The Feast of St. Martin is celebrated each November 11th with children going door to door singing and carrying lanterns. Much like on Halloween, children are given a treat at each house they visit. St. Martin is known as a friend to children and a patron of the poor. The children celebrate St. Martin’s with …
One of the most common questions we are asked about moving abroad is what we are doing about schooling for the boys. Our boys are in our Dutch neighborhood schools. They are at separate schools located right next to each other. (I love Dutch efficiency!) Our middle kid, little O is 2 years old and is …
There are some activities worth repeating! Last year one of our first outings with friends was to go apple picking. (Read about that here.) We had such a lovely time I didn’t want to miss the fun this year despite opening weekend hovering near my due date. We headed back to De Olmenhorst for their self …
There are plenty of posts out there about having a baby in the Netherlands. (Cup of Jo has a wonderful series, Motherhood Around the World, that is worth checking out.) In honor of today being my due date, I just want to share with you some of the funny moments of preparing for this baby here …
Despite the weather we know fall has officially arrived in Delft when its time for our favorite event, Biesland Dagen. This farm festival was one of the first events we attended when we moved here in 2015. (Read about our experience last year.) What a difference a year makes! This year the weather was perfect. Both the …
By all accounts the Netherlands summer has been short-lived. (See this DutchNews.nl article.) We had several nice warm days early on and then the rain came and stayed. This week the sun came out and temperatures were in the 70’s and everything is green. Not quite summer. Not quite fall. Combine that with our new 34 …
Yep. My husband came home with an inflatable boat to take out into the canals with the boys. Since we arrived in the Netherlands he has wanted a boat. “When you live below sea level you should have a boat” he always says. The past year he has been hoping to find a little one …
One of the things I really love about living in the Netherlands is the focus on living with the land. We are surrounded by livestock in yards, petting zoos and farms. Shopping at the farm or market means making a connection with the food and where it is coming from. Our eggs are so farm fresh, …
Summer feels like the season to go pick some fruit. We had a great apple farm in the fall and I’ve been looking for more options ever since. So, when Jeff sent me an e-mail asking if I wanted to pick him up from work with the kids to go berry picking I was over the moon. …
The boys’ birthdays are both in the spring, so I decided I would just have one big party for both of them. They are both very into camping and adventure so we decided to have an American camping party. Traditional Dutch birthday parties are a bit different than what we are used to. They involve …