Windmill in Garnwerd, Groningen
Benjamin, Ruben, Carolyn, Joshua and Simon, Mum & Dad
Swimming in Het Reitdiep
Warming up in the sun
Coffee, apple pie and Groninger koek to celebrate the holiday
Monday, 30 July 2012
Monday, 23 July 2012
Unpacking
I am unpacking boxes. Last week they delivered 95 boxes with things from our house in Libya (the rest of it is going to India). Adriaan installed the computers and the TV before he left last Friday and the rest is up to me and the boys.
Unpacking boxes is all about priorities and creating space. The first priority was finding all the Lego, no it wasn't, it was creating space for all the Lego. So Joshua and I went to Ikea and bought 3 storage units. We build them all 3 within 1.5 hours and without fighting, which must be a personal record at least, if not at WR. Then we battled our way through the garage to find the right boxes, armed with the packing list and a lot of determination.
While the boys were on a high unpacking Lego and discovering all their price possessions, I had to think up a logical way to tackle the logistics of unpacking the rest of the boxes. They are mainly bed linen, books and kitchen stuff.
All bedlinen needs to be washed, books sorted and stored and kitchen stuff washed and put away. My washing machine is working overtime but the dryer is getting some time out because the summer finally started in NL so the clothes line does it's duty.
The books will have to wait, maybe till Xmas holidays.
The kitchen stuff proofs to be more of a logistical problem. I have to unpack it to know what it is, then I need to decide if I want to keep it or give away (our house in NL has kitchen cupboards that are filled to the brim already. If I decide to keep it I will have to find the space to store it first. So today I have been emptying cupboards, cleaning them and reorganising them to fit more/other items.
My back is killing me, but the garage is slowly but surely getting emptier and I feel so blessed to find most of our things back and in one piece.
Unpacking boxes is all about priorities and creating space. The first priority was finding all the Lego, no it wasn't, it was creating space for all the Lego. So Joshua and I went to Ikea and bought 3 storage units. We build them all 3 within 1.5 hours and without fighting, which must be a personal record at least, if not at WR. Then we battled our way through the garage to find the right boxes, armed with the packing list and a lot of determination.
While the boys were on a high unpacking Lego and discovering all their price possessions, I had to think up a logical way to tackle the logistics of unpacking the rest of the boxes. They are mainly bed linen, books and kitchen stuff.
All bedlinen needs to be washed, books sorted and stored and kitchen stuff washed and put away. My washing machine is working overtime but the dryer is getting some time out because the summer finally started in NL so the clothes line does it's duty.
The books will have to wait, maybe till Xmas holidays.
The kitchen stuff proofs to be more of a logistical problem. I have to unpack it to know what it is, then I need to decide if I want to keep it or give away (our house in NL has kitchen cupboards that are filled to the brim already. If I decide to keep it I will have to find the space to store it first. So today I have been emptying cupboards, cleaning them and reorganising them to fit more/other items.
My back is killing me, but the garage is slowly but surely getting emptier and I feel so blessed to find most of our things back and in one piece.
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Ireland
Last week we were in Castlebar, on the west coast of Ireland, visiting friends. We had a great week, despite the rain, wind and cold. Who needs summer weather when you got good friends and fun?
We have been out and about every day and did loads of fun things. We must have raised the Nespresso share prices by the amount of coffee we drank (you are welcome George!) and the boys have voted the Irish sausages as the best in the world!
These Cool Dudes went to the movies and they went surfing in the pouring rain, freezing cold temperatures and huge waves.
Somehow we had to wear sunglasses a lot, even when the sun didn't seem to shine....
Walking on the beach is always more fun with a dog!
From a distance it looked like this guy was wearing leggings under his shorts, but when we looked closer we saw he needed some more colouring in...
We have been out and about every day and did loads of fun things. We must have raised the Nespresso share prices by the amount of coffee we drank (you are welcome George!) and the boys have voted the Irish sausages as the best in the world!
These Cool Dudes went to the movies and they went surfing in the pouring rain, freezing cold temperatures and huge waves.
Somehow we had to wear sunglasses a lot, even when the sun didn't seem to shine....
Why does a sheep need 4 horns????
From a distance it looked like this guy was wearing leggings under his shorts, but when we looked closer we saw he needed some more colouring in...
Friday, 6 July 2012
Happy, Sad and Tired
Today was the day we have been hoping for, a day we looked forward to and dreaded at the same time. We went to the warehouse in Rotterdam to go through the boxes that had our name on them. We were all a bit nervous when we arrived and a bit overwhelmed when we saw all the boxes that could be ours.
The first 10 minutes were filled with "Look at this, it is our..." "Look at that, it looks like my..." Then it got serious. We had to go through more than 200 boxes. Every box had to be opened and we had to decide if we wanted the contents to stay in NL or moved to India. After almost 7 hours we were finished.
Overall we are very happy, it looks like most of our things made it out of Libya. We haven't taken everything out of every box, but we have seen quite a few things we were hoping to get back (like boxes and boxes filled with Lego).
At the same time we are missing some items that we hoped to get back and one complete room has not been packed. I am sure we will have some more items missing once we have unpacked everything, but after 1.5 years we have proven we can do without.
The first 10 minutes were filled with "Look at this, it is our..." "Look at that, it looks like my..." Then it got serious. We had to go through more than 200 boxes. Every box had to be opened and we had to decide if we wanted the contents to stay in NL or moved to India. After almost 7 hours we were finished.
Overall we are very happy, it looks like most of our things made it out of Libya. We haven't taken everything out of every box, but we have seen quite a few things we were hoping to get back (like boxes and boxes filled with Lego).
At the same time we are missing some items that we hoped to get back and one complete room has not been packed. I am sure we will have some more items missing once we have unpacked everything, but after 1.5 years we have proven we can do without.
These toys really wanted to come out and play ;-)
Monday, 2 July 2012
First two weeks
The first two weeks of our holiday in NL have gone by really fast. We have had so much to do and have seen loads of people. It is great to be home!
Last week the boys and I went on a holiday in the East of NL with my parents. The weather was not that nice, but we did a lot of out doors activities (like getting lost on a walk in the woods). I took the boys to an amusement park one day and we played board games and went to the pool a lot. My brothers and sister came to visit us too.
Adriaan arrived in NL on Friday, so we are complete again.
There is still a lot on the agenda and one of the more exciting things will be our trip to Rotterdam this week, to check the container with our things from Libya....
Last week the boys and I went on a holiday in the East of NL with my parents. The weather was not that nice, but we did a lot of out doors activities (like getting lost on a walk in the woods). I took the boys to an amusement park one day and we played board games and went to the pool a lot. My brothers and sister came to visit us too.
Adriaan arrived in NL on Friday, so we are complete again.
There is still a lot on the agenda and one of the more exciting things will be our trip to Rotterdam this week, to check the container with our things from Libya....
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