We are doing well and really settling in as you can see on the pictures I think. It certainly felt good to be cycling together today to a near lake with 'beach' enjoying the sunshine and realising this is our life now, having great parks, waters, playgrounds, sports facilities and others recreational and cultural activities right on our doorstep! Another benefit of living in a new build town is that it really makes life easier with a brand new building housing Gp's, dentists, health visitors, midwives, pharmacy, poli-clinic and many more helpful services under one roof and round the corner from us! Everything seems very efficient here and that is a very positive but also been a slightly frustrating thing here!
Chris is settling in well at work and making some new friends whilst I need to develop this still. The days of neighbours knocking on your door with a cake have gone I think and I am the one who will have to win people over with an apple cake replacement! No serious, we are all new in our street and with the garden not finished yet it enabled a nice chat today with my neighbour. I am very happy to get into the coffee culture here, offering hospitality with a good cup of dutch fresh coffee.
Naomi and Esther are doing great. Naomi is really happy and has never been to the play ground so much! She started pre-school and has settled in well. It's giving her some much needed stimulation and interaction and me some time for myself and Esther. Esther is finally sleeping better at night after a few nights and hours of lung sound practice, bless her. We are all looking forward very much to a holiday in Devon soon with the extended Blake family, we are ready for a little break from ongoing jobs to do and longing to meet with the family. Just hope Chris will want to come back...
Saturday, May 22, 2010
New bikes!
Well, we are a real dutch citizens now. Not just because we are officially registered at the town hall but also because we have joined the common and vital method of transportation, cycling! And we are not just owners of any bike, no we now have a bakfiets (bike with carrier) and a moederfiets (mother bike)!
Think the pictures speak for itself! In the bakfiets you can carry up to four children on these benches with straps or a carseat and child like we are with space for the pram base and bit of shopping too! Pretty cool we think and the only way to be able to cycle with Esther until she can sit in the front seat of the moederfiets. Everyone has these bikes, specially designed for mums carrying their children. We bought them of ebay and we had great fun cycling together. Naomi loves sitting in both bikes and the bakfiets sends Esther mainly off to sleep even though its quite a bumpy ride at times. It will be our exercise too as Chris is planning to cycle to work and I'll be taking Naomi to pre-school three times a week in the bakfiets. In case you are wondering where the helmets are it's just not done here! There are very safe cycle lanes everywhere. So grandparents don't worry!
Think the pictures speak for itself! In the bakfiets you can carry up to four children on these benches with straps or a carseat and child like we are with space for the pram base and bit of shopping too! Pretty cool we think and the only way to be able to cycle with Esther until she can sit in the front seat of the moederfiets. Everyone has these bikes, specially designed for mums carrying their children. We bought them of ebay and we had great fun cycling together. Naomi loves sitting in both bikes and the bakfiets sends Esther mainly off to sleep even though its quite a bumpy ride at times. It will be our exercise too as Chris is planning to cycle to work and I'll be taking Naomi to pre-school three times a week in the bakfiets. In case you are wondering where the helmets are it's just not done here! There are very safe cycle lanes everywhere. So grandparents don't worry!
Cuddles
view of the kitchen too!
Esther with cousin Ester! Same name,age and both adorable!
Naomi loves having bedtime cuddles with Esther
Esther with cousin Ester! Same name,age and both adorable!
Naomi loves having bedtime cuddles with Esther
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Our house!
Here some pictures of our house and street! As you can see we are living next to a building site which is getting a bit frustrating but they promised the scaffolding blocking our house will soon go. The inside however is all lovely!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Holland here we are!
Sorry its been so long but finally a sign of life from us! It shows how busy the last few months have been and what a journey it is!
After two and half months of notice and planning we arrived in Holland on the 19th April. It had all gone surprisingly well until the weekend before our big move! The van of the moving company turned out too small after an under estimation of our stuff and subsequently a quarter of our stuff is still in the UK. It is still a very frustrating situation but these things happen. We thankfully were able to get a ferry instead of our flight and were able to move in. We are renting a brand new house which is absolutely lovely but also has its teething problems. However all in all I am thrilled to be in my home country near family and Chris will get there too!
He is full on into his new role with Danone and is speaking much more dutch after an intensive week of dutch at a language institute. His colleagues talk mainly dutch to him so he is thrown in the deep! Its been great that he is only 5 min from the office and we are hoping to buy some bikes soon so he can cycle there too.
Naomi and Esther are adapting amazingly well. Esther is now sleeping in her own room and cot and I am praying she will start to sleep through now! Naomi can start at a pre-school soon for a few mornings so she is looking forward to that and ready for some more interaction. We have already enjoyed most of my family visiting and my parents have been a fantastic help and support too. They are now spending time with my brother Adriaan who just had a second daughter Lottie!
We will have internet and a landline installed monday so we can be in touch on a regular basis and put some photo's on of our new place here.
We will miss all our family and friends lots and hope you come a visit us soon!
Lots of love
After two and half months of notice and planning we arrived in Holland on the 19th April. It had all gone surprisingly well until the weekend before our big move! The van of the moving company turned out too small after an under estimation of our stuff and subsequently a quarter of our stuff is still in the UK. It is still a very frustrating situation but these things happen. We thankfully were able to get a ferry instead of our flight and were able to move in. We are renting a brand new house which is absolutely lovely but also has its teething problems. However all in all I am thrilled to be in my home country near family and Chris will get there too!
He is full on into his new role with Danone and is speaking much more dutch after an intensive week of dutch at a language institute. His colleagues talk mainly dutch to him so he is thrown in the deep! Its been great that he is only 5 min from the office and we are hoping to buy some bikes soon so he can cycle there too.
Naomi and Esther are adapting amazingly well. Esther is now sleeping in her own room and cot and I am praying she will start to sleep through now! Naomi can start at a pre-school soon for a few mornings so she is looking forward to that and ready for some more interaction. We have already enjoyed most of my family visiting and my parents have been a fantastic help and support too. They are now spending time with my brother Adriaan who just had a second daughter Lottie!
We will have internet and a landline installed monday so we can be in touch on a regular basis and put some photo's on of our new place here.
We will miss all our family and friends lots and hope you come a visit us soon!
Lots of love
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)