What's cookin'?

Two weeks ago, while they were still on school holiday, the boys both chose a day to be in charge of dinner. They got to dictate the menu, but it had to be well-rounded, i.e., include plenty of veggies, some protein, etc. William immediately declared that he wanted to make a one-dish meal we usually just call "Chinese noodles." It involves a huge amount of cabbage, carrot, and onion (see the big bowl in the picture below) mixed with ramen-style noodles, peanuts, and chicken, plus a homemade gingery sesame sauce. William also definitely wanted to make a dessert, a lemon yogurt cake with lemon frosting. He worked dutifully throughout much of the afternoon and was very proud of his dinner!

He was bummed to find I had no sprinkles for the cake, so—entirely of his own volition—he found some gummy candies in the cupboard and strawberries in the fridge and decorated with those instead while I was distracted doing something else.  :)

Josiah's choice a few days later was pasta with a hearty vegetable-tomato sauce and meatballs, plus a big salad with a homemade dressing that we've called "Josiah's favorite salad dressing" since he was little. Oh, and a slab of fudge for dessert! I haven't made fudge in years, I can't think we've bought any in years either, so who knows what made him land on that as a dessert—but he was psyched!

He helped get produce and eggs at the outdoor market.

Both of the eggs we hard-boiled for the salad turned out to be double yolkers. Cool.

Chopping chocolate isn't easy, but the promise of fudge is a solid inducement to stay on task!
In the meantime, he learned all about double boilers, the notion of seizing chocolate, etc. 

A very yummy family dinner...

...and an absolutely decadent dessert that took us almost a week to consume, one delicious little cube at a time!

0... Look who's home!

After nearly 24 hours of travel, Jesse returned to us this afternoon. I misled the boys about his arrival time by an hour or so, and that meant Jesse was able to surprise them at school pick-up time. Their faces were priceless! What with a quick power nap (after missing a night of sleep) and then needing to dial into work meetings and calls starting at 7 p.m., the reunion and playtime had to be cut a little short this first evening. But no matter, all feels right in the world with him back home. Hooray! 

2...

Dear Jesse,

Eight days done, just two to go! It's a shame that the journey itself and the time difference don't work in our favor, though. The fact that you depart Lancaster tomorrow afternoon but don't get to us until Tuesday afternoon is sad. Someone really needs to figure out a human beaming procedure (you know, like Mike Teavee in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or perhaps Star Trek variety?). On the other hand, I guess it was only a few generations ago when this trip would have taken a month or two...so perhaps I should quit my complaining!

Today was gorgeous. The temps barely touched 70, the sun was brilliant, and all was right in the world. Well, almost. I was too chicken to drive us to church. The occasional stalling / spluttering engine issue has me paranoid. I honestly don't know what I'd do if I broke down 30 miles from the house with you a continent away away, so I bailed, even though the chance of a problem I'm sure was slim to none.

The boys are fully in "experiment" mode, as evidenced by yesterday's post. There was more concocting today, with William sticking with it for ages.


Later we did a bubble project. It involved cutting down two milk bottles from recycling, covering the open ends with a rubber-banded facecloth, and making a mixture of water and dish detergent. Josiah did all the prep work and we headed down with our supplies to the park by the river. The resulting bubble snakes were awesome!




Unfortunately William initially had a bit of trouble with the notion of only breathing out through the bottle, and he got a couple of really horrid mouthfuls of soap bubbles—nasty.

Here he just has some on his face, fortunately not again in his mouth! 

While at the park, we also played ball, did some swinging, ran races in the very tall grass, saw ducklings, and of course caught bugs and butterflies.

By the way, we've had some little injury, scrape, or problem each day—ah, summertime with kids—but today's was in indoor accident. William was desperate to help me grate cheese at dinner. We talked extensively about keeping fingers and knuckles from the grate, and I hovered, but...oops. The tip of one tiny finger is nicely band-aided tonight. I imagine he'll be more careful next time. And for my part, I'll try to do better at keeping both children in one piece for your return! We love you and miss you!

4, 3...

Hi Jesse! The last couple of days have been full but good. I didn't take out the camera today, but I have a few snapshots of yesterday to share with you. We ate fresh ham and cheese baguette sandwiches along with beautiful strawberries and cucumber from market for lunch, and after school the boys had brioche with tiny mugs of chocolat chaud. Nothing seemed noteworthy about it, then it hit me with a bit of a jolt mid-snack, how very French.

