IndoSiets

Soccer Season

2011-09-30T10:55:00.000+08:00

From Aug-Nov we have a community soccer league here in Jakarta. Kids play for countries in a non competitive league. Anyone can play.
Ayla is playing for the first time and she loves it. She is the only girl in her team Netherlands but she can surely hold her own. Noah plays in the U9 league for Spain. For Noah this league is actually a bit boring because they mix players of all levels together. Some kids in his team are absolute beginners and playing with them can be pretty challenging.....

All good things must come to an end.....

2011-08-07T21:16:00.005+08:00

We are back in Jakarta. All good things must come to an end...Right?

We've had a really good summer, so we can't complain at all.

Here are some of the last summer photos from our week in Holland with Richard and Pauline and their boys Joost and Stijn. Good times !

The boys were able to make their own pizzas

Daily triple bath routine....

Me and my buddy Richard

Reunited with Ayla....So happy to have my baby back!

Kids posing in front of really cool painting at Havana Club

Beach Soccer

The last ice creams of the holiday......

ProCamp

2011-08-06T19:22:00.000+08:00

Noah and I left for the US a week earlier than Sue and Ayla, because Noah was doing a soccer camp in Holland with Richard and Pauline's 2 boys.
The camp was very well organized and well coached. There were about 70 kids and 8 coaches to run the whole thing. The kids were divided into 3 different age groups and there was also a group of just keepers.
Every day the kids trained from 10-12 and from 2-4. In between there was a 2 hour break for lunch and videos and games.

Noah loved it and did really well amongst all the Dutch boys. He even won a trophy for most skilled player in his age group and won 3rd place in a penalty shoot out competition. Very exciting!

Last days in the US

2011-08-03T14:06:00.000+08:00

We are actually back in Jakarta already but I still need to update the blog about the last 2 weeks of our summer break.
Here are some photos of our last days in the US. Noah and I left 5 days earlier because of a soccer camp the he had to attend in Holland.
Special thanks to Kathy and Jim for their hospitality and for putting up with us... :-) You guys are the best!

Celebrating Holidays

2011-07-21T21:47:00.000+08:00

For the past few years we have been celebrating 'missed' holidays in the US with Sue's family during the summer.
This year we did an egg hunt, we had a thanksgiving dinner and we celebrated the kid's birthdays.
Needles to say that the kids love the celebrations....who wouldn't want to celebrate their birthday twice?

Flying Kids

2011-07-21T21:33:00.000+08:00

When we went out for dinner a few days ago Kathy took these 2 cool pictures of Noah and Ayla 'flying high'.......

@ the Lake

2011-07-19T04:01:00.000+08:00

We were invited by our friends Kristan and Uwe from Jakarta to spend a few days at their lake house in Meredith, New Hampshire.....which is only 1.5 hrs away from where we are in Derry.
The house is located right on the lake....with a nice little dock and they have a nice boat and a canoe.....the perfect summer house. No wonder they love going there every summer! We all had a blast! Maybe we should look into buying a little lake house somewhere too.....??
Thanks to Kristan, Uwe, Will and Raymond (Kristan's brother) for their hospitality!

ManU @ NE Revolution

2011-07-15T08:37:00.000+08:00

Last night Noah and I saw Manchester United toy with MLS team NE Revolution.
The match was played at the Gillette Stadium, which is a really nice stadium and normally home of the Patriots. It was a pretty easy win for ManU (4-1)and it was cool to see all the stars in action.....like: Rooney, Nani, Berbatov, Young, Giggs, etc....

Southwick Zoo

2011-07-12T07:39:00.000+08:00

On Sundayday we went to the Southwick zoo with the 2 babies and Ayla and Noah. This is a small family ran zoo in Massachusets. Weather was perfect and the kids had a great time.

Grammy is back

2011-07-12T07:30:00.000+08:00

Grammy came over to spend some time with the kids and to cook her famous and delicious pho. Something I always look forward to......every summer!

