Recipe for a perfect afternoon

Ingredients:
1 – awesome aupair

1 – awesome two-year old

1 – sun minus the clouds

2 – pairs of sunglasses

2 – light (as in not winter) jackets

1 - cheap gold "winner's" medal

2 – Homemade freshly squeezed orange juice pops made in those fun plastic popsicle containers from back in the day

1 – soccer ball

1 – wall that works nicely as the goal

Directions:

1. Make sure the two year old is rested from her nap.

2. Don the medal, sunglasses, and jackets and head outside into the sun filled garden.

3. Eat your delicious pops while getting the melting juice all over your clothes/face.

4. Play with the soccer ball for a good hour or so.

5. Teach the 2yo how to yell “GOOOOOOAALLL!!!!” every time the ball is touched, even if no substantial distance or kicking is involved.

6. Occacionally kick the ball in the opposite direction of the goal.

7. Be sure to stop for dance breaks.

Steps 4 through 7 can be seen in the below demonstration video.

Serve warm with a slight breeze!

Word of the day: sinaasappelsap ijsjes – orange juice pops

Top Ten: A whole lotta Dutch

Last week in Dutch class we were talking about speaking Dutch in public and whether or not we can get by.  I was saying how my Dutch is far from conversational, but there are certain things that I know.  However, when I’m hanging out with Fien, I sound like I’m an expert.  Why?  Because I only say about twenty phrase total…I’m just on repeat all day.  So I figured today for my Top Ten I would give you…

THE TOP TEN PHRASES I USE IN DUTCH IN MY EVERYDAY WORKING LIFE

Nee - No

Niet nu - Not now

Wat is dat in Engels? - What is that in English?

Wil je heb... - Do you want... (literally, "Will you have...")

Heb je een plasje gedaan? - Did you go to the bathroom? (Literally, "Have you done a pee?" damn potty training...)

Dat is (niet) leuk/lief - That is (not) nice/sweet

Ik heb een idee - I have an idea

Voorzichtig - Careful

Bedankt voor de leuke dag - Thanks for the nice day

Goed zo - Well done,Good Job, etc.

So now you can come here and take care of a two year old with no language barrier!  OK, maybe I'll do a part two since I did say there were twenty, not 10.  But that's at least until next week.  Anyway...hooray!

Word of the day - er...see above.

Once Upon a Dream, you were our Guest in Part of our/A Whole New World

Well, I was busy with my April fools and the my explanation of my April fools, and then my two Easter posts, I have yet to tell you about my totally awesome time at

DISNEY PRINCESSES ON ICE!

Yea you read it right.  And yea, I was about as excited as it sounds by my effort to type in capitals, and change the size and color of the words. (That’s a lot btw)

Suzan got tickets for her work.  There was a big gala AND we were VIP.  We had front row seats, got special badges, goodies bags, free drinks before hand, walked the pink carpet, the whole nine yards (well the carpet was more like 15 or 20 yards, with a corner in it, but I didn’t have a ruler.)  Since it was princesses, we were supposed to wear pink.  The kids were invited to wear princess/prince/other Disney character outfits.  Fien had a Tinkerbell’s friend outfit from the new Fairy series (which I’m still on the fence about but at least it explains that she’s the daughter of the king of the fairies truly making her a princess.)  I also got a new shirt to wear.  Plus we made some crowns on the day of... 

Plus I got her a Sleeping Beauty necklace.  Can you tell I was excited?  Anyway, Fien looked like a total glamour girl…

And who would have thought she would have hammed up the red carpet like she did?  She absolutely loved it...

And one point we even stopped and danced.  Everyone got a total kick out of it.

I used to go see Disney on Ice all the time.  In fact I think I still have the felt cut outs on sticks somewhere (or they're on Nina’s walls.)  And I definitely still have the Chip snow cone cup from Beauty and the Beast on Ice.  And although I stopped myself from getting another felt cutout or an Ariel snow cone, I did get myself a program…in DUTCH!  But who cares?  All you want to see is the pictures!

When it was time to go in, we settled into our front row seats.  Fien was on Suzan’s lap with me right next to her.  But Rogier came up and told me to move!  I was so sad!  I understand it’s his daughter, but was he going to sing all the songs and explain who everyone was?  NO!  However Suzan just scooted over one and we each sat on either side.  Fien was surprisingly into it the entire time.  We thought she would fall asleep, but she remained awake, clapping, singing, etc. the whole time.  I’m glad I got to see it through her eyes (although mine may have been just as rose tinted.)

