Jacob's 9th Birthday

Jacob turned 9 on Thursday. He was up nice and early - 5.30! He stayed in bed though and we went down stairs together at 6am. He wanted to open his presents in bed, so at 6.15 he started! He had great fun and immediately wanted to play the Wii to try out his new Pirates of the Caribbean lego game from Grandma and Grandad. We'd got him a few little bits with his main thing being a bike. It's a bit big for him but he liked it all the same. I'd baked cookies for his class and we decorated them with frosting and smarties (chocolate ones not American Smarties). He wore his new Melrose Rugby Club Hoodie to school and has not taken it off since! Everyone made a fuss of him at school and afterwards we picked up Allen and went to the all you can eat Chinese - Jacob's favourite. I've included a photo of him opening presents and on his bike in the lounge!

Saturday was Jacob's party. We had a friend around for the day and 3 more arrived at 1pm as Jacob had a joint party with his classmate Marcus. Marcus is Norwegian and was in Jacob's class last year and is with him again this year. Between them they had invited about 20 guests for a party at a local indoor play place and amazingly everyone came! It was a hectic 3 hours, especially as I missed the first hour as Abi was at a cheerleading day and I went to see her perform and then bring her to the party. We finished at 5.30 and took 3 extras back with us for a sleepover. The boys were great. They went to sleep at 10pm and 2 got up a 7am and then the other 2 at 8am. After a pancake breakfast we played with the Nerf guns outside until they were picked up. A very successful sleepover and a great end to Jacob's birthday weekend.

The Amsterdam Marathon

Hi

Here's a late post about the Amsterdam marathon. Allen has decided to do a marathon each decade. So, for his 30th he did the London and his 40th was the Amsterdam. My mum came across for the weekend so I could join him there. I drove up on the Friday night and found our small but brilliantly located B&B. Allen flew in from Greece, landing in Amsterdam around 11pm. By this time I'd eaten out at a local bar, enjoying a curry and a pint, so when he arrived I was fast asleep!

Saturday we went to register and pick up his number, all quite exciting. I've included a photo of him outside the Olympic Stadium - where the marathon started and finished. After that bit was out of the way we then went to the diamond museum. I was very impressed with this although I couldn't persuade Allen to visit any of the recommended shops! We did lots of walking around and then ate back at the bar I'd been to the night before. Allen ate loads of pasta.

Sunday morning arrived and we walked to the tram stop that we'd been told would take us to the stadium - no trams. We ended up walking to the start, not the best thing for Allen although we did meet another Scot and Allen ended up running over half of the marathon with him so that was a bonus. The next photo is of Allen before the race started at the Olympic Stadium. I left Allen to get sorted and went to find my bike. I'd left it at the underground car park, lots of walking later I finally found it and cycled to the 15km point. Got a good spot and saw Allen smiling and waving, did get a photo but it was blurred. Cycled to the 25km point, got another waving photo this time not so blurred! Then off to the 35km point and yet again a smiling and waving Allen. I then met him at the finish, he was very normal and I was very pleased and proud to see him. I think he was a bit surprised at my excitement! So all of the training was definitely worth it as a time of 3 hours 44mins was better than 3 hours 56mins in London ten years ago.

We made our way back to the car, stopping for a well deserved Burger King on the way - see photo!

Dropped Mum back at Genk on the Monday, thank you Mum.

Rachael.

Triathlon

Allen, Jacob and Abi did a try a triathlon last weekend. Everyone had loads of fun. Allen's was a bit more serious. He swam 12 lengths, cycled 10 miles and then ran 2. We watched from the cycling stage. As he is training for the Amsterdam marathon he is in very good condition. He did extremely well and came 4th out of 70. He reckons they made him swim 2 extra lengths so he would have actually been 3rd.

Jacob and Abi had to do 2 lengths, cycle a mile and run 800m. It was just right for them and they loved it. At the end they got a great goodie bag too. After it was all done there was a BBQ and bouncy things for the children to go on. I ended up cooking the BBQ, not sure how that happened!

So now Jacob needs a new bike as Abi is the right size for his one. Luckily Jacob's birthday is coming up, so at least we have an easy present this year!

Rachael.

Back to NL with Grandma.