Showing "4 more days" over lunch on Friday. You will notice a freshly filled bug jar on the table. The boys had added two giant snails to it just before we ate, and by the time lunch was over the jar was disgusting...you couldn't see through the glass for the slime. Bon appétit to us...

Later, I was prepping dinner when Josiah tapped me on the shoulder. Goggled and gloved and with a big expectant grin he said, "Can I do some science?!" How could I say no? He headed outdoors—my requirement—with vinegar, baking soda, and a selection of other random items from the cupboards, and William asked to join in. I overheard Josiah quickly and generously telling Will that he could choose either the gloves or the goggles, and they commenced various mixtures and activities from there. I asked later what they'd learned. "Baking soda and vinegar make the best bubbles," Josiah told me, "and lemon juice is good too." William said, "If you add fizzy water and shake it up, that's fun!" Then Josiah added, "But honey just makes everything sticky and yellow." Important life lessons.  :)

They decided to trade gear. Josiah was using a clothespin
to tighten the non-adjustable goggle strap for William. 

 My mad scientists!

Regretfully, it took a bit of a mad mommy to get everything cleaned up at the end...

As for today's highlights (sans photos, sorry):

• coming down for breakfast for the second day in a row to find William already playing outdoors in the courtyard, with a jacket over his PJ top, sneakers on his feet, and nothing from waist to ankles!!! (Yesterday I was trying to tell myself it was a sign of a perfectly good, laid-back mom, but today's repeat event points squarely at a parenting fail...)
• having a language lesson with Maëva this morning while the boys made a pillow jumping pit
• getting down a football that managed to land and perch on the very top of the front courtyard wall (a good 15 feet up...ladder + mop handle eventually did the trick...not that I can be unhappy about enormous privacy walls when our youngest steps out half nude!)
• making a little streusel coffee cake that all three of us enjoyed with decaf tea mid-afternoon
• walking to SuperU Express and getting soaked in unexpected rain on the return walk
• reading aloud the chapter in Pippi Longstocking where Pippi entertains two burglers...she dances something called the schottische with one burgler while the other plays music on a comb...so we looked up a how to do the dance and re-enacted the scene. I was Pippi, Josiah danced with me, and William badly slobbered up a comb. We changed up roles several times and were all on the floor in tears with laughter before long!

There were a few lowlights as well in the form of fights and squabbles, and hitting the one-week mark without you here is definitely a bummer, Jesse. But only three days to go. We're going to make it!

5... (halfway there)

Dear Jesse,

The halfway point! Five days done, five to go.

The boys were home for Ascension Day. Just about everything was closed and quiet for the holiday. It poured with rain off and on all morning then the sun came out in the afternoon.

During the dark and wet hours, we played multiple games of Yahtzee and made an enormous fort. The fort had separate rooms and a hallway. (For some reason including a hallway was very very important.)

During the sunny and dry hours, the boys decided to go bug catching in the yard. They were quite successful. After calling them in for dinner, I turned to put plates on the table and found that Josiah had removed the center tiny pot of roses (they're what remain of the lovely bouquet you bought before leaving!) and replaced it with their insect habitat. A perfect centerpiece with elements to suit all three diners at the table, no?

I'm told—and I wrote this down—that the jar houses:

2 small spiders

1 ladybug

7-10 ants

5-7 roly poly bugs

3 beetles

3 slugs (or snails without shells, there was disagreement on this point)

+ 1 empty snail shell, some dirt, several sticks, grass, and leaves

After dinner and showers and jammies, they cuddled up on a chair and asked me to wrap them in a blanket. They spent the next 10 minutes observing their little habitat, keenly looking for hiding behaviors, impending fights, and so forth.

The jar was more engrossing than a movie! I left them to it, only intervening when William took off the lid.

7, 6...

Hi Jesse. It was a gorgeous May day today, and I was prompted to dig up an Emily Brontë poem...

May flowers are opening
And leaves unfolding free,
There are bees in every blossom
And birds on every tree.

The sun is gladly shining,
The stream sings merrily,
And I only am pining
And all is dark to me.

Okay, okay, so perhaps it's not quite that dismal—the speaker goes on to wish for her own death!!—but it is very true that you're missed. Refulgent skies aren't quite so bright without you here, Jesse.