4th of July

2011-07-09T06:13:00.000+08:00

A few days ago we celebrated 4th of July here......of course the moms couldn't resist dressing the kids up......

Babies in the US

2011-07-07T00:57:00.000+08:00

For several days we have been in the US now. As always we are staying in NH with Sue's sister Kathy. This year things are 'slightly' different with 2 baby additions to the family. Both Kathy and Maria have a 6 months old baby. Of course the 6 dogs are still here too....so you can imagine what things are like here.... :-)
Our kids love staying here .....they love the dogs, the big house, the garden, the pool,the forest and they even love the babies.....so far.

'Egg Head' Ayla

2011-07-05T07:42:00.000+08:00

Poor Ayla had a bad fall last week with her bike and crashed really hard....

Just look at the result......a nice 'egg' on her forehead.

Boys and Bras

2011-07-03T23:12:00.000+08:00

What is it with boys and bras? No mater how old...or young.....they are, they like to play with them.....or what's in them.... :-)

Check these out! Noah and his 2 cousins modeling......Funny stuff!

Opa's Treat !

2011-07-03T04:04:00.000+08:00

On our last Saturday night in Holland Opa invited all the children and grandchildren for a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.
Unfortunately Arjen and Truus and their kids couldn't make it.....but the rest of us had a great time and we all enjoyed the food and the company!

Thanks Opa!!

Hot Summer Day

2011-07-03T03:55:00.000+08:00

What do you do at hot summer day? Exactly! You go to the beach!
The house that we have rented is next to small lake with a nice little beach. Needles to say that we had a great tim in the sand ( mud war !!) and in the water.

Meeting Old Friends

2011-06-27T01:39:00.000+08:00

Yesterday Rob and his 2 girls came to visit us in our bungalow in Zutphen.
Unfortunately they didn't have a lot of time but it was still nice to see them again after they moved to Shanghai last year.
We caught up w Rob and the kids had a good time playing and eating pancakes for lunch.

The finger is back!

2011-06-27T01:29:00.002+08:00

Some years ago Rob gave us the best laugh ever when he teased a fish in Butch and Tom's aquarium....He put his finger in the water and he dared the fish to bite it. To his surprise the fish didn't like to be screwed with and bit his finger really hard. Rob screamed in agony...pulled his hand out of the water...with the fish still holding on....the fish flew through the air and ended up on the floor. One of the funniest things ever!
Anyway......This time that same finger was bandaged up again, but it was not so funny......What happened? A starting gun exploded in his hand and blew a hole in his finger during a track meet at his school.......made in China, Rob? Don't you know that you shouldn't play with guns?? :-)

Klim Bos

2011-06-24T04:14:00.007+08:00

Yesterday we took the kids to the 'Klim Bos'(Climbing Forest).It is an outdoor place in the woods where kids can climb and go on different routes from tree to tree. It is pretty spectacular and very well set up.
The kids wear climbing harnesses, like you would on a real climb. After a half hour instruction or so, the kids can start climbing by themselves. The kids are supposed to be hooked on to a steel cable throughout the whole way , but they still need open their carabiners every time when they get to a tree, go around that tree and hook onto the next cable. I have to admit that I was a bit uncomfortable at first ....since I was on the ground and they are climbing at about 10-12 ft height......
The younger kids go on the easier and lower routes and the older kids and adults go on the higher and more challenging routes.
It is for kids from 7 and up, but of course Ayla was desperate to do it too....and we were lucky to get her in. She would have been very upset it she would not have been allowed to do it. It was pretty hard for her but she managed...... and loved it!
This place is definitely one of the best outdoor action places I have ever seen. Very impressive!

Instruction Time.

They are ready to go!!

Go Ayla!

Spider Girl!

Noah on the flying fox !

On this picture you can see Laurens on one of the high routes and some other kid on the lower junior route.

Candle Making

2011-06-24T01:38:00.000+08:00

Two days ago we went to a place where they teach you how to make your own candles.
Noah wasn't very interested but Ayla loved it.

