Aidan

It's a bit unfair, but when you're a second child (or a third or a fourth) no one makes as much of a hooha about you, as they did about child number one. So in our case that means that there have been tons of stories about Lucas growing up on this blog, but very little about Aidan. So now it's his turn....

Aidan is just about the most fun child you could imagine. He gets on with everyone & loves performing to a crowd (wonder who he got that from? ; )

He makes my heart melt whenever he looks me straight in the eyes and tells me that he loves me, or when he says 'Mamma, ik vind jou lief'. And no one gives cuddles the way Aidan does, he doesn't hold back (like Lucas often does), but just melts into you. I hope he'll never stop hugging us like that.

Now that he's started to talk, he comes out with some funny stuff. Especially as he is bi-lingual. He mashes up English and Dutch and says things like 'Ka-broken' (broken in English & kapot in Dutch) and 'Sea-paartje' (Seahorse in English & Zeepaardje in Dutch).

His rendition of Jingle bells is pretty original too. He is convinced that the song goes: 'Chicken bells, chicken bells, chicken all the way. Hey!' It is one of his favorite songs and he seems set on singing it year-round. Which we don't mind, as it continues to crack us up. He even grabbed the mic at a karaoke and sung 'Chicken bells' to a crowd of grown-ups (who were all doubled up laughing)

So yes...he's a joy. Having said that, he's a pain too. He is incredibly headstrong and can be unfaced by something like a time-out. This is what they've started to realize at school too. They send him to time-out and he goes 'Okay, I'll just go and sit there for a moment'. It doesn't bother him in the slightest. So we've all had to become a bit more creative in disciplining him. I have come to realize that I have to be quite strickt with both my boys, as otherwise they walk all over me in no time. It's annoying to have to be like that, but they leave me no choice (and I won't allow them to become disrespecting brats).

Anyway, so far so good. They're doing okay. I have started practicing 'self-control' with them now. It's a tip I picked up from a TV show, called 18 kids and counting. It isn't a time-out or punishment, but at some point in the day I call the boys over and they are given the task of sitting totally still for a few minutes. Which is really hard for energetic boys like them. When they do well, they get a sticker (and when they are really bad, they lose one). Once they both have 10 stickers we will go on a special outing. So far, Lucas has 6 stickers and Aidan has 4 (he keeps losing some for being naughty)

Oh, and one more thing about the both of them...they share a bedroom and they often tell each other stories before bedtime. They even make up songs for each other. It is just the cutest. And regardless of where they are when I bring them to bed, when I check up on them later, they are curled up together. I have even heard Lucas say to Aidan when he was afraid at bed time: 'Don't worry Aidan. Lucas is here. I will keep you safe. If a monster comes, I'll punch him'.

We are truly blessed with 'little monsters' like these. Both so different. Yet both so lovable.

Great to be working again

The last few weeks have been quite tiring, but I am feeling more fulfilled than I have done for years. I have started doing a daily radio show (Angel in the morning) on Cool FM and last Friday we played the first ‘full set’ (over two hours!) with our band, RetroMatic at a local live music bar, the Chaos.

All of it is so enjoyable. I have just never been able to find that kind of satisfaction in anything I have been doing in life that has not been connected to music and/or media. It just feels so ‘right’ to be doing this. It’s like coming home to me.

The band performance went pretty good. Of course, we messed up here and there and we realized that we need to make a few changes before our next show. But then, that’s what a live performance is all about. And we couldn’t have figured these things out had we not stood in front of an audience.

The crowd reacted really well to the show though. There were a lot of smiling faces, people singing along, many people shouting ‘Yes!’ as they heard us start certain songs & applause at the end of each one (something you can’t take for granted on an island like Aruba, so inundated with live music that- at times- the audience hardly reacts). And there also was lots a dancing towards the end of the show, which is just the most satisfying thing to see when you’re onstage.

There were pictures taken that night by some of my Cool FM colleagues, I just need to find out where they’ve been posted, so I can add them later.

