Sinterklaas Feest

December 5th was a very exciting day in the Netherlands, and Kampen was no exception.  Sinterklaas arrived in the country in the middle of November, and for 3 weeks, anticipation built up for "Pakjesavond" (gift giving night).  Our kids had no idea about this night, which made it all the more exciting for us. :)

The day started with a grand celebration at Maddie's school, where Sinterklaas himself, along with a few of his Zwarte Piet helpers, arrived for the duration of her school day.  We were able to join her for his entrance, and let me tell you, it was sort of like we were attending a teeny-bopper concert - in other words, the kids were hyper, screaming and squealing before, during and after the arrival of the Sint.  It was really fun!

Maddie, in the "Zwarte Piet" hat that she made, special for this occasion.

Maddie's class, getting lined up for the big arrival. 

She was pretty excited, like all the rest of the kids (and many of the adults). 

The whole school community, out for the arrival of the Sint.  They were singing all kinds of Sinterklaas songs, clapping hands, squealing and jumping around.

Sinterklaas travels around on a regal white horse....until today... He arrived via scooter!  Brant and I got a real kick out of this!

The kids really could care less how he arrived - they were still pushing up against the ropes, trying to get close to him. 

The director of the school, welcoming and interviewing Sinterklaas to de Morgenster.  We couldn't understand a word, but that didn't spoil it for us. :)

After Maddie's exciting school morning, the day proceeded like every other day for us.  That is, until dinnertime...

We were happily playing together as a family, Christmas music on in the background, dinner cooking on the stove, when suddenly, someone knocked, our door flew open, pepernoten came flying into the room and a big burlap bag of gifts landed at our feet.  And with that, the door closed and what appeared to be a Zwarte Piet helper, was gone.

Maddie was beside herself that Zwarte Piet had come to our house and delivered a bag of presents from Sinterklaas to us!  Truth be told, Brant and I were super excited to, even though we were privy to the whole event.  Geoffrey became excited a few minutes later, after the shock and confusion settled just a bit.

Brant, asking Maddie, "What just happened???!"

Wow!

Now Geoffrey is excited!

Sinterklaas brought 3 gifts for both kids - Mommy and Daddy didn't ask for anything. ;) 

The kids were given matching baby dolls - seriously, these things are about the size of a 4 month old!!  It's been fun to watch them playing together, and not arguing over the one baby we brought with us from Pasadena. 

Maddie was also given a special cook-set, which was the highlight of her evening.  She had been eying this at a store in Kampen since the first week we arrived.  A week prior, she drew a map for Sinterklaas, with directions on how to find the toy at the store.  She had rolled the map up and put it in her wooden shoe, and the next morning the map was gone.  Back to this night, when she opened this gift, she exclaimed, "Sinterklaas used my map and found the cookset I wanted!!"  :)  It was sort of a magical moment.

Another fun toy!  These kids are set.

A box of puzzles!  Wohoo!

Geoffrey loves this truck, because it lights up and makes noise.  Awesome.  :)

We were delighted to be able to experience such a special national holiday this year.  We will always look back with fond memories, and are excited to take just a few of the traditions back home with us.

Geoffrey's Golden Birthday

Our little man celebrated his 2nd birthday this week, which also happens to be his "golden birthday" (your golden birthday takes place on the year you turn the number of your birth day.  For Geoffrey, his golden birthday was on the 2nd, when he turned 2.).  As I have made clear countless times before on this blog, I am BIG into birthdays and do not believe in letting the day go past without happy celebrations, no matter their age!  From the moment Geoffrey woke up, until we put him in his bed, we were sure to let him know it was his special day!!

Monday afternoon, after a very typically busy day, we had a wonderful, small party for Geoffrey.  Our friend, Ever, was our special guest, as we happened to be taking care of her that evening while her parents were away.  Lately, Geoffrey has been very excited about Lightning McQueen and Mater, from the movie, Cars.  He has not seen this movie, but does have a book, so he is vaguely familiar with the characters.  I'd actually like to think he is more familiar with the characters because of countless trips to Cars Land in California, but I digress.  :)  Our theme was "Cars 2," which was perfect for our "2" year old (I love myself a theme!).  I don't have all of my usual decorating supplies with me over here, but I made do with my surroundings, and I'd say we pulled off a pretty inviting party scene!

He's saying, "McQueen!"

Who's ready for a birthday party??

We can't believe he's 2 already!!

What would a party be without balloons?  The kids had a blast with these.

New plate, dish and cup - featuring McQueen, of course!

Ever gave Geoffrey some dinosaurs - he loves them!

Cars 2 movie!  Perfect! :)

A new ball for a 2 year old is a necessity, especially when all of ours are back in California.

A marble maze, which has been a big hit.

Time for pizza!  Yes - you really do wish you were here for this super cool 2 year old birthday party!

You didn't think we would give Geoffrey a movie for his birthday, and not turn it on, now did you?

He was quite pleased with this decision.

Unfortunately, he missed his nap that day, and partied just a bit too much.  As a result, he was the first one to leave his birthday party. :)

Happiest of birthdays to our sweet, sensitive, hilarious and lovable Geoffrey Patrick!!  We love you to the moon and back!!

Thanksgiving

We had a delightful Thanksgiving celebration yesterday!  Despite the fact that the Netherlands does not observe this holiday, we managed to pull off a very special, memorable day, making it feel like home.
 Maddie had school in the morning, as usual, but we decided to spend some extra time together (with Geoffrey), making the day feel a bit more out of the ordinary.  We went to De Einhoorn for coffee and hot chocolate, which was an excellent way to kick off our big holiday. 

