Sinterklaas comes on a steamboat to Holland 4 weeks prior to December 5. Or did he come first to Spain and spend the 4 weeks to travel to Holland? Hey, I am not the real Dutch here, give me a break. Somehow Sinterklaas managed to stop in USA, at our house on December 7. It's a very good track record if you think about the four weeks from Spain to the Netherlands.
Sinterklaas is the Dutch Santa and in Holland the presents are giving on December 5th, so no presents for Christmas.
Our Dutch friends came to our place for the celebration with their 3 kids, 8, 5(she came a little late, she had a b-day party first) and 2 year old. The kids got to play right away, running around in the living room and the basement, making noise - no, not complaining at all, they were so cute. Then we sat to eat early. Sint was supposed to come 10 to 7. Our neighbor, Gordon, who accepted to be our Sint was supposed to leave for a black tie party at 7. I left the presents in the bags and the little Dutch cookies our friends got from Holland - he works between USA and Holland, so he is back quite often - in the garage. Of course I forgot to leave the garage door open and Sint had to give us a call first, uups! Finally, he arrived. He knocked on the door very hard, threw the cookies inside the house - Dutch tradition, yes we ate the cookies that were laying on the floor at the end! He left he bags full of presents. All 5 kids believe in Sint. When our Sint was gone, we all went to the foyer to see what happened. The kids started speculating how the presents and the cookies came inside - through the chimney of course. Well, we don't have a fireplace, but we sure have a chimney! They started yelling to ceiling 'thank you Sint'.
After that part of the excitement, the presents' excitement started. It was the classic 'rip the paper' act. I have to say that the kids got nice presents, and not too many. Proud of the parents here!! F got finally her trumpet. It's plastic but looks real and makes nice sounds. A got a chair for her dolls, she loves playing with dolls these days. The kids of the friends got nice stuff too. After a bit playing, the kids were tired so the party ended not too late. Jorgen had a taxi coming to pick him up at 4 am, so I think he was happy to leave.
Thanks Gordon, thanks Sint. It was very nice!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
We met Mickey!
Before my mother left, at the Thanksgiving vacation, we went to Los Angeles. We left Illinois as the first snow was falling down - falling down almost as a storm. After getting our plane treated against freezing - good to know for someone who is not very fond of flying - we had a nice trip to LA. We got our car at the rental place and drove to my cousin's house in Orange. We did arrive exhausted after getting up around 4 am and travelling the rest of the day, but we were happy and excited. My cousin lives in a nice house up on a hill with beautiful views. I saw her last time in 1987, at her wedding. Now her sons are like 17 and 19.
From their house, they can see the fireworks at Disneyland. We spent the first day not doing too much. The second day, we went to Disneyland. We arrived early in the morning and saw quite some attractions, all appropriate for the girls. Princesses, princesses and princesses. They had -and we had - such a good time. My mother went on walking the whole day and didn't say a word about it. Late at night, just before the fireworks, it started raining. We were soooo done anyway, so we went home. The last thing we saw was Mickey. We went to this very secret place, through hallways and doors and we could make pictures with Mickey. A was a bit scared of him, but I think we made nice pictures. We almost thought about coming back later with P to see the more grown-up attractions, but we were exhausted. Too bad for all the Halloween stuff. It looked interesting but we just couldn't go on anymore.
The next day, we went to visit LA. What a disappointment. We first went to see the stars, the Hollywood Boulevard. We actually passed it twice before we realized that we were there already. It looked poor, no glamour at all. We looked at the stars, ate something, and decided to see the Hollywood sign. At least that should be something, right. Well, the way to the sign was not so easy to spot. We decided to look for Mulholland Drive. We had seen a movie with that name and the street was supposed to lead to the Hollywood sign. We got quite close to it, but didn't manage to stand beside it.
Our own Beverly Hills tour was also not so very successful. We drove around in the nice looking neighborhoods. There surely was more glamour. We didn't run into any celebrity. Probably they didn't know we were there -shame on them - and they didn't enjoy the rainy weather.
Our third day was a road trip to the beaches. Oh, well, I cannot complain about that. We had the weather on our side and we saw beautiful beaches. They were all long white sandy beaches at small cosy towns with little shops and restaurants. The houses at the seaside, sometimes at a bluff, were like a piece of heaven. the kids enjoyed the beaches more than LA. That evening, we had a nice Thanksgiving dinner that my cousin had prepared.
After this beautiful trip, we went home to face the snow. It was like living the summer behind!
After the trip, we waved my mother good-bye. We did manage to go to the Sears Tower together and walked around in Chicago. It was snowing and got quite cold, so we had to keep it short. I think she had a glimpse of the city.
From their house, they can see the fireworks at Disneyland. We spent the first day not doing too much. The second day, we went to Disneyland. We arrived early in the morning and saw quite some attractions, all appropriate for the girls. Princesses, princesses and princesses. They had -and we had - such a good time. My mother went on walking the whole day and didn't say a word about it. Late at night, just before the fireworks, it started raining. We were soooo done anyway, so we went home. The last thing we saw was Mickey. We went to this very secret place, through hallways and doors and we could make pictures with Mickey. A was a bit scared of him, but I think we made nice pictures. We almost thought about coming back later with P to see the more grown-up attractions, but we were exhausted. Too bad for all the Halloween stuff. It looked interesting but we just couldn't go on anymore.
The next day, we went to visit LA. What a disappointment. We first went to see the stars, the Hollywood Boulevard. We actually passed it twice before we realized that we were there already. It looked poor, no glamour at all. We looked at the stars, ate something, and decided to see the Hollywood sign. At least that should be something, right. Well, the way to the sign was not so easy to spot. We decided to look for Mulholland Drive. We had seen a movie with that name and the street was supposed to lead to the Hollywood sign. We got quite close to it, but didn't manage to stand beside it.
Our own Beverly Hills tour was also not so very successful. We drove around in the nice looking neighborhoods. There surely was more glamour. We didn't run into any celebrity. Probably they didn't know we were there -shame on them - and they didn't enjoy the rainy weather.
Our third day was a road trip to the beaches. Oh, well, I cannot complain about that. We had the weather on our side and we saw beautiful beaches. They were all long white sandy beaches at small cosy towns with little shops and restaurants. The houses at the seaside, sometimes at a bluff, were like a piece of heaven. the kids enjoyed the beaches more than LA. That evening, we had a nice Thanksgiving dinner that my cousin had prepared.
After this beautiful trip, we went home to face the snow. It was like living the summer behind!
After the trip, we waved my mother good-bye. We did manage to go to the Sears Tower together and walked around in Chicago. It was snowing and got quite cold, so we had to keep it short. I think she had a glimpse of the city.
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