Abi's 8th Birthday

I realise this is a little late! Abi had a great birthday. It fell on a school day this year for the first time since she was born. She started her birthday celebrations the day before on the pizza bus. This is a converted American school bus that you can sit in and eat freshly baked pizzas. It only comes to our village on a Tuesday hence going the day before her actual birthday. On the 18th she opened some presents before school, see photo. I was teaching so straight after school we met up with out neighbours and went to KFC, one of Abi's favourite places to eat. We then got home and I'd made a castle cake, as requested. We invited more neighbours around for cake. We couldn't take too long as Abi and Jacob had Orcas - swim practice. Abi then had a swim party on the Sunday and had all of her class there plus a few others, and straight after that we had a lunch out in Sittard with lots of British families - a lovely way to finish off her birthday week. So as usual Abi had a nicely elongated birthday that was enjoyed by all. I've also included a photo outside Mum and Dad's new house in Holwell.

Rome 2012

Well finally getting around to posting about our Easter trip to Rome. We went to Naples for 2 days and then Rome for 2 days 3 nights. We had a great time there and need to go back as we didn't see everything. From the photos you may recognise the Trevi Fountain, where we all threw coins and made wishes. Abi was bursting to tell her wish but we wouldn't let her! The Colosseum - where we had a guided tour. The Pantheon both inside and out and finally Vatican City - there was a huge queue to go in so we just had a quick look outside and that was enough this time. The food was excellent, very child friendly, the apartment we stayed in was just right and the buses were easy to use. Rome seemed like a pretty laid back place and a capital city we would really like to visit again. The flight back here was 2 hours and our neighbour picked us up from the airport as he works next door so all in all an excellent trip. Rachael.

Naples 2012

Naples and Rome were our Easter destination this year, last year it was Portugal. We decided on Naples as we have friends living there - The Lunns. We first met the Lunns in The Falklands and have since met up with them in Portugal too. Perhaps we'll see them every Easter. Due to my dislike of flying I decided we'd try the overnight train from Dusseldorf to Rome and then get the fast train down to Naples. Dusseldorf to Muchen was fine, a normal intercity. We then changed onto the overnight train to Rome. It was the oldest most knackered looking train I've ever seen and it did not improve inside! We had booked a sleeping cabin, very much like the ferry cabin we had when we sailed from Amsterdam to Newcastle, although there were 6 bunkbeds, 3 on each side of the cabin. The guard was checking our tickets when 2 people arrived saying they were in with us. I lost it at that point and, bless her, the guard found them another cabin. I hope I never have to take an overnight train as it was very loud and hot! Jacob and Abi loved it and slept the whole night. Allen and I slept a little, I coped with the toilet - just! I'm actually glad we had booked a flight back.

Anyway we arrived on time in Rome and went for a very nice breakfast with excellent coffee. We caught the fast train to Naples, only an hour and 10 mins away, and Adam was there to meet us. We headed off to a harbour for a lovely seafood lunch meeting Helen and the kids there. In the afternoon Jacob, Allen, Adam and Henry went off to explore an Ampitheatre and I headed home to the Lunn's 6 bed palace to relax and catch up. Their house is lovely, it's in a gated community of other military Brits. The surrounding area is a little rough though as we went past a burnt out car and mountains of rubbish plus stray dogs. The roads are worse than the Falklands ones and that's saying something!

I know there is a lot to see outside of Naples and the next day we visited Herculaneum and Mt Vesuvius, places I studied when I took Latin at school. It was amazing to see and we were all impressed. We didn't get to Pompeii but it leaves something to do next time. We ate and drank way too much but it was great!

Rachael.

Keukenhof

Grandma and Grandad Holwell, together with Amy, visited us the first week of the Easter holiday. On their first day we walked into Sittard to have lunch. It was a little dreary but worth going as we also bought cheap train tickets, so the next day we went off to Keukenhof. It's a place outside Amsterdam, about a 3 hour trip from here - with train changes and a bus involved too. It's the area where they grow tulips and other flowers that are sold around the world. The range of tulips grown was amazing and the park was great to explore. I have put in lots of photos from the day. We left the house at 8.30 and returned by 7.30pm, a long day but I'm glad we went.

