Casa #2

House #2 in less than a month!  It's a long story, but the short version is that we had a stalker upstairs that was mentally disturbed and has a 25 year history of screwing with people.  We couldn't go through that for a year, so we moved.  He did everything from taking my pictures on the street and when I would open the door to throwing broken glass into our backyard so the dogs would step in it to trying to run me over with his car to trying break into our house.  The toilet soap thing was his last hurrah before we moved (see previous post entitled "Toilet Trouble").  We did find out that he had done the toilet trick to another family before us.  The end result is that we are in a much bigger house with plenty of room for visitors and we have the house from the bottom floor to the top floor so we don't have to worry about loony toon upstairs neighbors!  It was very stressful worrying about what outrageous thing was going to happen next.  Now we can finally rest at night in this new house.  The kids love it and they love going up and down all of the stairs.  Below are photos of the house.  We feel very fortunate that we were able to move so quickly and into such a fabulous place!

The front door from inside our house.  The stained glass is gorgeous!

Entry area.  This is where we park Lili and Linc's cargo bike.  They love this thing.  They throw a fit when we tell them we are going out in the stroller instead.  Spoiled babies!

Dining Room

Living Room and Sun Room looking out to the garden

Stairs down to the "cellar".  I call it the dungeon.  It is spooky down there.  It has 3 little rooms where a little troll could live.

Kitchen

Garden
This will be a perfect play area for Lili and Linc when they get some tricycles!

View of the back of the house from the garden

One of the two toilets in the house.  They are in the hallway, separate from the bathrooms.

Bedroom #1/Ryan's office which is a work in progress.

Bedroom #2, our bedroom

Bedroom #3 which sits off of our master.  It is set up as a sitting room.

Bedroom #4 (for a tiny person) which is a set up as a walk in closet.  They call it a cupboard over here.

Our bathroom and Lili and Linc's bathtub

Another photo of our bathroom

Bedroom #5 on the top floor with another bedroom and a bathroom

Bedroom #6 is where Lili and Linc sleep.  If you notice in the photos most of these rooms have balconies.  I have always wanted a balcony!  Now we have like 5 of them! 

Laundry room on the top floor.  The last house had the laundry room and bathroom combined which can get pretty cramped.  It will be nice to have a separate room to iron all of Ryan's work clothes.  I went to the dry cleaner's to ask how much it would cost to clean Ryan's clothes and a shirt was $6 and pants were $11.  I guess I'll have to learn to iron.  OMG.  Maybe I'll find a job just to pay for the dry cleaning bill so I don't have to iron!



Guest bathroom on top floor

So, as you can see we have plenty of space for visitors.  Please come and stay with us.  We would love to have you! 



Toilet Trouble

Today, when I came back from dropping the kids at school, this is what I saw in our downstairs toilet:

It was so odd. Soap was coming out of our toilet downstairs. I thought that maybe Ryan had done something. He said that all he did was run the washing machine, which is upstairs, with a cap of soap. I went upstairs, saw that he had put the soap in the wrong compartment, so he hadn't even run the washer with soap. I called the rental management company, scheduled a plumber, restarted washer with soap and then left to run some errands. When I came back, the hallway looked like this:

The plumbers came and said that they thought it was from the washing machine.  They didn't understand why there was so much soap if we only used a little though.  They cleaned it up and then tested the washer a few times.  The end result was this:

Soap everywhere.  They said they have never seen anything like this.  We have no idea what is, but the plumbers think that our upstairs neighbor who is trying to run us off could have had something to do with it.  This is my way of announcing that after only 3 weeks of living here, we might be moving. 

Schooling, Strolling, and Shopping

Here are a few photos from the past couple of days here in Den Haag.  Enjoy!

The twins at school.  Last week was their first week and they did great.  They go 3 days a week from about 9:30 to 4:30.  They are in an English speaking class and as you can see from the picture, they have already started to make friends!

Getting ready to go shopping in the city center in our University of Texas gear.  The kids loved seeing themselves in the mirror in these Bevo outfits!

