Saturday, February 25, 2012

While Daddy was away the 2 year olds sure did play!

Ryan went to India this week and he comes back today.  I can't begin to tell you how much we missed him!  The kids aren't going to school anymore (I will spare you the dreadful story, but it wasn't a good fit for them), so we are finding many fun things to do to fill our days.  Below are some photos of the things we did while daddy was away.  I asked Ryan to take pictures in India and sent him with my small camera, so hopefully I will have some photos to share with you from his trip when he gets back!  For now, enjoy our week in photos!

While daddy was away we...


 

took pretty pictures outside

learned how to take our tricycles over a bump

got frustrated because we couldn't get the tricycle back over the bump to ride back down it.  we did this again and again and again!

posed on our bikes

looked pretty for momma

decided we had enough of the camera for the day

watched so much "Caillou" that momma knows all of the words and Linc and Lili can sing the theme song

took our clothes off and ran around the house

ate with no regrets

took one look at brother and decide not to be so messy


had a photo shoot with JoJo



went to a wonderful play date at Toni and Enzo's house

wrestled on the couch

posed for photo while resting from wrestling on the couch

rode up and down our street on our lambie and cow

posed for momma on the cow

had the best time and burned off some energy on lambie

saw a beautiful cat that we decided to chase and then look for and ask "where cat go" a million times

found a cigarette butt and decided that to give it to mommy.  we are here to clean the streets!

ran around looking for the cat some more

played with the stickers that Aunt Amanda and Uncle Brandon sent us for our birthday. 


put the stickers all over the living room after we got bored with the boxes

realized the stickers were disappearing and then found out where they were going

took photos of the culprits.  i guess we will see if the 20+ stickers they ate makes them sick.

a few more events from the Friday pertaining to our oldest child:

swallowed a coin... or so we thought.  he found a coin, ran off with it, i ran after him, and then told him to spit it out.  he started gagging.  i couldn't find the coin anywhere, including his mouth.  i called the doctor and was told to check his diaper the next few days for the coin and if i didn't find it to call back.  after sifting through two #2 diapers with no luck and lots of worrying, we were back in the living room and all of a sudden i found the coin on the floor next to the original crime scene.  so the worrying and diaper sifting was all for not.  Linc is a trickster, i tell you!

fell down a flight of stairs

fell off of a table (mommy wasn't looking, obviously, because he is not allowed to get on a table and he seems to be following this rule oh so well)

even with all of this, we avoided a trip to the doctor/hospital

please, daddy, come home!  we need you!


Sunday, February 19, 2012

Linc Eats Spaghetti

We had spaghetti casserole for dinner tonight.  Linc ate some and then decided he was done... Until he saw Lili eating off of her tea set plate and then he was a spaghetti eating fool!  Below is a video of Linc enjoying his dinner off of his tea plate. 



We thought it was cute until we saw his chair after scurried away...

 

Good thing we have a 24 hour emergency clean up crew!




Parents' Night Out

After a month and a half of living abroad, Ryan and I had our first date night in The Hague.  We were very lucky to find two very responsible Dutch/American girls who live close by who babysit and pet sit.  Hooray!  We had a great time.  The restaurant was AMAZING.  We picked the "Surprise Menu" which included 4 courses, 2 of which were from the sea.  Ryan does not like fish (other than shellfish) so I could not believe that he was up for the Surprise Menu.  He was a trooper.  We had scallops, poached salmon, duck, and a dessert sampling.  It was the best meal that we have had here in the Hague.  It was a 3 hour dinner and we enjoyed every minute of our first night out together.  We can't wait for the next one!  If you live in the Hague or are ever here to visit, we recommend going to Le Bon Mangeur in Scheveningen: http://www.lebonmangeur.nl/. 

It was raining on our walk to the restaurant.  We should have taken the tram, but it was still a nice walk.  We managed to keep most of the rain off of our hair with our rain gear.  Okay.  Ryan doesn't have hair so he really didn't need the rain gear. 

Ryan taking his first bite of poached salmon.  This was a major milestone in our 9+ year relationship.  I have NEVER seen him eat fish!  What a rock star.  He ate every bite!

Poached Salmon
This was delicious and I normally don't care for the taste of salmon.  This restaurant really knows how to cook food.

So happy after our wonderful meal.  Come and visit us and we will take you to this great place!  We are missing our family and friends like crazy!



Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Cumpleaños Número Dos!

My babies are TWO!  No way!  They turned two on Saturday and we celebrated with a nice party and a delicious cake.  We have made some very nice friends here in the Hague including some great women from my mom's group at the American Women's Club, some co-workers of Ryan's, neighbors from our old house, and a wonderful woman from the management company from our old house.  She has been our angel throughout the entire time we have been her in Holland.  The party was very nice and the kids got some really great gifts that will make life a lot nicer.  We didn't bring a lot of books, toys, etc. over, so now they have plenty to do when we have to stay indoors!  Below are some photos from their birthday.  Please enjoy.

The birthday loot!  It was like Christmas when the kids woke up!

Birthday breakfast: Fresh fruit and crock pot breakfast tacos

This is good guys!

mmmmmmmmmm!

Linc trying out the trike

Lili loves Lambie!

We wanted the babies to get tricycles for Christmas, but when we found out we were moving, we had to delay it until their birthday.  It was worth the wait!  So cute!

Birthday cake and cupcakes.  Cake by Queenie's Cakes.  Cupcakes by Momma Perry.

Birthday door

Linc multitasking

Lili eating a cupcake before her birthday cake

Momma about to cut the yummy cake

Daddy wrangling the kids to open gifts

Time for presents!

Valentine's Day... One day late

So I am usually the one giving Ryan a hard time that he has difficulty remembering holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, etc.  Valentine's Day is not a huge celebration in our family, but I do like to dress the kids in cute outfits and make Ryan dinner. 

I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT VALENTINE'S DAY THIS YEAR!  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!!!

I bought the kids cute outfits last year for this year and had planned a great dinner for Ryan sometime back.  On Valentine's Day morning, I dressed the kids in blue jeans and their favorite Sesame Street shirts and we headed downstairs as usual.  Ryan came downstairs and gave me a box of candy.  Then he surprised me with a trip to Paris that he had planned for our family in March.  What a sweetheart.  I felt awful. 

So today I am making up for it.  It is February 15, but the kids are wearing their Valentine's Day outfits.  They had a special breakfast and I will make a special dinner for Ryan tonight.  Where is my brain these days?

Below are some cute photos of the kids in their outfits.  Adorable.  Photos of Paris to come in March.  Sooooo excited about that!