Monday, May 28, 2007

The way kids minds work

My four-year-old boy Lucas keeps cracking me up with the things he says lately, like: "Mum, I can run really fast. As fast as a coconut falls from the tree. And even faster than diarrhea comes out. That fast."

And yesterday he was rather tired and moody. When I asked him what we could do to make him happy again, he looked down at the floor, shook his head and said: "I don't know mummy, I think my happy is stuck".

Anyway, I've decided to write down all these funny comment, as I know that it's impossible to remember them all. And I can't wait till Aidan adds to the list too. Moments like these make all the hard work that we parents do worthwhile. Don't you think?

Friday, May 25, 2007

Our family 'on tour'

Oops, I just realized that I never told you yet how the principle of Lucas' school reacted to us asking for yet more time off school for Lucas....well, he was totally cool about it. His mantra turns out to be 'travel is a different kind of learning and no less valuable than time in the class room'. So obviously this is my kind of principle.

We've been in Aruba since the 16th of May and the kids have only just started to get settled in. I guess we've under-estimated the effect that all this traveling would have on them (2 weeks in the UK, one over-night in Houston, four days back in Belize, one over-night in Miami and then on to Aruba)

The effects of all this upheaval were mainly visible in sleeping problems, being moody (Lucas acted like he entered early puberty...I've never met such a moody 4-year-old!) & fear of new children, something my kids normally never suffer from. We had hoped to enrol the kids into a playgroup for the 3 weeks that we were here, but after 3 failed attempts and some rather hysterical scenes, we gave up.

So now our days are filled with:

  • Watching rented childrens DVD's in the morning, whilst mum drinks coffee and slowly wakes up (we don't really have rental places back home, so to rent a DVD is a luxury for us)
  • Dad taking Lucas to the driving range to practice their golf swings
  • Shopping (big supermarkets are extremely exciting to those of us who have lived in Belizean jungle for the last few years)
  • Spending time on one of the many beautiful beaches in Aruba
  • Hanging out with my mum, sister and their partners
  • Exercising at the local gym (I'm in heaven! Some real time for myself)




My two boys being nice to each other. I wich they were always like this. Lucas has been fighting a lot with his little brother, even though yesterday he told me how much he loves little Aidan: "Mum, I love him so much! I love him like fire! I love him like the night time when there are really hard winds, that much. I love him like a hundred thousand!"

A few hours later he tried to drown him in the sea....



One of the many fun nights in Aruba. Here Lucas tries his hand at 'spijkers slaan', where you have to try and knock a nail into some wood in as few hits as possible.


My sister Miriam and her husband Laurenz outside 'the Plaza' bar in Aruba during the pole sitting competitions (strange Dutch tradition where people sit on a pole for days on end & start halucinating after many sleepless night)
That's all for now. The baby just woke up again...
For more pictures of our Aruba adventure, check out my sisters blog.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Back in Belize for 4 days only!

This is crazy. We arrived back in Belize on Friday and tomorrow we're off again, this time to Aruba. The Aruba trip had been planned ages ago & we couldn't change the flights anymore, so off we all go again!

This morning I'll have to talk to the principle of Lucas' school and ask for three more weeks of school. I hope that he'll be cool about it & that it isn't too big of a deal as Lucas is still so young. Anyway, if because of all this he'll be held back next year it wouldn't be the end of the world either. He is meant to start going to K5 after the summer and go for full days, yet he's only 4 and
I am a bit worried that that may be a bit much for him. Anyway, I'll just see what they say today.

Here are a few pictures of our England trip. I better get a move on. Lots to do before we leave again....







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