Playing with gnomes

We made a return trip to the Kabouterbos (the gnome woods) on Sunday, with our Kampen family, the Cooke's.  Perhaps you will recall my post about our first trip, which we took in early October.  The Kabouterbos is 15 km away, which living in the flat lands of the Netherlands, is not terribly difficult on bike.  However, add in the weight of two children up against steady wind gusts, and it is a pretty decent workout.  We packed a lunch and hit the road, with some very delighted kiddos (the trip was spontaneous, so when news broke that we were going on this adventure, I'm sure the squeals leaked though our concrete walls to all of our neighbors' delight!).  We had a great afternoon!

We sat down to eat lunch at a picnic table in the parking lot.  Maddie said, "This is great; it's kind of like we're having a picnic!"  Smart kid, that one! :)

Owen left his gloves at home, so he sported his daddy's.  

Oh, the love relationship between a child and a ball pit.  Indescribable.  

And the love relationship between a boy, his stick and puddles?  Even more indescribable (not to mention how wearing rubber boots seems to make no difference whatsoever in his ability to keep his entire bottom half dry...).

Blissfully happy.

Geoffrey could hardly stay standing with both girls jumping - he thought it was great fun; so did they!

Maddie has always been very good at climbing and balancing on various equipment, even in clunky rubber boots.

The weather was perfect for February!  

There she goes again.

Peek-a-boo!

Our littlest gnome.

Swinging on the giant rope became a family affair.

The biggest highlight of the day, and continuing throughout this week...Brant's bike has officially turned into a "Papafiets!"  On Maddie's request, he placed her on the back of his bike (where there is no seat), and she proceeded to balance and ride the 35 minute ride back to Kampen by just holding onto the bar beneath his seat, with one hand.  She would occasionally switch hands, while the other would just rest in her lap, and her feet rest in his saddle bags.  This is very common with a lot of kids around here, but Maddie has never shown an interest.  Geoffrey and I were equally happy with this new discovery, as he was bumped to a bigger seat for the ride home, and I had a lighter haul.  Brant was also happy to be sharing the load.  Win-win for all of us!!