Linc wants "up"!

On the tram on our way to the city center.

I had to take a picture of this coffee I ordered.  We have been ordering large coffees because a large is usually about two sips.  This one was big for Starbucks standards.  It made me sick finishing it!

Linc shortly after getting his surprise.  That sweet boy likes to clean up!

The twins pushing babies and strollers down the street.

Linc is so happy with his new toys!

Lili is a natural with her little baby.  She gives her kisses and makes sure she is safe in her stroller often.  She also takes her out and sings "rock a bye baby" to her and rocks her.

Linc got sick of pushing the stroller so he decided to carry it over his shoulder.  Looks tiring if you ask me!

Around the house and the hood

My brother-in-law, Scott, emailed me yesterday and asked if I would send photos of our house and street.  You ask and you shall receive Scotty Potty!  Below are some photos of the past couple of days and of our house, street and some bicycle shots. 

On another note, the twins started school yesterday and had a blast. 

Our best meal yet: Ribeye steak from the butcher pan fried in butter (a la Hofbrau Steakhouse in Austin), broccoli, and mashed potatoes paired with the wine that the real estate agent gave us as a house warming gift

Typical breakfast for the twins: Fresh fruit, yogurt and a pastry.

Twin 2 practicing her cup drinking skills.
It didn't take too long before she was mixing her yogurt and other breakfast items into her water glass.

Our first piece of international mail from Grandma Jackie.

Lili and Linc's surprise when they get home from school today.
We had to leave their christmas gifts at home and grandma was going to ship them, but it was going to be way too expensive, so we bought them new brooms and dust pans.  The strollers and babies are to compensate for their urge to push their own stroller that it is too tall for them.

Mommy's gift to herself: a new cheese grater.  Not sure if this a gift or a punishment.  This does not look like it is going to be an easy task.  I couldn't find a stand up grater like they have in the states.  They don't have preshredded cheese at the cheese shops.  They slice it for you right off the block.

Our dining room

Our living room

Our garden which sits right off of the kitchen

Kitchen

First floor toilet

Both toilets have this on the outside that changes from "vacant" to "occupied" when the door locks.  Just in case Ryan needs his privacy!

Entry

Twins' room

Bathroom.  This is where the twins bathe an we take showers.  This is separate from the toilets.

Our bedroom

3rd bedroom (for an elf)

Spoiled dog got a new blanket so she can settle in downstairs.  They wouldn't lay down unless they were on their dog beds upstairs so we had to get them something to lay on downstairs.

Another spoiled dog.  I think if you listen closely, you can hear that she is barking with an accent now!

Outside of our house.  We have the 1st and 2nd floor.

View of our street.  This is the way to Frederik Hendriklaan where we do all of our shopping, about a five minute walk.  

Opposite direction of our street.  This is the way we walk to the children's school, about a 15 minute walk.  There are also parks to take the dogs walking or running and this is the way to central Den Haag for some serious shopping!

Bicycles on my street.  Bicycles are a common way to get around in Den Haag.  Ryan will be getting a bicycle soon and we have ordered a cargo bike that will be here in 3 weeks for the kids and myself.

We are trying to figure out how to get one of these installed on the side of our apartment so we can lock my cargo bike up because it won't fit in the house.

One way to transport your little one on a bike: a seat in the front with a sort of windshield to block the wind and maybe bugs?

Another way to transport your little ones.  A cargo bike.  This one is made of wood and has a rain cover on it.  This is a good option if you have 2 or more young children.

Another way to transport your kids.  On the back on a double seat.

And yet another way to transport kids.  One on the front and one on the back.  These are all options if you don't want to spend the money on a car.  Den Haag is small enough to not have a car and I am too scared to drive so even if we had a car I would probably prefer to go on bike, foot, or public transport.

And this, my friends, is the bike that we have ordered.  Lili and Linc will be riding in style all over Den Haag!  Let's hope momma can ride safely.