The owner of the bar came up to us after the show and basically offered us as many gigs as we’d like at that same venue or at a new bar that he has opened recently. So we just have to put our diaries together and see when we’d want to play again.

I have to say though...I wouldn’t want to do this once or twice a week, like some performers do on the island. It needs to stay fun. For us, but for the audience too. So maybe we’ll play once or twice a month...something like that.

As a mother- by the way- I am very happy with the move from being basically a stay-at-home mom, to being a (part-time) ‘working mom’. I gave my all to my kids for the last 6 years, which has been exactly what I had wanted to do. But as they were getting older I craved striking a balance between being a mom with being an individual, with her own wants and needs. So now that’s what I’ve got.

The juggling takes a little getting used to, but it isn’t too hard. Of course, my hours are great...I go to the radio station at about 9am or 9.30 & then I stay until I pick up the boys from school (12.30 & 1pm). So I have all afternoon to spend with them, apart from the few things I need to do online or the bits of practicing I need to do. And band practice is just one evening a week.

I feel so blessed to be doing exactly what I want to do. Yes....life is brilliant!

Hanging out with my boys...

Lucas seems to have a good eye for photography (for a 6-year-old). He walks around the house with a camera and takes lots of abstract pictures, mixed in with photos of the family. The roles seem to be devided like this: Lucas takes the pictures and Aidan poses for him, shouting 'Smile!' whenever he sees the camera. Here's a picture he took of Aidan and myself.

Yesterday, Aidan looked at the mustach from Hans & decided he wanted one too. So my mum drew one on him & attemped (in vain) to turn Lucas into a rabbit. They both fell asleep before I had a chance to clean their faces. It looked so funny when they woke me up this morning with those drawings still on their face.

Back where we started (for a few weeks, anyway)

It's funny being back in Holland. Some things have changed (a lot of new buildings and shops) & many things are still the same as when I was a little girl here. The people out on their pushbikes, going ice-skating with the family (no natural ice though nowadays), watching Saint Nicolas come to town, drinking lots of hots drinks throughout the day, watching silly gameshows on TV, playing boardgames with my family...it's all so familiar and cozy.

What I did forget- having been in the tropics for so long- is how cold your ears get outside, how horrible it is to sit on a cold toilet seat and how long you delay getting out of the shower or bath as you just can't stand the idea of drying yourself off in the cold.

Still, I like the seasons and all that comes with it. Of course, no one would choose rainy days or cold winds over a blue skies. But I enjoy the changing scenery throughout the year in Europe and it is something that I have always missed in Belize and Aruba. So I am enjoying myself.

Today we'll be meeting some family that we haven't seen since we were kids. Should be interesting.

I just wish that Aruba and Europe were less far apart, so we could hop backwards and forwards a bit more often.

halloween, football, etc.

So much personal stuff has happened lately. Lucas turned 6, my mum had a successful hernia operation, it was Halloween, we've found another house to move into in December & we planned a trip to Europe (leaving Aruba tomorrow)

I won't go into all the details. But instead I will just share a few pictures (more to come). Lucas dressed up as Harry Potter, Aidan dressed up as Batman and Andy playing in the Plaza football tournament.

Our funny family cooking session

Yesterday was one of those days when you realize how wonderful it is to have family around.

We had a joined pizza baking session at my mum's house. Hans (my mum's partner) had heard a while ago that I knew how to make pizzas from scratch and decided that I had to teach the family how to do it. I only made pizza dough ones though and really wasn't sure I could do it again. But hey...it was a fun idea anyhow. So Hans, my brother-in-law Laurence and I did the cooking whilst everyone else sat in and around the pool.

We laughed so much! It was the messiest cooking session ever! The three of us were covered in flour, we couldn't get the dough of our hands, we were in a right state.

