Date Day and Date Night
Friday, May 25th
Since we have a means of transportation now, I decided to keep the kids out of school and take them on a date. We went to Happy Valley, aka kids paradise, which had all kinds of fun for children. We arrived mid-day and it was surprisingly empty, maybe because all kids here get free education and are in school. We started our fun in the indoor mega-climbing structure. Lucille loved it, zipping around level to level with ease. I wasn't sure how it was going to go for Hendryx as this was the most difficult physical challenge he had ever faced. His first attempt of getting up the first platform was lackluster, but after 10 minutes of Lucille having fun without him, he tried again and got up. He then worked his way through the entire huge structure all by himself. It was a proud mama moment for me.
After they were finished with the indoors, we headed outside where there were even more things to play on. Hendryx experienced his first zip line which thankfully he held on to for dear life and also his first trampoline jump. He is just busting through all kinds of physical/mental barriers here. We took a quick drink break, it's in the 80s here, and then headed to the final section of the park- the "beach" area. I was skeeved out by all of the goose poop around the area, but the kids couldn't care less. They had fun splashing in the water and using the toy bucket systems to move sand and water around. We ended our date with some ice cream from the "soda shop" on property.
We got home in time for me to get ready for my next date of the day with Pearce. I had learned in my research for this year's trip that there was a very special event happening while we were visiting. Called Heiligdomsvaart, it is a Progression that happens once every 7 years here (and surrounding towns). Lucky us. As part of the festivities I got us tickets to an Opera, based on Handel's Messiah, but first we had a happy hour with Pearce's classmates hosted by the school. Our babysitter arrived at 5:30pm and off on our bikes we went. We need to make bike dates a thing, because it is so much fun- especially here where the infrastructure has been built with the bike as #1.
Pearce's school function took place in an old brick barn building in town. It had both an open bar and catered dinner which was very yummy and generous. It was nice to see Pearce's classmates again and chit chat with how things were going for them. All agreed, the program was much more work than they expected and they were happy to have survived Year 1. We left them early to bike to St. Lambertus Cathedral, newly renovated for the Opera. The Opera was definitely "home grown", but both Pearce and I enjoyed participating in an local's event in such a beautiful setting. After the show, we took a little bit of time to enjoy the weekend hangout scene grabbing a glass of wine at a Via Mucca, a sidewalk cafe. Somehow we managed to be the youngest in the crowd - the spirit of older Europeans is always so inspirational to me.
Since we have a means of transportation now, I decided to keep the kids out of school and take them on a date. We went to Happy Valley, aka kids paradise, which had all kinds of fun for children. We arrived mid-day and it was surprisingly empty, maybe because all kids here get free education and are in school. We started our fun in the indoor mega-climbing structure. Lucille loved it, zipping around level to level with ease. I wasn't sure how it was going to go for Hendryx as this was the most difficult physical challenge he had ever faced. His first attempt of getting up the first platform was lackluster, but after 10 minutes of Lucille having fun without him, he tried again and got up. He then worked his way through the entire huge structure all by himself. It was a proud mama moment for me.
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| Indoor play fort |
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| He made it to the top |
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| everyone loves a tire swing |
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| Rolling, rolling, rolling.... |
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| Check out that crazy death slide in the back |
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| He didn't want to stop |
After they were finished with the indoors, we headed outside where there were even more things to play on. Hendryx experienced his first zip line which thankfully he held on to for dear life and also his first trampoline jump. He is just busting through all kinds of physical/mental barriers here. We took a quick drink break, it's in the 80s here, and then headed to the final section of the park- the "beach" area. I was skeeved out by all of the goose poop around the area, but the kids couldn't care less. They had fun splashing in the water and using the toy bucket systems to move sand and water around. We ended our date with some ice cream from the "soda shop" on property.
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| Ew |
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| Chain pulling for days |
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| Well deserved |
We got home in time for me to get ready for my next date of the day with Pearce. I had learned in my research for this year's trip that there was a very special event happening while we were visiting. Called Heiligdomsvaart, it is a Progression that happens once every 7 years here (and surrounding towns). Lucky us. As part of the festivities I got us tickets to an Opera, based on Handel's Messiah, but first we had a happy hour with Pearce's classmates hosted by the school. Our babysitter arrived at 5:30pm and off on our bikes we went. We need to make bike dates a thing, because it is so much fun- especially here where the infrastructure has been built with the bike as #1.
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| Sneaky pic |
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| St. Lambertus |
Pearce's school function took place in an old brick barn building in town. It had both an open bar and catered dinner which was very yummy and generous. It was nice to see Pearce's classmates again and chit chat with how things were going for them. All agreed, the program was much more work than they expected and they were happy to have survived Year 1. We left them early to bike to St. Lambertus Cathedral, newly renovated for the Opera. The Opera was definitely "home grown", but both Pearce and I enjoyed participating in an local's event in such a beautiful setting. After the show, we took a little bit of time to enjoy the weekend hangout scene grabbing a glass of wine at a Via Mucca, a sidewalk cafe. Somehow we managed to be the youngest in the crowd - the spirit of older Europeans is always so inspirational to me.
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| A closer view |
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| and closer... |
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| It was such a pretty venue for the event |
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| The Opera |
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| Post Opera we ran into this band part of the city's festivities |
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