The move

Yesterday was moving day. The movers arrived at 8:00 AM. The final walk through was scheduled with our landlord later on that day at 7:00 PM. That gave us 11 hours to get things packed up, moved out and the house cleaned. Would we make it in time??

It was a bit hectic, but went really well considering all we had to do. When the movers arrived, Eric and I set the kids in front of the electronic babysitter so that we could get some of our own tasks done. We immediately started cleaning. We all went into hyper drive. By 3:00 pm the house was empty and the only task left was to mop the floors. Sounds easy, right? While I was mopping the floor at around 4:00, it started to rain outside. It was the hardest rain I have ever seen. It was reported that it rained 50 cl in about 15 minutes. I didn't think much of it since we've been seeing a lot of rain these days. At 4:30 I was dumping the last bucket of water outside when I heard a strange dripping noise coming from INSIDE the house. I came into the house to find my kitchen sink spilling over with water that had come up through the drain. It was spilling over onto the floor, creating a river in my kitchen. I started to freak out. I went and got Eric at the neighbors house. We quickly started scooping up the water with a bucket and throwing it outside. We tried a plunger, but that didn't work. We couldn't get in touch with our landlord since his number got packed with the movers. We finally were able to reach him through our real estate agent. He informed us that this has happened before and that we shouldn't worry about it!! Thank goodness our stuff wasn't in the kitchen. A lot of it would have gotten ruined.

We were able to get the mess cleaned up in time for the walk through. It was a nerve racking way to end our stay.

We ended the evening having pizza with our neighbors before heading out to the hotel. It was a long day. I was exhausted. We managed to get everyone in bed by 9:30, including myself.

We are now in Copenhagen. We go out to the new house tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see it. I'll write more when I can, although I'm not sure when we'll have internet access.

Spring fair at the international school

We had a fun day at the international school last week. They had a spring fair event to raise money for charity. Families were asked to donate items that could be resold at the fair. We donated a bunch of books and baby clothes. We also bought a bunch of books and toys for the kids. We set out thinking that we weren't going to spend much money. When stuff costs 1 euro, how much can you spend, right? Well we just kept loading up our bag and before we knew it, we had spent 20 euros. When it just costs 1 euro, you don't even think about whether or not you really need it you just get it. The kids have enjoyed the books and games that we bought, so it was all worth it.

Once we were done shopping, we went to the cafeteria where a few nationalities set up food stands, show casing the food from their country.

We filled up on falafel wraps and cup cakes then headed out to the play ground to burn off some calories.

We had a really fun day. I'm going to miss Amsterdam's international school. We've made lots of good friends there. It's been a great experience for us all. Dylan has flourished in the 9 months that he's spent at the school. He's learned how to count to 20 and knows most of his shapes. He's also become quite good at entertaining us with the songs that he has learned from Judy, his music teacher. We are looking forward to the international school in Copenhagen next year.

4 months

Tricia also had a doctors appointment last week. She had her 4 month check up. She's also doing very well. She weighs 7.5 kilos and is 63 cm long. (16.5 pounds and 29 inches) She's got the cutest, chunkiest legs I've ever seen. She's really just adorable. She's 5 months next week. I can't believe how fast time has gone by. She's sleeping through the night now and roles over like a champ. Her favorite activity is watching her brother, Dylan. He loves entertaining her and making her laugh. She laughs pretty easily at his antics.

3 years 10 months

Here in Holland, they do the 4 year check up at 3 years 10 months. Dylan had his check up the other day. He did great!! He weighs 18.6 kilos and is 105 cm long. (that's 40 pounds and 41 inches). He also had to get a vaccination. He was so brave! He didn't cry; didn't even say ouch. He was so proud of himself. It's been 3 days since his appointment and he still hasn't taken the band aid off. He's even shown it to quite a few people.