And, even though after two hours the dough still hadn't 'doubled in size' like the recipe had promised us, we just whacked it into the oven and...surprise, surprise....it all came out brilliantly (apart from the one pizza that I dropped face-down on to the floor)

We had such a great time that we decided that 'family cooking sessions' should become a monthly occurrence. Next month we will attempt to make the perfect curry.

Enjoy your own family and friends too. Do something fun with them! It's worth the effort.

A crazy version of 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star'

This was filmed in our garden in Belize with Lucas, Aidan and some of their friends. Oh, and the sticks are their 'horses'.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

My lack of regular blogging...

I'm sorry that I haven't spent much time on this blog in the last few weeks/months, it's just that my daily attention has been going to my music blog: http://simonesmusicblog.blogspot.com

I will upload some new pictures on this family travel blog later today though.

And for those of you who want to see specific Aruba pictures, Aruba real estate & Aruba Hotels, then you're better off checking out my sister's blog: http://arubaconnections.blogspot.com/

Thanks & happy family travels everyone...

Back at the Belize Jungle Dome for the summer

Whilst Karen (our resort's manager) is on her well-deserved break to Canada we are back in Belize running the Belize Jungle Dome. Coming back to Belize-after all these months in Aruba-was a bit of a shock to the system, but we are now back into the swing of things and are enjoying ourselves.

We had to get used again to the fact that in Belize you create your own fun. Nothing gets handed on a plate to you. Especially with the kids...I missed the many playgrounds, the tennis club, the summer camps, all the things that Aruba has in abundance. Lucky enough, the Brazilian Ambassador's wife has set up arts & crafts mornings at their residence. The boys go there most mornings and it breaks up the day perfectly.

Back at the house, they play with the local kids, catch bugs, swim, etc. And at 7 o'clock they are ready for sleep.

We also went for a short break to the golf island, Caye Chappel, which is always fantastic. So, all in all, we are doing great. Here's a few pics of the boys in action with several of their friends.

My mum's brilliant birthday party!

Andy's birthday....out on a quadbike!

This is quiet beach we found on the North of the island, where thousands of people over the years have been piling up rocks for good luck. I built a little rockpile myself whilst there and made a wish. It's a shame that in this picture you only see a small part of the beach, because these piles of rocks go on forever and even are built high up on giant bolders. Very cool place indeed.

After having been on our little tour of the island in the morning, Andy picked Lucas up from school with the quadbike in the afternoon. Of course, Lucas was delighted!

And here is picture of a us with our neighbours, who we'd invited over for dinner by the pool. We served them chicken, rice & beans, to show them what people eat in Belize (there's not much chicken, rice and beans being served in Aruba)

father's day, going orange, etc. Some recent pictures...

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Our almost 5-year-old boy Lucas is dealing with some difficult life questions at the moment, like: What do I want to be when I grow up and whom do I want to marry?

He said that he wants to marry me when he grows up because he likes the way I cut mangoes (my special ‘criss-cross’ system), but also would like to marry Emelda, the girl from next door.

And he also can’t decide whether he’d like to be a bug catcher when he grows up or a Princess, or whether Emelda should be the Princess and he would be a man with a tie, a black T-Shirt and jeans. Decisions, decisions, it must be hard being a kid sometimes ; )

Spiderman, spiderman

Oh, my boys do crack me up. Aidan is quite a handful these days. His favorite thing is playing in mud and grabbing things he shouldn't grab. He also lifts up your shirt to blow raspberries on your tummy (laughing hysterically as he does so). And he has started to talk a bit too. Just a few words so far: mommy, daddy, night-night and juice & in Dutch: koekje en vissen. He's attempting other words, but can't make them sound right yet.



And Lucas? Well, what can I say about Lucas. He actually believes that he's Spiderman. On some days he thinks that he's the boy from the Incredibles (the one who can run on water), but most days he's Spiderman. To be honest, I even think he's Spiderman sometimes. Just look at this clip and you'll understand what I mean.


