WATCH OUT HANSEL AND GRETEL...HERE COME THE MARTIN'S

When our movers were moving us in to our new house in Waterloo, the main mover, whose name was Francios, told us about a great theme park in The Netherlands that he and his wife like to take their grandchildren to.  It's called Efteling.  He told us that it would be a great place to take the kid's to, that isn't far away, and he liked it better than Euro Disney.  So...we packed up the kid's in the Vito and took a road trip to Efteling.  It's about an hour and forty five minutes away from Waterloo. 

Thank you, Mr. Sandman

There is a hotel there that you can stay in that is called...of course...The Efteling Hotel, or you can stay in an area called Efteling Bosrijk.  Bosrijk is made up of little cottages in either the Village or the Woodland.  We opted for the Woodland Cottage.  Cole said he felt like it was something out of Harry Potter.  We were given Cottage 323.  It had a kitchen, great room, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  We really enjoyed it.  It was way easier at night to put Piper to bed in her own room and the rest of us could "veg" out.  One of the rooms had bunk beds, and a little table and chairs with a cute nightlight for the kid's.  The mascot of Bosrijk is The Sandman.  He left everyone a sleeping cap and a storybook for the kids.  AND...just as soon as I learn Dutch on top of the French I already have to learn...I can read it to them:)

The Wondrous World of Efteling park is celebrating its 60th Anniversary this year.  Everyone there is very nice, and most of the employees speak English.  Fairytale's are brought to life as you walk along the path through the Fairytale Forest.  There are roller coasters, antique cars to drive, their own version of "It's A Small World" and the "Tea Cup" ride from Disney, and much, much more!

Augustus Galoop

Mr. Chicken

The first day that we were there we had great weather...shocker!  It looked like there was a huge crowd, but the park is so spread out that we didn't really have to wait in line for anything very long.  The kid's really loved the trash cans that reminded them of Augustus Galoop from Willy Wonka.  They were a pudgy little boy with his mouth opened that kept telling you to feed him.  They also loved the chicken that you put 50 cents in and he laid an egg for you.  

BUT...there was one thing that they were definitely in search of after watching the TV station all about Efteling in our cottage...THE DONKEY THAT YOU PUT IN 50 CENTS AND A GOLD COIN FLEW OUT OF HIS BUTT.  We found it...of course we did...and everyone got their coin...THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

WATCH OUT KIDS...

HE'S ABOUT TO BLOW!

The second day...the weather was not our friend.  It poured most of the day so we hid out in The Pancake Restaurant to wait for it to die down.  Finally it did and we got a little park time it.  All-in-all, it was a great trip.  We know that there are so many places that we need to explore while living abroad, but we will definitely make it back to Efteling again!

Efteling - July 6-8, 2012 - slideshow maker

Here are all of the pictures that we took from the park.  ENJOY!

Consider yourself warned, Maria Sharapova!

Since we have moved to Belgium it seems like everyone is playing tennis.  St. John's has a bunch of Summer Camps, one of them being...Tennis.  Liv signed up for the camp during the first week,
July 2-6, and loved every minute of it.  Of course, it helped that a bunch of her friends enrolled as well.  I bought her a couple of tennis outfits at the "promos" so she could dress the part.  She LOVED the skirts!  IT IS all about the look, you know!

Olivier presenting the medals

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!

So...here we are in Belgium and it's the 4th of July.  Business as usual here, of course, with the 4th being the birthday of the USA.  It seems kind of weird not to be sitting back with a nice cold bottle of Yuengling in my hand, but...that will just have to wait until JULY 13TH...have you heard?  That is the day the Martin's hit US soil...touchdown Buffalo, New York.  Here are a couple of shots of the kiddo's showing their Red, White, and Blue pride.  (Cole would be showing his Nittany Lion pride...AND...covering up the CRAZY hair that is in DESPERATE need of Aunt Gigi's MAGIC FINGERS!)  

MY GIRL...CHANNELING HER INNER BJORN BORG

Liv, of course, decided to make a little RED, WHITE, and BLUE art.  Here is what she came up with. She also decided that Piper JUST HAD to pose with it.

The 4th is always a crazy time for us because it falls on Quarter Close at Stanley for Jason.  He usually has to work on the 4th so depending upon where it falls is whether or not we can be in Erie (if we were in the US) for a picnic.  During the day, Cole, Liv and Sophie were at camp and Piper and I chilled out at home.  Jason ended up not getting home until late.  It was VERY QUIET around our house and felt a little strange.  We made the most of it though!  Here is a picture from The Martin Family 4th of July Picnic, invite only...of course!  Piper had already eaten and was in bed...considering it was 9:30 PM!!  We jammed to some "USA" themed music and Cole and I had an impromptu dance session to "Single Ladies" in the kitchen.  We rocked it out!

WE HAD TO SETTLE FOR LEFFE...IT'S NO YUENGLING, BUT BEGGARS CAN'T BE CHOSERS...RIGHT?!

Musee Herge

Cole and Jason took a trip on Sunday, July 1 to the Musee Herge.  Located in Louvain-la-Neuve, the museum is a journey through one of the "greatest artists of the twentieth century.  There are more than 80 original plates, and 800 photographs, documents and objects located there.  "Herge was not only Tintin.  He was a multi-talented graphic designer, caricaturist, cartoonist, illustrator, and storyteller.  The Museum was designed by architect Christian de Portzamparc and is built withing the green setting of Walloon Brabant.