After my girls weekend in Portsmouth I travelled straight back to The Netherlands as I had to go into school to set up my classroom, so Allen stayed in Scotland and then Marion came back with him on the ferry. Marion then kindly stayed and looked after Jacob and Abi while I was busy with my first week of school. It was great as I didn't have to think about cooking, cleaning or ironing for that first week. While Marion was here we still managed to fit in a few trips out. We visited Monde Verde, there's a photo of them on the water pulley ride, the windmill with a cafe at the bottom - photo of them up the windmill and Gangelt wildlife park. I put in a happy photo of Jacob feeding the deer. After that photo was taken Jacob then went on to try to feed the wild boar. I told him to throw the food through the fence, due to the fact that they bite. Jacob stood a bit too close and the big daddy wild boar bit him on the finger. He was very lucky it didn't take his finger off, as it was, it was a nasty nip with lots of blood. We were there with friends from the Falklands, Sarah, a nurse who was very handy to have. She cleaned it up. I took him to the hospital to check on jabs and to get it bandaged. Sarah had said that it was fine and she was right as they didn't do any more at the hospital. It did bleed alot, I think that's what freaked Jacob out the most. Two weeks on and it's just a scab. If you look in the windmill photo you'll see his bandaged finger. He was funny, as soon as it had happened, he counted to see if he still had all of his fingers! Quite a feat as I was holding his hand above his head to stop it bleeding will dragging him to the bathroom to clean it all up. I bought a season pass on the way in - wonder if I'll ever get him back there??!!

Rachael.

Scotland Summer 2011

After my 40th birthday we had a few days enjoying being out and about around Melrose. We then took a trip to Killin to meet up with the Knight family - friends we made in the Falklands. It was a beautiful drive past quite a few lochs. We stopped at one to have our lunch. Once we got to Killin we easily found our B&B and then went to explore the Falls. The first photo is of Allen, Jacob and Abi standing with the falls in the background. As we were playing we saw the Knights cycling past so they stopped to say hello. They were caravaning in a park in Killin. We then walked to their camp site and spent the afternoon catching up and drinking bubbly. We walked back into Killin to have dinner at our B&B and then went back out to play on the falls once again. I've included a photo of them running around. It was great to catch up and am looking forward seeing them again in England next summer.

Rachael.

My 40th Birthday

You may have guessed that I've started full time work due to the fact that I haven't posted anything for a while! Going back to work has been great, except for the fact that I now have no time to do anything else. So I am finally adding a couple of posts from over the summer holidays. We got the over night ferry from Amsterdam to Newcastle early August. It worked very well with all of us managing to sleep in the bunk beds onboard. We arrived in Melrose on the 4th August in time for my fortieth on the Saturday. My mum came up on the train to celebrate with us. I've included a photo from the morning when Marion made a delicious brunch for all of the family. I share my birthday with Stuart, my brother-in-law, so it made the day even more special. After our brunch Allen and I went off to Stobo Castle near Pebbles for a relaxing night away. I've included a photo from our room. It was extremely luxurious and we had a fab time.

I continued my celebrations with a girlie weekend in Portsmouth with 2 good friends from Uni days - Ruth and Ali. A few more people joined us for the weekend and it was all great fun. I've included a photo from mini golf (which I won), and 2 from our night out. We went to a night club where I felt extremely old. Dresses showing your knickers were the order of the day so my linen trousers definitely did not fit in! I was impressed I stayed until just about 2am. I did enjoy it but will not be rushing back!

Next post is other things we did over the summer.

Rachael.

Summer Fun 2011

Hi

Have have had about 3 weeks at home so here's what we have been up to:

The weather has been un-usually cold and wet in The Netherlands for summertime, so my plans of lounging at the outdoor pool and getting a decent tan have gone, as has my tan! So, instead we have visited some inside stuff. The first photo is from a place place and is of Jacob and a new friend Jamie. They are both very sweaty and are building houses with oversized lego bricks. It kept them entertained for hours. Glad he's not grown out of these places yet. The next photo is from Mondo Verde. A place we go to regularly as we are season ticket holders. We did get wet, as it rained, but no one cared. Next up is blueberry picking, again got a bit wet but loads were picked and eaten. The next day we went to our friends house for American waffles with blueberries. Abi and Haley (who you can see peeking through the bushes) made blueberry pie - yummy. Next one is from a science place in Sittard. It's a hands on, no health and safety place! Blow torches and deep fat fryers were on hand with no adult supervision - they had a blast, literally. I took an extra child so spent more time worrying about her than Jacob and Abi burning themselves. Funnily enough both my two burnt themselves when I was incharge at the roasting coffee activity. Abi dropped her beans on the floor and made an almighty fuss, she was fine, not even a mark. The photo is of them building walls. Their favourite activity was making crisps and the Queen's dinner - a magnetic activity involving water and getting soaked. We were there all day and didn't managed all of the activities so will go again. I'm hoping to take a school trip there too. Next photo is from Schinveld park, a play park with a water feature which was freezing. Didn't stop my 2 from going in. Last photo is from a Barefoot walk. You walk, barefoot, on a variety of surfaces including muddy water parts, the childrens' fav. I took two extras and, of course, George fell in the biggest muddly puddle there was, he smelt a bit but was fine!

Off to the UK today, will update when we return.

Rachael.