And the boys are downright, flat-out, 100% miserable, as you can see:

An ice cream van was parked outside St. Medard this afternoon; we passed it on our walk home from school. Since it was the usual half-day, we decided to run home for lunch and come back for a treat. Fun! Er...I mean...not fun...  It was just a feeble attempt to drown our sorrows regarding your absence...  We didn't enjoy it one bit.  Nope.

Six days to go!

Love, your pining wife  :)

10, 9, 8...

Dear Jesse,

We're happy to know that you're safely back in the U.S.—and even happier already to have a few days of our current "daddy countdown" done! As usual, I'll do my best to keep you up to speed on our lives while you're gone this week.

So, what's happened so far? Let's see...

On Saturday after your departure there was, among other things, a major bowling competition. The competitors were William, Josiah, Teddy, and I.  You can see Teddy's flawless form below, so it should come as no surprise that...

 

...Teddy won!

Teddy always seems to become a little more noticeable when you travel, Jesse. He often spends weeks without leaving the bed, but when you're out of town? Suddenly Teddy starts popping up around the house. In that vein, Josiah was very, very sad at bedtime on Saturday about you being gone. (Thankfully he was fine last night and tonight.) William was less overtly concerned, in fact boldly declaring repeatedly, "But...we don't really need daddy. I like gentle crashes and things, but we don't need gentle crashes. It's okay if daddy's not here..." Of course lest you feel spurned by the rejection, methinks his comments fell squarely in the Shakespearean category of protesting too much...

Yesterday, Sunday, was a good day. Since it was the week for the Thouars worship service mid-afternoon, we didn't head off to Saumur in the morning and instead enjoyed a lazy first half of the day playing games together and hanging outside. Although it was only in the 60s in the morning, the boys wanted to play with water. Of course they instantly were cold and decided the stream from the water guns was too tiny and chilly for comfort. Instead they wanted to run in and out of the kitchen to fill bottles from the recycling bin with warm tap water to pour on themselves and each other. After about three trips in and out, I volunteered to keep the bottles filled so their soggy little selves didn't have to keep trailing indoors. They loved it, but talk about a lot of mess and work and laundry for about 7 minutes of playtime! Happy Mother's Day, eh?  :)  Anyway, church in the afternoon was great, and folks said to wish you well this week. So, bonjour from them!

That brings us to today, their first day back to school. Both boys went off just fine and were happy to be back with their friends, no worries or complaints. I'm so thankful! I managed to be hit with a pretty grand headache so was especially grateful to have a few hours of quiet to lie down this morning. Fortunately it wasn't to the point that I couldn't make the walk to and from school the four necessary times—at 9, noon, 1:30 and 4—although you can imagine I was a wee bit grumpy seeing as in addition to my headache the temps were in the 80s. Grr. Heat just makes me...angry. I'm sure you've never noticed. 

After school I let Josiah pop over to the co-op to get some little candies for a new Lego candy machine he created yesterday. He came back with not just the candies but two candy paper euro bill things that I'd never seen before. They were 5 cents apiece, from his own pocket money, and he shared one with William. 

Here's some preprandial licking—euphoric licking on William's part, it would appear. Good grief, that child loves him some sugar.

And here's a shot after the first bite. They ate it all up well enough and declared themselves fans—I mean, they have reputations to maintain; you can't not like a candy—but I think the pictures show that the bills maybe didn't quite live up to expectation. Barely sweet papery/cardboard material that turns to mush in your mouth? What's not to love?  (In case you're worried, they had salmon, asparagus, and new potatoes for dinner, so I'm not letting their health go entirely to pot in your absence.)

Josiah also wanted to show you the mega-straw he made this evening by taping together several smaller straws. I required an outdoor setting for the inaugural draw in fear it would spurt from every seam, but lo, mega-straw worked flawlessly. I should know by know not to doubt our eldest's engineering skills.

And...I'll leave you with a parting shot of our kitchen window—because If I were away,

I'd most definitely be requesting photographic updates on the flowers as well as the children.  :)

Love you and miss you tremendously! Eight days to go!