The show itself was awesome.  There were seven separate stories connected by Tinkerbell and Mickey and Minnie dancing around.  My favorite was the Little Mermaid one, but that could have just been because she’s my favorite.  Sleeping Beauty was pretty cool too, but when it got to the fight scene, I leaned over and warned Suzan, that Fien would probably not like what was coming next.  At that moment a ten person operated Dragon and fire were brought onto the ice. Just in time!

Even though it was in Dutch, I knew exactly what was going on.  I was even singing along to the songs…in English of course.  As were the actors.  You could tell they were lip-syncing to words which they didn’t have to clue how to say.  Suzan was so surprised that I knew all (seriously…all) the songs.  I had to explain with fond remembrance that I was raised on these movies.

So all was perfect.

Ok except for one thing…and this is something that has always pissed me off…

Sleeping Beauty – Princess from birth

Ariel – Princess from birth

Snow White – Princess from birth

Jasmine – Princess from birth

Cinderella – marries and is then a princess

Belle – marries and is then a princess

Pocahontas (who was not in the show unfortunately) – Indian princess, I’ll allow it

Tiana – I haven’t seen the movie yet…what’s the story there?  Is she one before she becomes a frog? Or after.  Either way, seeing as the name of the movie is the Princess and the Frog, I’m gonna assume it’s legit.

Tinkerbell – already discussed, apparently a princess

Mulan – NOT A PRINCESS!!!  I’m sorry.  Even when she gets married (which I’m assuming happens in Mulan 2?) she marries a general…not the emperor.  Never a princess.  And I hate that she is portrayed as one.

Ok that was the end of my rant.

Back to the awesome night…except I guess that’s it.  I’ll just leave it at, it was amazing.  And now Fien and I sing Disney songs, and next week we’re watching Cinderella (only one not scary for a two year old yes?)

Word of the day: prinses - Princess

An Easter Egg Hunt for you

There are eggs in every single one of these pictures.  See if you can find them.  Some are obvious, some not so much. Either way, Fien sure found (and ate) them all...

The eggs are all set (inside because of the rain) and ready to be found...

She's putting all her eggs in one basket...

The name eggs...

Being a sweetheart and taking some chocolate eggs to the neighbors...

Table is set for a delicious breakfast...

The lekker apple tart we made yesterday...

Chocolate for breakfast? Yes please!

Deviled eggs...so tasty!

Didn't I tell you it would be ridiculously adorable?
Happy Easter everyone!  Hope your day was wonderful!

Word of the day: Pasen - Easter

Ugly brown eggs, and yummy apple tarts.

Well, tomorrow is Easter.  Although here they have two Easters - one Sunday and one Monday.  Kind of like Christmas.  Because that's how the Dutch roll.
Anyway, I've been getting ready for it with Fien.  And how do you get ready?  Well first you make up an Easter Basket.  Oh wait, I can't find them anywhere.  I can find real baskets, but I'm talking about the wonderfully cheap dollar tree baskets.  I'm not looking to spend 15 Euros here.  So I settled for an Easter tin.  It looks like a basket...only it's metal.  Anyway, that will be revealed tomorrow, because I already wrapped it.  And I'll be giving it to her...no time for an explanation of a large Bunny coming into her house in the middle of the night to leave a basket for her.  I don't need her going to school and having her teachers looking at her like she's crazy as she tells them about the Easter Bunny who gave her an Easter Basket - two things unheard of here.  And then the basket/tin will be used on the Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard (weather permitting).  I've been busy organizing (read: buying chocolate eggs) because again, unheard of, but unlike massive rabbits, not crazy to talk about.  Oh and there's no such thing as plastic eggs!  I know!  I wish I had thought of it sooner, because I could have told my family to send me a dozen or so of the THOUSANDS of them that we have in our Easter box.  So what do you have to do before you hunt for eggs?  Well you have to dye real eggs of course!
Here in Holland, you don't so much dye eggs as you do paint them.  Which means no easy/ready to use sets to be bought at the Blokker.  And painting just seems way too complicated.  So instead I just used some vinegar, water, food coloring, plastic bowls, and my awesomeness.  First we did a test round on the only eggs we could find - brown ones.  Which is probably why they paint them instead of dye.  And since there were only three, we went with just one color.  Fien chose purple which made for a perfectly ugly colored egg.  But Fien still had a blast...