Oh, and before I forget...here are some more funny comments from Lucas: "Oh mom, you should have seen these little baby rabbits. They were so cute, I almost cried"

And a while ago he came home from school to tell me that he has a girlfriend. "Wow" I said, "That's nice. What's her name?"

"Er...I forgot"

"Well, do you want to invite her over for a play date soon?"

"Oh, no!" He answered mortified "I don't talk to her. I'm scared of her"

A few more pictures from our travels that I hadn't posted yet

Here's Aidan hanging out with my cousin Lida. We had a lovely day with my two cousins and my cousin's little boy Meldy at a local playground/fairground/crazy golf place. Lucas was even saying that he wanted to move to Holland as there are more playgrounds there than in Belize (which is easy as there really aren't any good playgrounds in Belize) and also because he gets more presents whenever we are in Holland.

Our easy rider Aidan. Doesn't he look cool?

Lucas and his new best friend Meldy. Lucas had been asking me for ages why he hasn't got any cousins (Andy and I are the first of our siblings to have kids), so he was delighted when I told him that Meldy was actually a real cousin of his. I just didn't tell him that he is his cousin third removed, or whatever it's called. After meeting Meldy Lucas kept talking proudly about 'my cousin this' and 'my cousin that'. Meldy is a really great kid, so it was nice to see how well they got on.

Here I am trying to take a picture on the timer with my cousins Lida and Esther. I just figured out how to use the timer on my new camera and using it brought back all those memories of my father taking timed pictures when we were growing up. The camera would never go off when we expected it to, but wait until my dad got up and check the camera. So most pictures would be of his worried face right in front of the camera, with us in the background trying to pull him back. I always found it hilarious.

Anyway, it was great spending time with Lida, Esther and Meldy. I hope we can do it again real soon!

Can I just keep updating you on our travels with photographs?

I'm enjoying being a lazy blogger right now. So I'll just keep telling the story of our travels by showing the pictures.
In the kitchen with my dad, his wife Ina and my little sister Iris. It's been lovely hanging out with family. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I love each and every one of them. If only everyone could live closer to each other.

In this picture for instance are my brothers Vincent and Floris and my sister Iris, but Miriam and JP are missing. It's been too long since we've had all the brothers and sisters together.

Floris (our little actor) looking rather silly with Iris' glasses...

Crazy Iris showing off her tongue piercing....

Family picture with my aunt Jola and uncle Jose. My other aunt and uncle and grandma had to leave unexpectantly early that day as they suddenly received a phonecall from the hospital. My cousin had an accident and had broken his arm. Yes, the boys in the Engeln family have been a bit unfortunate recently. My little brother Floris broke his toe a few days earlier too. Let's hope the family clumsiness/bad luck stops soon.

This gypsie family is back on the road again!

Well, I have no real excuse for my recent lack of blogging apart from the fact that we have been- and still are-traveling yet again. We're in the UK and have been spending time in Brighton with Jody, Amber, Rich and Mooch & have now landed in Hunstanton. The weather-as you can see-is beautiful. We've even burned a tat whilst walking on the beach. But apparently that's all going to change tomorrow as major rain will hit the British Isles, accompanied by gale force winds!!!! Not looking forward to being on the coast in a flimsy log cabin for that (they call them log cabins, but they really are luxury caravans). But we'll see how things work out. Hopefully we won't blow away.

By the way, aren't these photographs stunning? I am so delighted to have a Fujifilm Finepix camera back. My old one died a while ago and I had replaced it with a Canon Powershot. But no camera seem to be able to do what Fujifilm cameras can, so I decided to get my broken camera sent off and to spend some more on a new Fujifilm replacement camera (a great service they provide)

Most these pictures were taken against a bright background with forced flash. You also can edit and chop pictures in the camera. If you are thinking of buying a new digital camera...buy a fujifilm (unless you want to buy my old Canon Powershot of me. It's for sale ; )

Lucas and Aidan are having a blast. Playing on the beach, going to the funfair, hanging out in the playground, riding around on scooters. It's great to see them having so much fun.

