Well, a solid month has passed since my last Kamy post, and for that I apologize! Life has been so hectic and crazy busy the last several weeks, blogging has simply fallen by the way-side. Hopefully things will settle down a bit and blog posts will become a bit more regular. That’s my intention at least!
At the beginning of May, we bought our first home! We’re so excited about this new phase in our lives! Living in the country will be so very different than living in Big-D. We’re so pleased with the town we moved to and the environment that Kamy will grow up in. I’m sure there will be a lot of adjustments, but we’ll get settled in soon enough and things will return to our new normal.
Then mid-month, Kamy, Oma, Regine, and I all went to Holland to visit family. I’d been wanting to take a trip back there for the last several months and we were able to arrange our schedules so we could really make a “girls trip” out of it. It was important to me to take Kamy over seas to visit family and meet all those cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents that she’d only been told about.
Kamy did wonderfully on the flight. She didn’t have much trouble with her ears or the cabin pressure and the biggest hurdle we had to deal with was her insistence to NOT go to sleep. I finally managed to get her to fall asleep on my shoulder after walking lap after lap in the dark airplane in the middle of the night. Two hours later we were on the ground in Amsterdam. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep either (though Oma and Regine fared better than I did). Ah well, it made for an easy transition to the new time zone because we sure were ready for bed the next night!
Thursday when we arrived we went to the Keukenhof – an internationally recognized flower festival and garden center. While we just barely caught the end of the show (it ended the next day), two of the greenhouses were packed to the brim with orchids and lilies that were submitted for competition.
Friday we spent the day relaxing at Oma and Opa’s house, visiting with family, and a short walk to the local lake Bussloo. Once Kamy warmed up to the sand, she had a great time and ended up absolutely covered with it!
Saturday morning Barbara, Gijs, and Britt came over to visit for a while. Gijs and Kamy got along wonderfully and he was excited to show her everything, walk her around, and in general love on her. It was pretty cute to see them playing so nicely. We also went to the local market in Apeldoorn to poke around and see what we could find. The fresh strawberries were a hit with little Miss McKamy, as was the cheese from the kaas vendor.
On Sunday we drove down to the very south part of Holland to visit one of Oma’s cousins. She lives on the border of Belgium and literally looks into Belgium across her back yard. She also has a beautiful garden, complete with currants. McKamy apparently LOVES currents and would eat them whenever she got the chance. Too bad we can’t grow them here in Texas for her …
While visiting, we also went into Maastricht to see the sights. Her husband was an amazing tour guide and gave us a tour of all the highlights of the city in one afternoon. It was a day full of walking and driving, but we really enjoyed getting to visit with them.
Monday was much more relaxing, as we spent the morning at Oma and Opa’s house and then went in to Deventer to see Alie and Rudy’s condo. We also stopped by to visit with Kees, Janny, and Isolde. They had a trampoline and Regine and Kamy had an absolute BLAST playing on it. Nothing beats seeing Kamy smile and hearing her sweet little laugh.
Tuesday was spent on another day trip to the Kasteel Doorwerth. It was a beautiful castle and had several exhibits inside to detail life throughout the centuries in that area. Kamy was particularly fascinated by all the different animals on display in the hunting exhibit. Even better, many were at her level!
Wednesday we stayed closer to home and visited the park, gardens, and old castle at Het Loo near Apeldoorn. The park has miles of walking trails through the grounds and was quite deserted. The old castle gardens were breathtaking, especially the pond near the old tea house. What a view. We also were able to get a glimpse of the Palais Het Loo, currently used by the royal family on occasion and available for tours. Regine went back on Friday with Joan and Mike to tour the palace, while Kamy, Oma, and I went back home for the afternoon.
Thursday we went on a walking tour of Deventer – the closest large town and one of the oldest towns in the Netherlands. After spending the morning walking (and enjoying the wild strawberries Regine found), the rest of the afternoon and evening were spent at home.
Friday morning was spent at the Deventer market picking up cheese, candy, and a few other goodies (like clothes for Regine). That evening we had a huge family cookout at Janny and Frans’ home in Bussloo. The whole family was there and it was so nice to get to spend more time with each person. The family missing in this photo are Oma, Opa, Roeloef and Janny (and of course Opa and Daddy back home in Texas).
Saturday was mostly spent wrapping up the last couple of things we wanted to do (or needed) before heading home the next day. We drove to Twello to go to the grocery store and pick up more chocolate, candy, and cheese to bring home. We also said hi to Marloes at her work and Regine bought a few Dutch themed items for her kitchen. Beyond that, it was a chance to visit with family as they dropped by to say goodbye before our flight.
Sunday was an early morning drive to Amsterdam for our flight. Once again, everything went smoothly with check in. Oma and I were beyond lucky with our seat assignments for the flight though! Somehow Oma was able to straight-up book a business class seat for some strange reason. I paid the extra money and upgraded my seat with Kamy to the economy comfort (still economy but more leg room and a bulk head seat so Kamy would have more room to play on the floor). While the plane was loading, the woman sitting next to Oma offered to switch seats with me so we could sit together and entertain Miss McKamy. What a blessing! I definitely took her up on it and I have to admit that business was a LOT more comfortable and easier to fly with Kamy than economy would have been. It was still a long 10 1/2 hour flight home, but it was much nicer. Kamy took a 2 hour nap on the way, but otherwise spent the flight playing with her toys, climbing all over Oma and me, and walking up and down the plane aisles looking at people.
Kamy’s favorite things about the trip were probably cookies, cows, and currants. One of Kamy’s favorite things about Oma’s house were the pizzelle wafer cookies. Oma made a huge batch just before we arrived and had them sitting out in these tubs all week long. Kamy quickly found the treasure and would walk around the house carrying one of the tubs and offering it to anyone she could until someone gave her one. She never quite figured out how to open it herself, but she was quite adept at convincing people they should give her some!
Aunt Greet has a horse and cows in her back yard. Since they live next door to Oma and Opa, we made a daily walk to go visit them. Kamy was just fascinated by both of them and would walk back and forth between the gates to look at the animals.
On the way back inside, we’d always have to stop at the currant bushes for a snack. Yumm! Currants are one of the things that I closely associate with my time growing up in Holland, so it’s special to me to watch her making those same memories.
It truly was a whirlwind trip but I think we were all glad that we went.
As soon as we got back to town, it was time to turn around and finish packing up the rest of the house. We moved Friday afternoon, unloaded Saturday morning, and have spent the last several days trying to get unpacked and settled. Here’s our new home!
All that to say, sorry we’ve been silent on this blog for so long! I’ll do my best to be more prompt about keeping new photos of Kamy updated and keep you updated on everything she’s learning and doing.