The next day I was actually able to find white eggs at the Vomar, which is rare.  But I did it!  So I hard boiled the lot (so I can make some yummy deviled eggs on Easter - just like Mom used to make...so excited.)  Anyway, I also got some crayons for Fien so we could color the eggs first and then put them in the dye to have fun designs.  She decided she wanted her name on one, so we made a whole set...

Then we put them all in the dye.  Fien was AMAZED at how a white egg suddenly came out of the cup a beautiful pink color.  Although the whole crayon wax/dye resistant thing went over her head.  She also continuously used her favorite English phrase "let's go check" (one I use often) while taking the eggs out of the cups to see if they were ready and then letting them drop (and splatter) back in.  But I'd say when we were done, we had a pretty good looking group of eggs and she still had a good time...

Er...wait...

Nope, that's a yawn...

THERE WE GO! But the point is to look at those good-looking eggs!!!
Then, as my contribution to Easter brunch, we made a yummy apple tart.  Breakfast here is much more breads and sweets as opposed to the American ham/sausage/eggs/other-things-that-block-your-heart persuasion.  Fien had fun weighing the apples, watching me cut the apples, sneaking slices of apples, and arranging the apples.  Of course by that time, she was bored and wanted to watch Dora.  But then I got her to help me by cutting out shapes with the remaining dough and decorating the top.  And of course she had to put it in the oven...

It's in the fridge right now, but I'll be sure to get a picture of it before it gets gobbled up tomorrow.  We also boiled the rest of the apples in a sugar syrup glaze and had them for dessert with some vanilla ice cream...YUM!
Oh and the ugly brown purple ones we ate that night with a spinach salad.  I ain't ruining no Easter egg hunt with ugliness.  Speaking of...tune in tomorrow for the Easter Egg Hunt blog.  It's sure to most likely be pretty darn adorable.

Word of the day - ei - egg

Piece of Me: APRIL FOOLS

Ok...for those of you who guessed it...yes...yesterdays post was an April Fools Joke.  April Fools is actually celebrated here (simply called Day of Fools), so I figured I'd participate.  I'm sorry.  I had to.  I've never actually pulled one off.  But according to the comments and emails...apparently I succeeded.  I think this one was better than the "Mom, guess what you're going to be in nine months" one I was thinking of.  No...I LOVE the Netherlands.  I love my host family.  And I plan on being here for seven more months. (Wow five months already?)  So to apologize for sending every single one of you in a tizzy (that's the third time I've used that word this week,) here's a real "Piece of Me."

This month (April)…

I like: Peeps...both the marshmallow type, and the home boys type...and both are nowhere to be found!!!

I don't like: My hair...I want a cut or color or change of some kind.  Maybe soon.

I want you to know:  Though I will be hiding Easter eggs for Fien because I'm awesome, I'll be skipping an attempt at the whole "Easter Bunny" thing.

I've planned: A weekend trip to Germany and the Movie Park, and hopefully another trip somewhere in there.

I want to say to someone special:
Mom- sorry if I worried you, but don't you think I would have talked to you before letting the whole world know?
Ali - you're right I didn't mention it in my email...and you even had a April fools reference in your blog.
Grammy - I hope David told you it was a joke.

Picture of the month:

Word of the day: dag van de dwazen  - fool's day

Piece of Me: April Edition

Another month gone by!!  And I've come to a very important decision.  It's a big one.  And it's the first of the month, so here is my announcement via "A Piece of Me."  The Tooth Fairy, started it, so you should go check her out.  Also she has a McLinky thing, so if you want to join in, you should let her know!

This month (April)…

I like: the Bay Area...a lot...I miss it.

I don't like: The Netherlands that much anymore.  It's still cold, I miss my friends, and I can't deal.

I want you to know:  That I have decided to leave and go back home next month.

I've planned: to stop writing in my blog after my goodbye post tomorrow.  Be sure to read it.

I want to say to someone special: Holland - though I will miss you, it's for the best.  I've immensely enjoyed my time here, but I think it's time to go.

Picture of the month:

Word of the Day: April - April