Antwerpen Zoo

Hubby took Mateo to the zoo way back in February. They dropped my in-laws off at the train station and since the zoo is NEXT door (and they had a special winter price AND Mateo is free because he is under 3), I decided they should go and it would be my Valentine's Day present: a day to myself.

I know we had been to the aquarium the week before.  Normally I like to spread the fun out, but in those long, winter days, why wait?

Hubby hadn't been there in a looooooooooooooong time. After our slight disappointment in the zoo, I was expecting a so-so report about the zoo.

I must insert here that I love my smart phone. GREAT gift from hubby! I especially love Whatsapp. I connect with my friends all over AND hubby and I send photos throughout the day of the excitement around us. I was able to receive hourly updates of their fun, while I was having my photobook making day.

They said there was tons to see and it was a full day experience. I guess a little too much for the little man, but that is why they took the stroller. I had no idea the place was so huge. You would never guess from looking out of the station.

Mateo's class is going in May, so I think this time I (and baby girl) are going to join.

See you in 6 weeks!

Antwerpen Centraal

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Love this selfie

Fall

Fall is my LEAST favorite season. It means cold, dark days. Once we reach winter solstic, things start looking up. I have never really been a pumpkin fan, but after not having it for a few years, I started wanting some. SOOO, for the first time I cooked with 'real' pumpkin (not the canned stuff, because they don't sell it here). I had 2 successes! Pumpkin 'muffins' (IMHO muffins are the same as cupcakes) and pumpkin soup. Here are the recipes.

I do love the look of pumpkins. I was babysitting my niece today and got inspired to do a photo shoot. She has an adorable brown jacket with fur, precious boots and a variety of scarves and hats. I picked out a set and of course she did not want to wear it. It actually happened to be sunny, so I said, 'whatever' and I just took her how she dressed. Princess dress over her striped t-shirt with rubber boots, then her mom's sandals. I think I am going to be 'borrowing' this chalkboard in the future! So fun to work with!

Slideshow

Animal Hospital

We had a special afternoon for the children at church. For the littlest ones we had an animal clinic. (theme of the day: caring) I was skepical of the idea; I thought they would link it was silly. I was WRONG! They LOVED it. For nearly 2 hours that table was full of young'ns doctoring their stuffies. It was adorable to see!

Newest Niece

May I introduce my niece, Victoria...here is a scanned version of her birth card.

I don't think I have talked about that on here yet. When a baby is born here, the parents send out fancy birth cards ASAP (as in the day the child is born or the next day). The cards normally take many hours to make and match the little gifts (called doopsuiker -click for examples) they also make to give to anyone who gives them a gift...make sense? You give a gift and they give in return a little something that normally says the child's name. It's cute and nice, but takes a huge amount of time to prepare and costs a lot.

Sinterklaas Revisited

So remember I said that we wouldn't celebrate this holiday...WEEEELLL, last Friday evening my boss called and said she was hosting a party for her employees and if I had any nieces or nephews they were also invited. I happened to be babysitting that weekend, so I decided I would go just to keep good relations with my boss.

(This is what he started doing as soon as I started walking to the front)

Stuffing his pacifier in did nothing

My nephew was so freaked out and the 'Sint' made it worse by stroking his cheek! I apologized and said thank you and left before he was able to finish his "have you been good?" speech...BUT, he still got 2 bags of candies and treats that he had fun with when we were a few meters away. He actually enjoyed the rest of the party...

Little Girl 'Crown'

I love to experiment with my nieces' hair...this one has hair a few inches long...I made a 'crown' from little rubber bands.

It's not perfect, but looked cute for a summer day...I was not sure how to end it, so I did matching clips on the front and the ends laid flat on her head.