Wordless Wednesday #53

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Losing My Mind

The other day I actually questioned my own sanity... those who know me are probably chuckling, my sanity is generally questionable, ha-ha!  In the parking lot of our apartment building there is a patch of dirt & grass, and a huge tree, this has become my dog's 3rd toilet.  #1 is a dog toilet in the neighborhood for speedy walks, and #2 is a strip of grass about ten minutes from where I live.  Bathroom #3 is used between walks, it's just not always possible to run her to allotted dog toilets.  Anyway, back on subject, in this patch of grass & dirt occasionally flowers pop up, it's spring, it's normal.  But then the flowers disappeared, not so normal.  The first time I noticed the flowers were gone, I thought the wind possibly blew them away or maybe they just fell off, it happens.  (I'm not always fully awake when my dog goes to toilet #3.)  Then the flowers magically came back (magic, yeah).  I convinced myself it's spring they're constantly renewing themselves.  And then they all disappeared again.  For a brief moment I thought I was possibly losing my mind, seeing things, who knows.  I knew at that moment I was going to have to start paying attention, my head is quite busy and focusing takes more effort than for others (if you haven't noticed).  It took me all of two days to see the process happen again and again, and then it dawned on me... deep in the swirling of my brain I remembered science class.  And there are plenty of flowers that open and shut throughout the day, dumb*#!  I snapped some pics so I could look the flower up and of course show it to you, turns out it is a Star of Bethlehem.  That's one less unsolved phenomenon in my life, ha-ha!

Center Parcs

As promised, I'm finally getting around to telling you all about our weekend getaway to Center Parcs.  Center Parcs is a huge franchise with parks in multiple countries, but we decided to go with one close to home.  Within 30 minutes from our house lies Center Parcs - De Kempervennen, who knew you could go on vacation so close to home, ha-ha!  But I must admit, I felt worlds away from Eindhoven and when we returned home we all felt relaxed and rejuvenated.  Center Parcs offers cottages you can rent for the weekend or longer, and within the park they offer more activities than I could even start to list.  You can also visit the park for the day, if you're not interested in staying in one of the cottages.  Since we were going with two families we went ahead and rented one of the larger cottages, and this one was even equipped with things for the kids, like a bunk bed and toys.  The cottages are all located in the woods and once you've unloaded your car you're required to take it to a parking lot on the outskirts of the park, which means it's quiet and you walk everywhere.  Besides the cottage being located in the quiet of the woods, ours was also situated next to a pond.  All we had to do was open the door to the terrace and we could walk down to the duck filled pond, and considering we all brought our dogs they too were ecstatic.  You can make the trip as expensive or affordable as you like, you can request every package they offer (even grocery or meal delivery) or you can bring things from home.  Since we weren't travelling far we loaded our cars up with every amenity you can imagine, anything to make the stay more comfortable.  We brought a lot of food but we also were sure to eat at a couple of the restaurants while we were there.  Besides treating ourselves to everything from bbq to pizza, we also made sure to try out a handful of the offered activities.  In the course of the weekend, we swam at the large indoor tropical pool, the kids played at 4 different playgrounds, played midget golf, the guys played basketball, went to a petting zoo, the kids play in one of the many lakes, and even sat lakeside in the sand for lunch and drinks watching people wakeboard & waterski.  There were many more things we wanted to do, but there just wasn't enough time, we'll save things like the swan-shaped pedal boats and the white-water slide for the next trip.  You can even rent bikes, go indoor snow skiing, or play tennis is you like, oh yeah, and instead of the normal cottage I think you can also rent a houseboat.  They really have it all!  Some highlights for me, the underwater disposable camera I brought and the hopefully great shots I took at the pool and on the water slides (still have to get it developed) and the afternoon on the water I felt like I was back in Florida just minus the excruciating heat.  (Wish I could give you more pics but I don't like posting too many pics of my family & friends on my blog.)  A big thanks to the hubby for making this possible! 
 

And of course to all you mother's out there, especially mine, Happy Mother's Day!

Wordless Wednesday #52

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Makes Me Laugh (#2)

Around town I'm always seeing things that make me laugh. When I saw this I burst out laughing and just had to take a picture for everyone.

Would you buy clothes from this guy?

Weekend Getaway

I would like to be sitting down telling you all about our great weekend getaway to Center Parcs (De Kempervennen) but instead I am busy unpacking, doing laundry, and preparing for our nieces to visit.  I hope to squeeze in a post before Wordless Wednesday but not sure if my agenda will allow that.  If not, you'll hear from me by the end of the week!

Queen's/King's Day

Queen's Day is was one of my favorite Dutch holidays.  (Since I've been blogging for a while now this isn't the first time you've heard about it.)  But this year's Queen's Day is the last one for a long-long time.  The Dutch Queen has stepped down and her son has taken over, so next year we'll be celebrating King's Day instead.  Not really sure if that will have an effect on the fun holiday or not, a holiday known for its markets, music, and of course orange clothing/accessories.  Since I've lived in The Netherlands I have participated in as many Queen's Day (April 30th) celebrations as possible, and this year was no different.  Well, the atmosphere was different, more subdued... maybe I'm getting older or maybe the Dutch were just more focused on the Queen's abdication.  Last year there were dj's everywhere and lots of space to dance and party.  But this year, there were a lot of tables and chairs, and the weather was cooler, all of which have an influence on the day.  It didn't stop us from having fun though.  And this year I lasted twice as long as last year!  Last year we found one great bar & dj and basically stayed there, this year, we were all over the place.  We hit up at least 4 or 5 venues and squeezed in dinner at an Indian restaurant in between.  As usual I took a ton of pictures, with 7 people roaming mass crowds there was always something going on.  We were even separated for a while!  A couple holidays ago I realized it was quicker and cleaner for me to walk back to our apartment to use the bathroom than wait in line for a port-o-pot or use one at a bar.  First bathroom break went well, second one (after a few more drinks) ended up in a 30 minute search to find our husbands again.  I told my husband we should have picked a meeting point, oh well!  As I mentioned we had dinner reservations, I seriously doubted we would make it but we did, and it was great.  We even had half the restaurant to ourselves, thanks to a partition wall.  In all of my Queen's Days I've learned to stock up on the orange accessories early.  I bought a pair of orange sunglasses for 80 cents in the weeks leading up to the holiday and while we were in the middle of the crowds I saw someone selling the same ones for 10 euros, crazy!  I've also learned don't take anything you value, because you'll either lose it or get it so dirty you'll want to toss it afterwards.  You can only imagine thousands of people littering their food and beer cups everywhere, not quite nice to walk through by the end of the night.  I'll leave you with pics as always, and a big thanks to the old friends & new friends who helped make the day a blast!  And to my in-laws for babysitting!!

And of course, happy birthday Mom (next year the day is all yours because King's Day is on the 27th)!!!

Wordless Wednesday #51

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