August 2015

We said goodbye this morning to my parents, after five wonderful weeks together. They looked after Leo and Adrian for the first three weeks and then Nora joined their gang. Her Dutch was a little shaky the first few days but she quickly found her mo-yo back. Every morning there would be two new books from Oma on the living room table.

Yesterday my father baked another apple pie -- the fourth one in a month -- and we had sushi for dinner.

I always have a lump in my throat when saying goodbye but this time it was quite literal. My parents like to try various fruits and this morning we cut a "jack fruit". I tried a small piece and it tasted good; a little like melon. It tickled a bit in my throat, just like pineapple sometimes does... and then my throat started swelling up. A weird feeling, but nothing too serious, thankfully.

Around noon I drove my parents to the airport and at Dulles we said goodbye. Nora came with me which was nice.

"Opa, wil je alsjeblieft met mij een boek lezen?" Nora becomes super polite when she wants to be read a book.

Oma brought a huge stack of books, and every day there are two new books for Nora to be read.

The children are getting so much love from Opa & Oma.

Here is Oma reading to them, while in the mean time maneuvering the book away from Leo's legs.

I drove Opa, Oma and Nora to the Zoo and a few minutes before 10 we were at the southern gate. Nora wanted to see a pig so they started at the petting zoo.

They fed fishes and saw several animals, including the wolf. "Wat vond je het leukste, Nora?" "Het draaien!" Nora went into a merry-go-round and loved it. "Waar zat je op?" "Eh... een dier". She sat on an antelope with Oma next to her.

This morning we had waffles and Jaap and Mieke left to see the Eastern Market.

"Wil je mee naar de dierentuin?", Mieke asked Nora. Nora shook her head, no, she didn't want to go to the Zoo. I asked her if it is because I told her there are crocodiles. "Ja...".

But then Mieke asked about which animal she wanted to see: "varken" and Nora got excited. So this morning my parents and Nora are going to the Zoo. First breakfast; I made bosbessenbroodjes.

We told Nora about Uncle Gerben's advice but tonight she still didn't want to give Opa a kiss (or nose kiss), haha. She had a great day with them and her Dutch is definitely coming back. She is still tired. Before she left to Bulgaria she often didn't want to nap but this week she hasn't protested at all and slept every day at least an hour.

We're all pretty tired so going to bed early tonight.

My parents are taking care of the kids during the day while we are at work. Nora is much more fluent with her Dutch know and she enjoys hanging out with Opa & Oma. Last night when we went to bed, she ran to Oma to give her a kiss. Then we we asked: "how about Opa" she run to me instead -- Opa has a prickly beard!

My parents are very calm and patient with the kids.