could take from it was that it was a time to let loose, for the very young all the way to the very old, put on a costume and head to the pubs (at least the older ones) and everything included a lot of drinking.

Wating for the parade.
K was a very cold cowboy.
It rained, hailed and was sunny all in the 2 hours we were in town.

Colette was a bundled up little girl wearing some bumble bee antenna! 

Travis and I found a warm sunny spot to stand and watch the fun in Eindhoven on Monday.
Here are some of my favorite costumes.
Above are the girls from "Greece"

A swimming pool!

Aunt Nan and Nano will like this one!
Angry birds and I even caught them being slung into the crowd!

We saw lots of COLOR! If they weren't in an actual character costume they were in bright colors.
I like this one because we have been seeing lots on crazy costumes on bikes going by our house all week, which is to be expected!

A flock of red ladies!
There were also quite a few groups like this with the same or similar costumes on.
Bird's of a feather flock together.

And my favorite!
Shreck and Fiona! Aren't they awesome? Very well done.

Snow Day in Holland

Kaelan and I were thrilled when it started snowing early in the afternoon on a Friday. Right when he woke up from his nap we went outside to explore our quiet, snowy village!

True to the Dutch!
They don't stop riding no matter the weather.

Kaelan is fascinated by our village's church so of course we headed straight there to see the mysterious church and grave yard covered in snow.

We only got about 2 inches but it was so cold that I could blow the snow off the top of Kaelan's hat and completely dust us off before we went inside. Not sure I've ever experienced snow like that in Boise. After that we had a huge clod freeze here in the Netherlands. Lasted almost 2 weeks below freezing. 

Warming up with Hot Chocolate and Coco and April! 

Colette's new discoveries!

Is Mommy looking?
She has been standing and pulling herself up for awhile now and she LOVES K-man's car parking garages. They are the perfect height for her to pull up and she really loves to climb all the way on!

I will do it anyways!!

I made it! 

She is very proud of her new found walking ability. She still needs the help of our fingers or a push toy but she is having so much fun walking.

Pushing Inga around the playroom.

Day 1 of stair discovery

She discovered the stairs and makes a b-line for them whenever the door is open to the foyer.

Day 2.
She made it to the top...trouble.

Grandpa flew home with us! (what was he thinking?!!)

Grandpa was kind enough to fly home with the kids and I after our stay in the USA. I'm not sure he knew what he was getting into but he sure found out! He was a HUMUNGOUS help on the airplanes and in the airports. On the 10 hour flight he spent 8 hours entertaining Kaelan nonstop. They sat by each other the entire time and Kaelan likes to be entertained. Fortunately he zonked out the last 2 hours and gave Grandpa a little break. I am so thankful for his help. It is not easy! 

Colette and I sat across the isle and fortunately had a nice seat mate. The kids did great but I sure wish they would sleep more!

No rest for the weary!
If grandpa thought he would rest once he arrived in Holland he quickly learned otherwise! Kaelan found he had a great playmate in Grandpa and took advantage of him the entire week. They became good buddies by the time he had to return home and Kaelan was sad to see him go. We all were! 

Despite the cold we played a lot outside at parks and in our yard.

Coco joined in the fun too!

The zip line is K's favorite and if he was doing it he made sure Grandpa did too!

We took a trip to a nice little zoo near our house.

On the weekend we drove north to the royal summer palace called Het Loo. 

On Sunday we drove an hour into Germany to Oberhausen where we found a great aquarium amongst other things we will be returning for including a model train museum, water park, mall (not to be found in the Netherlands) and some great restaurants.

Daddy came too!

K really enjoyed seeing the sharks!

This was back in the USA but it was something I meant to include and something K and Grandpa did together. Grandpa has a friend that has this model train set up in his bonus room and he invited K and Grandpa to come over to look at it. This was a dream come true for Kaelan!