Sliding to Paul Simon

Lucas has finally learnt to use his slide properly, instead of going up the wrong end.  So he is a bit obsessed with it at the moment.




His other obsession: colourful four-wheelers.

Our Ikea trolley has been taken over.

Posing with his Tonka collection.

Playskool animals on wheels from Grandpa - these are great!
Perfect size for little hands and fits into pockets and handbags for outings.

Yes, he must also test his friends' four-wheelers.  

Here he is with William's fire engine.

Luckily, Will has an adorable little house so the boys could do some cooking instead.

  

Trying out Will's culinary delight.

Plastic food is not as good as the real thing, though.

Will's super cute playhouse!

Up-Beat!

Beatrice is our lovely FF friend (that's Foodie and Fashionista!) who came to visit us for three weeks in May and June.  When she wasn't busy visiting fashion capitals, she was busy discovering the fresh local produce and duly documenting them in gorgeous photographs.  Her enthusiasm has certainly rubbed off and I am now appreciating the fresh fruits and veggies which I had taken for granted all these while.

She has kindly agreed to let me post the photos she took, so I am sharing them with you.  Saves me the trouble of taking such photos, and it will be a lovely reminder for us when we leave -thanks, Beat!

Extolling the virtues of the bospeen (carrots).

Don't they look gorgeous?  They are probably the sweetest carrots I have ever tasted.
And they cost €0.99 from our neighbourhood supermarket, Albert Heijn.
Yes, for the whole bunch.

More hauls from the supermarkets (Albert Heijn and Sligro):

Tri-coloured cherry tomatoes.

Cherry trostomaten on vine, giant red peppers, parma ham and spaghetti peperoncino.

Fresh raspberries, orange baby peppers, radishes and cranberry yoghurt.

Makes you wanna eat veggies.

A visit to the farmers' market at the Centrum on a sunny Wednesday in May:

We bought some red quinoa for dinner.

And yellow chillies - these were hot!

Then we came upon this array of local mushrooms.

Very strange-looking.

And very fresh.

These rose mushrooms were so exotic and pretty, we just had to try some.

Then it was off to the Binnenhof for lunch under the sun.

A loaf of delicious gorgonzola rosemary bread for us.

And everything else for Lucas - water bottle, plate, bowl, spoon, thermos, wet wipes, toy car...

A spot of sight-seeing at Lake Hofvijver overlooking the Binnenhof.

Dutch ducklings by the lake.

Back at home, Beatrice made us a healthy yummy quinoa dinner!

The pink mushrooms all ready to be eaten.

Some shots at home, and out and about:

Beat and her 'roomie' for several nights.

This was us attempting a self-portrait.  Would have been perfect if the one in the foreground could just sit still for two seconds.

Senior stylist on the job.

Reinforcement/incentive.

Grandma.

Lunch at Simonis' on Scheveningen beach.

Enjoying his first McDonald's meal at Batavia Outlet Shopping.

Thanks for the wonderful memories, Beat!

Where the Grass is Greener

Clingendael is a beautiful public park here in The Hague, close to the city centre and a short walk from our place through the woods.

We had two lovely picnics there in June with friends.  

Green grass, fresh air, lovely weather and great company - there is no better way to spend an afternoon!

Well, duck-chasing is great too!

And some horse-gazing.

We met the horses just as we were walking into the park.  It was so peaceful to see the horses grazing serenely on the grass. They came up to the fence as we were walking by, hoping for a snack.  It was almost as if we had stepped into a storybook.  And we had just got off the bus 5 minutes before.

Marilyn and Will

Question: How many balloons does Will have?  Not one, but three!
This smart little boy has two extra in his hands :)

Look at those trees.  Isn't the park absolutely gorgeous?

Ahh, there's nothing nicer than having a roll on the grass..

And some break-dancing.. 

Getting ready to head home.

We had so much fun that we went back with some more friends the following week!

Cindy and Theodoro

Marilyn and Will enjoying their waffles. 

Kim

Constantin enjoying his peaceful nap.

Lucas sneaking up on Will.

And of course, you can't have a picnic without bubbles!

Theodoro loved the oranges.

Lucas loved the grass and the mole hills.

And William, well, just loves his mommy!