We hosted Thanksgiving, welcoming 6 other adults, and two additional kids into our home for the afternoon/evening.  Between all of the guests, we had a full and traditional menu planned for our meal.  For my contributions, I made the turkey (well, turkey breasts cut at the butcher, as there was no room in my small freezer or fridge, or oven, to have a full-sized turkey on board!), balsamic glazed green beans, old fashioned cranberry sauce, crescent rolls, gravy and the appetizers.  Everyone provided such delicious food, and the spread was quite impressive! 

Enjoying a few appetizers!

Cooking away..

Maria and me - she made me keep the apron on for the picture.

Cooking with friends makes the task so much more fun!  Maria, me and Bekah (and baby Owen)

The spread!

We were excited to share our American holiday with a few families who have never celebrated Thanksgiving before.  They loved the experience and a very special time was shared by all!

Ramesh, with all the kiddos.

Geoffrey prefers to play with his knight sword, without the cape.  Sophia, on the other hand, was all over sporting the entire costume.  Atta girl!

Tom, entertaining Maddie and Ever...or is it the other way around?

It amazes me how many times we have moved, and how many group photos I have similar to this one, of new friends who soon become forever friends. 

 Happy Thanksgiving!!

Sinterklaas arrives in Kampen!

On Saturday, November 16th, a very special holiday kicked off in the Netherlands: the Sinterklaas Festival!  Sinterklaas (click here to learn more) arrived on Saturday, via steam boat, with his "zwarte piet" helpers, and will be here through December 6th.  The entrance of the Saint was nothing but grand, exciting and believable!  We bundled ourselves up for the cold, foggy morning, and headed down to the river to join the growing and anticipatory crowd. 

Cold and foggy.

Best friends - Ever and Maddie

The amazing threesome.

We're ready!

Our fabulous friends, and family-away-from-home, the Cooke's.

Ever - watching, and probably not entirely sure what she is watching out for.  I'm not sure any of us were entirely sure what to expect!

Here comes the steamboat!  It was a party - fun music was being played by a brass band on board, the Zwarte Piet helpers on the boat were dancing and waving, and the crowd onshore was singing and bouncing all over the place. 

There he is!  He is surrounded by "Zwarte Piet" helpers, dozens and dozens of them, to be exact.  Currently, there is a big national debate over the topic of Zwarte (black) Piet, and the discussion of racism.  As Americans, we were definitely taken aback by what we saw, but we also knew that this is a long-standing traditional holiday in the Netherlands, and decided to just take it in for what it was in the moment, as odd as it may appear to us.

 

 

The brass band - they were quite good and entertaining.

Sinterklaas, making his way onshore, to be welcomed by the mayor, and parade down the street with his horses. 

Celebrating this Dutch holiday with friends, old and new!  Here we are with the Cooke family and Tom, a fellow Dutch student from the university.  He has also been heading up the housing operation for us over here.  A wonderful new friend!

Maddie had been waiting and preparing for this day all week!  Boy, was she ready!

The entire town seemed to come out for the grand arrival - so many people in Kampen - I loved it!!

We slipped inside De Eenhoorn for some coffee and to warm up from the cold.  In the process of posing for the picture, a Zwarte Piet popped over and joined us.

Maddie got to shake hands with Sinterklaas, as he paraded by.

Everyone was quite happy with the special moment.

I have been doing my research for well over a month, prepared to take full advantage of experiencing a new holiday in a new culture.  Upon Saturday's arrival, I actually had a few details sprung on me that altered what I had originally been planning on.  You see, the Sinterklaas Festival takes place for three weeks, leading up to the grand "Pakjesavond," (present evening) on December 5th.  We had been planning on putting our wooden shoes out by the door on the night of the 5th, in hopes that Sinterklaas would pay us a visit that night, leaving us little treats and possibly a few small presents.  However, new information was given to me on Saturday, that in the Netherlands, shoes can be put out as much as every night between now and the 5th of December.  That's three weeks worth of little treats and presents, all leading up to a big present evening!?  Wow.  Sounds exciting and expensive all at the same time to me.  But that didn't stop us from being spontaneous and changing our plans (at least our plan on when the shoes would go out - we do not plan to participate in this tradition every.single.night).  We bought our giant carrot for Sinterklaas' horse, laid it out with our wooden shoes that night, and we waited for morning to come.

He CAME!!

Look, Daddy - his horse took a bite out of the carrot!

Sinterklaas gave Maddie and Geoffrey a new movie (the only movie we have here, so it was pretty exciting) - Toy Story 2. 

Amongst the little candies and cookies, Geoffrey also got a little Mater truck - he hasn't let it out of his sight, yet!  Maddie was given a small Mater puzzle, which she loves.

Maddie and Geoffrey both got reindeer ornaments, too.

A happy morning!

Brant was given a little snow boot ornament, along with a poem that Sinterklaas wrote special just for him.  (Writing a poem to go along with a gift is also a tradition here).  And Sinterklaas left some delicious smelling candles for me in my shoe!

Another tradition is to give chocolate letters.  Maddie was bound and determined to eat this entire thing on the spot, but we managed to fend her off of eating it all....for a little while.

Geoffrey, enjoying some krudnoten (little gingerbread cookies - the size of a dime), another traditional treat left by Sinterklaas.

  The Sinterklaas Festival continues, as I mentioned above, through the 5th of December.  I guess on the next two Saturdays, Sinterklaas, along with the Zwarte Piet helpers will be out and about in town, keeping the festive spirit in the air.  And Maddie's school is no exception - it is decked out from top to bottom, in banners, presents and pictures of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet.  She loves it! :)  Happy Sinterklaas Feest!