We also managed to squeeze in a quick trip to our local ice cream place. Dad and Abi both fitted in 3 scoops!

Rachael.

Easter 2012

Hi

Easter flew past with family visiting and then a trip to Naples and Rome. Thought I'd put a couple of photos on - Abi in her decorated Easter bonnet. Jacob was very pleased he didn't have to decorate one this year, he was deamed too old! Abi and Jacob did 3 egg hunts this year, one on base, one with me at school and one at home. The photo is from the one at home as their cousin Amy was here. We couldn't find one egg but did find it a week later, a perfect circle off plastic had been eaten and the egg gone with the wrapper left!

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter,

Rachael.

Grandma and Auntie Rosemary's Visit

Hello

We were lucky to have Grandma Melrose and Auntie Rosemary come and visit us a few weeks ago. They had a busy time while they were here. Allen took them to Maastricht for the day, I took them to Monschau, Germany and then we did a meal out, a local walk, lunch out and a trip to the ice cream place too.

I have put in a photo from Monschau - it's a very pretty town on the river in a valley in Germany. We ate lunch by the river and then had a wonder through the cobbled streets. We had been before, but during the Christmas market season, so it was lovely for me to see it in completely a different light.

There is also a photo from our walk to Puth, a village a few miles away that has a great cafe/lunch place. It was strange, as two weeks before this sunny photo was taken, we'd done the same walk in the driving snow!

Abi completed her cheerleading season and received a lovely plate to display in her room. She did a great job and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Jacob and Abi have both joined the swim team. They are swimming 3 evenings a week. This may be a little much as they are swimming once a week with school as well although I have already seen lots of improvement. I am very proud of them all - including Allen who has taken on a role of one of the coaches. He's great, although he getting a tad annoyed at the silly boys, I know how he feels! So now our lives have been taken over by swimming, oh well!

Looking forward to seeing my Mum and Dad plus Amy in a couple of weeks. We are off to Rome for the Easter week. Popping down to Naples first to stay with friends, who we met in the Falklands, and then back up to Rome for a couple of nights. We are getting an overnight train there and then flying back - surprisingly this was the cheapest option.

Rachael.

Center Parcs

Well half term was exciting and very busy. Ruth arrived on the Friday, I picked her up from Dusseldorf and we went out for Carnival in Cologne. We had the next day in Cologne and then back to Munstergeleen for the night. On the Sunday we walked to a local restaurant in the snow, it was shut! Luckily there was another one open down the hill. It was a bit like a community centre - so a bit strange but it was fine. Abi had her wellies on so Allen ran home to get the car while we started walking. The sun came out and it was lovely. We could have easily made it home but Allen did turn up with the car.

Monday we packed up and headed off to Center Parcs. Center Parcs originated in The Netherlands before spreading through Europe. It's a car free swimming centred holiday adventure park. We have been to one in the UK before having children. The one we had booked was to the North, about an hour away. We couldn't get into our bungalow until 3pm so we headed to the pool. It was extremely busy and we wondered what we had let ourselves in for! There were rapids, 2 other slides, a pool that had waves, an outside pool and 2 baby pools. There were also 2 thermal bubbling baths and 8 beds under heaters. You couldn't do much but be taken along with the crowds so at 2.30 Ruth and I got out and went and got the bungalow key. Allen and the children turned up after about 30 mins. We'd booked a 3 bed place. It was fine, a little dated and the toilet smelt but the rest was clean and warm. We had booked 2 nights at the all you can eat buffet and then had decided to try the other restaurants for the other 2 nights. The buffet suited Allen but was not good for a vegetarian. The restaurants were very good so I would skip the buffet if we go again. We signed Jacob and Abi up for a few extra activites, a High Climb Adventure and a pretend to be a circus performer. They enjoyed both. They also did mini golf, ice skating and Jacob went on a 2 seater bike. We played lots of cards in the bungalow and Ruth got to see a few kids movies! It was relaxing in part but busy too. I would not go again in a Dutch school holiday but I would try another one, if it was a little more modern. The week flew past and we were dropping Ruth back at the airport before we knew it. We decided we needed another week off to recover although it's not that long until Easter!

Rachael.