The final "vacances" — part two

Following yesterday's post, I'm here with photographic evidence of the rest of our trip to the Netherlands. Can I call these posts a partial Mother's Day present since I've been promising pictures and stories to both moms all week? Okay, maybe that's a stretch.  :)


First, our housing. We once again used airbnb.com, and we couldn't have been happier. We stayed in a beautiful, rural town called Zegveld in a little rental apartment attached to the owners' own farmhouse. The rate we paid was far less than anything we could find for even a modest hotel room in Amsterdam, making four nights of housing very manageable—plus we had a full kitchen so we made almost all of our own meals, two bedrooms, a beautiful living room, tons of land to run around on and explore, silent nights, etc. etc. etc. What's more, the delightful owner shared her sons' toys with Josiah and William. She's raising five boys and has bookend daughters, a 22-year-old who is married with a daughter of her own and a 6-year-old youngest. With bins of Legos and connect-y toys and a huge trampoline outdoors, Jesse and I were hard pressed to get J and W to leave the premises.  :)

The tree in front of our house. 

Among other things, the owners raise sheep. Several lambs were born the week we were there. This little one was only a day old, and our landlords happily let us have a cuddle!!

She had just licked his fingers.  :)

When I say they "happily" let us cuddle, I'm not referring to mama sheep, who was not impressed. Here she is eyeing me rather warily a few minutes after her lamb was returned to her. Sorry, mama.

The owners were clever. They'd dug out a big crater beneath the trampoline so it was just a few inches off the ground. 

Josiah was very enamored with this go-cart, and I wish I had a pic with William in the back seat!  :)

Josiah made Lego monograms for us one morning to label our places at the table. :)

Obviously we were utterly charmed by the place. Indeed, if another guest hadn't been booked for Friday night, we probably would have added another day to our stay. Frankly, we were charmed by the beauty of the countryside across the Netherlands, not just in Zegveld. Every town we passed was so tidy and well-kept, the colors were vibrant, there was water in every direction (most driveways were small bridges since practically every road was accompanied by a canal alongside!), and it didn't hurt that we were there when baby lambs and calves were in the fields. And the magnificent birds! Swans, cranes, and storks everywhere. 

On that note, our landlord tipped us off that Zegveld has erected a small village for nesting storks. Seeing as it's nesting season now, it was the perfect week to see it. The place isn't publicized on the internet; we were thankful for her heads-up!

The other great thing about Zegveld is that it was really centrally located for day trips in different directions each day, which suited us well for this trip. So...back to the travelogue:

On Wednesday, after a slow morning of Legos and stopping by the stork village, we headed back up to Amsterdam for a late lunch. We decided we had to eat some of the famous Amsterdam pancakes. On our walk to the restaurant, we enjoyed the crazy crooked houses of the city.

We also enjoyed the canals at every turn, picturesque even on a gray day when it kept threatening to spit rain. 

We highly recommend the little place where we ate, called Upstairs Pannenkoeken. It has only four tables in a room the size of a small bedroom and is found up a flight of ancient stairs so steep it's like climbing a ladder. I've never seen stairs like it! I guess codes were different in the 1500s when the building was made...  :)  The teeny interior was quaint with photos of the royal family on the walls and over 100 teapots hung from the ceiling. The pancakes were of course freshly made to order. We got two savory options and two sweet options and split them across the four of us. Delicious!

*   *   *

On Thursday the sun came back out and we headed south to Gouda—yes, the home of the cheese by the same name, although did you know it's pronounced "how-da"? We didn't! Thursday mornings in Gouda are festive, since it's when they hold their weekly cheese auction and farmer's market. They definitely cater to tourists, with the activity equal parts legitimate and staged, but it was wonderfully fun either way.

A 60+ pound wheel of cheese. 

The boys ate a lot of samples. Who am I kidding...so did Jesse and I!  :)  And we've been enjoying yummy gouda nearly every lunch since returning home to France seeing as we bought a few chunks there. What's more, the farm next to our rental made and sold artisinal gouda, and so we got to walk over and meet the cows, see the cheese making process, and buy a little wheel from them too. I've always liked gouda cheese at home in the US, but this "real" stuff definitely tastes different, more aged, and is absolutely wonderful. 

Curing cheeses at the farm in Zegveld.

All told, it was an awesome week, and we were sad to see it end. On Friday morning, Jesse was off early for a meeting in Utrecht while I stayed back to pack up and clean a little and the boys got in a last hour or two of jumping and playing. By noon we hit the road and made the long, 500-mile journey home. The end!