It's funny...Jason was speaking to a friend of ours that is from Belgium, whom we met when we lived in Indianapolis.  He and his family now live in Lyon, France, but Jason and he still work together.  He was saying that all the time that he has lived here or has come back home to visit and he has never visited the Musee Herge.  Jason commented on how we were born and raised in the US and how there are SO many things that we haven't seen, even in OUR own country.  Laurent and his family have travelled all over the US (much of it in an RV) and have seen many of the things that are on my personal bucket list.  What is on yours? 

Right now, until September 19th, the special exhibit is Tintin in Tibet.  Jason managed to get a couple of pictures before getting yelled at for taking pictures...hahaha.

SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT ONE OF MY FAVORITE CARTOON CHARACTERS!

LIV, THE AMAZING ALL-ROUNDER

I forgot to add that...

On Liv's last day of Kindergarten the teachers handed out awards to each one of the student's.  Liv's medal was for being the "Amazing All-Rounder".  She was pretty pumped up.  She really enjoyed her last month or so of Kindergarten here at St. John's!

Euro Cup 2012

The Euro Cup 2012 just ended.  Spain beat Italy 4-0.  Our next door neighbors are Italian, so when Italy played Germany to get into the finals and, surprisingly, beat them.  LET'S JUST SAY THEY WERE VERY HAPPY.  The kind of happy that makes 4 cars race up and down the street with Italian Flags screaming and yelling and chanting...."Italia...Italia...Italia..."  Did I also mention that it was about 2 AM?  Our SlingBox wasn't working due to Internet difficulties, but we knew WHEN they scored and HOW MANY TIMES they scored because of all of the noise coming from over the hedge.  

For the Italy vs. Spain came we were bracing ourselves for the noise, but I think they ended up going to the game because there was NO NOISE.  Maybe it was also because they lost 4-0.  This picture is from our neighbors down the street.  They decorated their Fiat with Italy's colors.  Cole thought it looked like Luigi from Cars.  I SO WANT THIS CAR!!!  It's very cute!  (Of course, if I had it in the US and I was sideswiped by one of the many huge SUV's on the road...it probably wouldn't be pretty!

LUIGI LIVES!

Time to toast your marshmallows!

CUTE THREADS...I COULDN'T RESIST A PHOTO

Last night we had a fire and toasted marshmallow's.  Jason ended up getting a little bit hot so that explains the awesome outfit!  He hasn't added capri's to the wardrobe...yet:)

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER....Lazy days ahead!

The Vampire needs some Sun
...and a haircut!

HELLO, GORGEOUS!

School is out...FINALLY!  This year seemed to drag on forever because the kid's only had a couple of weeks left in Naperville when we left to move here.  They ended at the beginning of the month there while our last day here was June 27th.

Sophie and Piper played dress-up and of course, Sophie saw Sun and insisted on wearing her bathing suit.  Piper followed her lead.  Cole decided after about two seconds outside he was tired and went in to watch Paul Blart, Mall Cop for the 100th time.  He ended up falling asleep and slept for about 4 hours.

GLAMOUR GIRL

CAN I WEAR SOPHIE'S SUIT?

Liv went to a going away/pool party for one of her friends who is moving to Frankfurt, Germany.  The weather actually decided to cooperate and it turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL day!  Sophie and I put out a blanket and had a little picnic while Piper and Cole slept.  GOOD TIMES!

ALL WORN OUT!

Relaxing with a beverage...my kind of girl!

McDonald's anyone?!

As is the usual tradition in the Martin House, I always take the kid's out to eat.  Their options here?  McDonald's or...McDonald's.  They chose McDonald's...good choice!  

KJ wears GREEN too!!

Liv's card from KJ

 Liv got a package in the mail today from her FAVORITE Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Johnson.  She was Liv's teacher back in Naperville.  Mrs. Johnson was kind enough to send their yearbooks along with some special things for Liv.  The class made a card for her and everyone signed it.  She also noticed that the picture on the front of the card was from KJ's Field Day.  THEY WERE THE GREEN TEAM TOO!!

Liv pointing out that she was on the GREEN team too!

Sport's Day at Timber Tops

The girls have their Sport's Day on Monday, June 25th.  The teams were made up of students from both Pre-K (Sophie) and Kindergarten (Liv).  Sophie was assigned to the Yellow Team.  Liv was on the Green Team...RIVALS IN THE MARTIN HOUSE:)

It was a LONG day!  We started out with a slide show of pictures from the year.  After that...relay races in the "Big Gym" for Sports Day.  After the races...on to the refreshments!  We had a "Potluck Picnic Lunch" back at the playground.  Piper was OVER IT!  She hardly ever cries, but she was exhausted and in need of her nap!

Still smiling...and...yes, she is wearing a long sleeved shirt, a fleece sweatshirt,  and jeans on June 25th..  Thank you, Belgium for your WONDERFUL weather! 

Here are a couple of videos.  In some of them, if you listen closely you can hear Piper and I cheering for them.  My personal favorite is Sophie doing the horse relay.  What's yours?

jjj