Snow Days

How I do love snow! It has been snowing on and off for the past couple of weeks, which makes me really happy. It probably won't last much longer, so each little flurry beckons me outside to play. These frst 4 pictures are from a day where Katie, Michelle, and I went for a snow trek in the woods near my house. We made snowmen, snow angels, and played shake-the-snow-out-of-the-tree game. My friend Michelle and I love pretending there are blizzards evey other day. She's from New Zealand, so she is as use to the white stuff as I am. The next 4 pictures are from a day when Katie, Sarah, and I went skiing in Sorenberg. I think it is going to be the last opportunity for me to go this season, as most places near me are closing soon. The weather wasn't that best that day, but it was fun none-the-less. Katie went skiing for the first time ever and by the end I think she kind of liked it.

Shenanigans

Since I've not posted in a long while, I figured I'd make this post a kind of conglomerate of all things fun I've done lately with friends. I don't have any kid pictures since my camera is still en route to Switzerland, so these are pictures I was able to steal from friends. The first picture is of me and the big group of au pair friends I have at the tri-corners. It is where France, Germany, and Switzerland all meet up. The next picture is me getting a drink. I love that the city has water fountains everywhere, the only problem is you have to climb to get a drink. The next couple of pictures are of me with some friends on a night out. The next three, the ones where everyone is in green, is from a St. Patrick's Day/Erin's (a nanny friend) Hen Party. We were decked out in all things green. I even managed to sport a green mo-hawk. My hair is getting so long!! I want to explain the last two pictures a bit more in length. A few weeks ago some friends decided that we should have a donut eating contest. I warned them before starting that I was in fact a raining champion. (I won a donut eating contest in Scotland about 4 years ago. I have a certificate and t-shirt to prove it.) Anyways, they were still up for the challenge, and well, I won. I ate 6 donuts in 6:55. It doesn't sound all that impressive, but if you had to taste the jam inside those things, you'd understand. So, the last picture is me sporting my crown. But, so on the Green Party night, one of the activities was a Chubby Bunny Contest. (you shove marshmallows one at a time into your mouth and have to say "chubby bunny". The person to fit the most marshmallows in their mouth and still say "chubby bunny" wins.) I was anxious to defend my eating contest record, and so I did. It was a close call, and I don't actually know how many I fit in my mouth, but I was declared the winner. Hope you're proud!

24th in Amsterdam

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Last weekend I went to Amsterdam with 4 friends. It also just so happened to be my 24th birthday! It was a really fun trip and Amsterdam was really a beautiful city with its canals and old buildings. The only bad thing is... I got my wallet stolen! I know, you may think it must be something that I'm doing, but I honestly am being careful. I lost quite a bit of cash and my student ID, but everything else like my credit cards and ID are in the process of being replaced. Besides the mishap, which happened on my birthday :(, we had a nice time. Here are some pictures from the trip and I'll explain them below.

So the first is me in a traditional Dutch clog just hanging out and then there is a photo of one of the many canals. Then there is a photo of me and my friends Kelly and Kellie at the floating flower market followed by another shot of the canals. Notice all the bikes; this city has more bikes than I've seen in my entire life put together. It made me wish I had my bike here. The next is me in front of a good ole Ben and Jerry's store. I ate some ice cream to reminisce on my days of working at the Gainesville store, yumm. The next picture is in a gift shop. You can really buy the clogs to wear, not just decoration. We also went to an ice bar and well, it was made of ice inside. It was neat. Then, at the flower market we saw a place where you could buy growing kits. It was so crazy I had to take a photo of it. Then there is the picture of I AMSTERDAM that was just outside the Van Gogh museum. That's not me in front of the sign, there was too many people wanting a picture, so I just took a photo of some other people instead of waiting. Finally, since Heineken is a Dutch beer, we had to drink one. Besides these photos, we also went to the Anne Frank house, the Van Gogh museum, and walked through the Red Light District, all really interesting places, but you can't take pictures at any of them.

the two youngins

No camera means no pictures of the kids, but now that I have it back, here are some recent ones of them (though I have to send the camera back now because it is broken, but I should get a new one real soon). Well actually, most of the pictures are of Romee with a couple of Constantijn. I spend all day with Romee while the other 2 are at school, so I take more pictures of her. The first two of Romee are just random days at home. The others are from our day at the park. The pictures of Constantijn are from his 100 days of school party. We made a paper chain with 100 links for him to present. I don't have many of Sterre lately, which I am a bit ashamed of. Between her tennis, piano, Dutch lessons, and homework, she's a pretty busy girl. Don't think I don't love her just as much, I just don't have many pictures lately. Anyways, enjoy!