Hi, everyone!
Guess what? Grandma and Grandpa and I are off on another adventure! On Friday afternoon, we were at the Rochester airport again. Our flight to Newark New Jersey was delayed over an hour because of thunderstorms and traffic, and I was afraid we would miss our connecting flight. But it turned out that flight was delayed leaving Newark, so we got there in time. That’s a good thing, because we were headed to Brussels, Belgium and there wasn’t another flight going until way later! When we got to Brussels, it was already Saturday morning there. Uncle Steven met us at the airport and drove us to Brunssum, Netherlands, where he and Aunt Kara and James and Thomas live. I got to ride in Thomas’ car seat for the trip! Their house is on top of a hill and is very pretty! James and Thomas and Aunt Kara were watching for us from the balcony when we arrived. Aunt Kara helped James write a welcome message for us. Then we had yummy scones for brunch on the patio! Saturday was Uncle Steven’s birthday, so there were birthday decorations on the patio, too! James likes it when Uncle Steven puts a blanket over his head and pretends to be a ghost. James pretends to be scared and runs around the house! Thomas and I decided that a three-headed ghost was even scarier than a one-headed ghost, so we got under the blanket, too!
After James and Thomas took their naps, we went to the private neighborhood playground. Uncle Steven’s family has a season pass, and the playground is close enough that we could walk there with the stroller. First, James showed us the very long slide. He can slide all the way down by himself! Then James took us for a ride in the tractor in the sandbox. After that, I swung on the baby swings with Thomas. Then we all got on the carousel and Uncle Steven made it go around. I decided I liked being in the middle, where I could stay still while everybody else went round and round! Up the hill beyond the big slide was a multi-seat seesaw! Grandma and James and I balanced one end against Grandpa on the other end. I liked having tires under the seesaw, so nobody banged into the ground! Then Uncle Steven helped James get up to the zipline, because he was too little to reach from the platform at the end. There was a rotating drum, too. When you try to climb up the side, it moves under you! There is a little picnic area at the playground, and we had snacks before we walked back home. There are lots of sidewalks and bike paths along the streets, so walking is safe and fun!
Uncle Steven had his birthday dinner that evening. James and I helped him blow out his birthday candles. James is very good at singing Happy Birthday to You! The birthday cake was really coffee cheesecake — the same kind Grandma made for Aunt Kara’s birthday! After a long and busy day, Grandpa and James watched a bedtime story on the iPad and we all went to bed!
On Sunday, we went to another playground! Natuurbad de Zeekoelen is a little farther away and right next to a small resort and a big nature preserve. Aunt Kara rode her bicycle and took James and Thomas in the trailer. Uncle Steven drove Grandma and Grandpa and me in the car to meet them there. There’s a round swing and a bouncy horse and a picnic area. We had snacks again before we all headed home.
After Sunday afternoon naps, James and Grandma made sticky buns for breakfast on Monday, and then Thomas and James and Grandma and Aunt Kara and I took a walk to the recycling center. On Monday morning, James and I were very happy to have sticky buns for breakfast! Then Uncle Steven and Aunt Kara gave Grandpa his birthday present a little early. Grandpa’s birthday is on Friday this week, and he got a sampler of Belgian beers to drink.
The rest of Monday morning, we all went hiking at a nature preserve, Brunssummerheide. This is the park right next to Natuurbad de Zeekoelen, so James and Thomas went with Aunt Kara on her bike and met us there. Brunssummerheide is a big area of meadows and woods with lots of hiking and bicycle paths. We let James decide which paths we would take! He picked a forest trail and some meadow trails. I made friends with some meadow wildflowers and several wild rose bushes. Then at the top of one trail, we found a carving that reminded me of totem poles and a small playground. We stopped to have a snack there. Uncle Steven carried Thomas on the hike, and Thomas took a nap! While we were hiking, James collected some small rocks that he especially liked. They had to stay in the nature preserve, so we left them all under a tree near the gate. James was able to count all the rocks as he put them by the tree!
Since we were right next to Natuurbad de Zeekoelen playground, James decided to do some bouncing before we went home. Thomas woke up in time to join him, then Aunt Kara and I tried bouncing too! The bouncing surface reminded me of the one at Showa Kinen Park in Japan where I bounced with Bill-kun and Karin-chan! Monday afternoon, Uncle Steven made a fancy spinach and caramelized garlic tart for dinner. It was yummy! James decided he wanted to cook too, and got out all the things he thought he would need to make cookies. James uses a LOT of forks and spoons to cook, even when he doesn’t get around to actually making anything! We are so far north here that sunset isn’t until about ten o’clock at night. It was a very pretty sunset on Monday, and I’m glad Grandma let me stay up to see it!
Love,
Lion-san
That looked like a fun trip to lots of parks. It looks like Uncle steve and Aunt Kara have a nice location for their house. You hava to be careful of those wild rose bushes, they sometimes have thorns that can hurt but the flowers are pretty and they smell nice.