Of course, Lucas had to catch disgusting creatures again. If he isn't digging out worms, he's catching frogs and here he is on Hunstanton beach with some crabs. Nice!

This last weekend we spent with Russel, Sarah and their two boys Jack and Sam. It was lovely. It's so great to spent time with old friends.

It's just so easy to love him

I always thought that Lucas was an easy child, until Aidan came along. It's virtually impossible to not like this kid. He is just so happy and easy-going, an absolute delight. Lucas is funny and emotional, but he can also be a complete wind-up.

Aidan on the other hand is totally mellow. When you stick a hat on him, he doesn't try to pull it off, when you want him to swim with water wings he does so. He may protest for a moment, but then he realizes that that's too much work and gives up. Lucas would battle with me constantly about stuff like that, but Aidan just isn't too bothered.

And Aidan loves all the good things in life: music, food and good company. As soon as music starts, his face lits up and he starts dancing. And he'll dance for hours (he's just like his mum ; )
When I look at him, two things go through my head:

1. I will have so much fun with this boy when he gets older
2. He will cause me as many sleepless nights as I used to cause my mother (what goes around, comes around)

Yep, He'll most likely become quite a party animal. And he loves to entertain the crowds. He's a hit where ever he goes. Sometimes I feel a bit sorry for Lucas as Aidan seems to get all the attention. Still, it's just what happens with the little ones, isn't it?

By the way, Lucas has learned to ride a bike! I'll post some clips of it later. I am so proud of him!

Domestic Goddess

Yep, I've been feeling like a super fantastic domestic Goddess. Well, I felt like that yesterday. I enjoyed my mother/chef/cleaner role so much that I couldn't even pull myself away from it to go to the US Ambassador's house, where his wife had invited me for lunch together with the other International Women's Group women. I had really wanted to go to that, but just couldn't get myself into the right state of mind yesterday. I felt like walking around the house on my slippers and with curlers in my hair (I don't use curlers, but you get what I mean, right?) & so I just cooked, cleaned and played with the kids. It was wonderful!

Today I've already fallen out of my domestic role again (it never lasts long) as my patience with the kids was near zero this morning. Thank God we have a babysitter. I told her that I needed to be in the Jungle Dome office this morning and left her in charge of playing with the baby. Lucas won't be back from school until 12 o'clock, so I have a few hours of blogging peace. Maybe my domestic Goddess feeling will return this afternoon, if not then I will just heat up left-overs for dinner and throw all the scattered toys in one big box at the end of the day.

No more traveling please!!!!!

Wow, it's nice to be back home. Don't get me wrong, I love traveling and it was great to see my mum and my sister, but I really needed to be back in my own space for a little while.

I remember this 'please bring me home' feeling from my MTV time as well as I was constantly on the road back then, at an average of 2 foreign trip per week for 8 years. Back then I'd often crave to just stay in, curl up on the sofa with my cats (this was obviously pre-motherhood) and watch a movie. That was one of the things that was hard to explain to people who weren't 'in the industry'. If I told someone who was a shop assistant that I had to go to New York the next day and that I just didn't feel like it or that I had begged my boss to send someone else to that festival at Mount Fuji as I had already gone from Japan to LA and back to London and therefor did not know anymore when to sleep, eat or play, they would surely think that I was bragging & so I would only talk of this kind of stuff with those who lived a similar lifestyle.

Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is that it's great to be back home again. In our new home! Yes, it's (pretty much) finished. Even though my washing machine and cooker don't work yet, some sockets give no power, there's a missing moskito screen, the fence around our deck isn't finished and even though I have to go around the house with a fine paint brush to touch up dodgy paint lines, it is all wonderful. I mean, just the fact that I'm able to make breakfast and coffee in my own kitchen is heaven to me!

Oops! Got to go...have to get Lucas ready for school....adios!