You start with a string attached to a piece of wood.

Than you have to dip the string into a box of hot wax. You have to do this for about 25 times. Every time you have to wait for one minute for the wax to get hard.

When the candles are thick enough you can shape them.......any way you like......as long as the wax is still soft.

Dip the candles in cold water to make the hard.

Add your favorite colors and............. voila, candles are ready!!

Back In Hollland !!

2011-06-24T01:08:00.000+08:00

Since last Saturday we have been back in Holland. It is always nice to come back home and especially now it was a nice change after the Abu Dhabi heat. We are staying with my brother and his family in Apeldoorn.

Noah and cousin Laurens

It is really nice to have a sister in law with a convertable.....

Dinner outside.

Goodbye to Abu Dhabi

2011-06-19T18:32:00.000+08:00

Last few images of Abu Dhabi........

Cool looking high rise buildings.

The Royal Palace......nowadays a hotel for the upper few....

The Sheikh rules !

Noah and Ayla on a broken street sign.

Abu Dhabi Beach

2011-06-19T18:16:00.000+08:00

On our last day in Abu Dhabi we went to the beach and had a fantastic Lebanese dinner afterwards.
Special thanks to Mariette and Joe for their hospitality. We had a great week !
Our next stop will be......HOLLAND!

Women's Handicraft Centre

2011-06-17T15:20:00.000+08:00

A few days ago we went to the women's handicraft centre here in Abu Dhabi.
It was a very interesting to see and talk to some of the local women . There was a museum, the girls had some henna design painted on their legs and we saw some of the women working on making their traditional clothes.
Most of the women didn't want to be photographed but there were a few...younger ladies...who didn't mind.
The best part was when we were invited by a group of women to join them for lunch and when one of the ladies asked Mariette to try on one of the traditional 'masks' that a lot of women wear here.
Check it out!

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

2011-06-16T17:13:00.008+08:00

Last night Mariette took Sue and I to The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Wow..... that is one impressive piece of architecture and one of the most beautiful mosques i have ever seen. We went in the late afternoon / early evening when the light was just prefect and when it was surprisingly quiet.
The mosque is open for all visitors....women must wear an abaya ...which is a black dress that covers the whole body. Men can't wear shorts or tank tops.
The building is absolutely stunning and it looked even better at night when they had all the lights on!

Desert Trip

2011-06-16T16:23:00.012+08:00

The 4 of us went on an organized desert trip 2 days ago. There was only 1 other couple on this trip and us.
First we went to a camel farm, then we went dune bashing...as they call it. This is driving through the desert sand dunes in a 4wheel drive. The dune bashing was pretty spectacular but also very shortlived, since 3 people in our car got sick doing it....and Ayla was in tears....So we decided to take a shortcut to the camp . Here we were able to take a camel ride, to climb the sand dunes, to have a nice BBQ dinner and to enjoy a belly dancer. Kids had a really good time and it was nice to have the place almost to ourselves!

Our Holiday has started!!

2011-06-16T15:20:00.004+08:00

On Saturday we left Jakarta to fly to Abu Dhabi to spend a week with my sister and her family. They moved there last November...so good opportunity for us to check things out there in the big 'sandbox' as my sister calls it. For Sue it was the first time back to AD since she worked here for 2 years before she came to JKT.
The kids were thrilled to spend some time together and to play. This picture was taken at the compound pool.
So far everything is good, but boy is it hot here...43 degrees yesterday !!

Spider Girl and Messi

2011-05-31T10:48:00.003+08:00

Noah and Ayla both want to show you a nice 'trick'.

Enjoy!!

End of the Year Celebration

2011-05-28T14:47:00.008+08:00

Last week Sue and I went to Ayla's class for her end of the year celebration.
Our baby girl has had a very successful year in kindergarten and will be going to grade 1 after the summer. Can you believe that? Time is going by too fast!
She showed us her work and all the kindergarten kids sang songs for the parents in a very colorful performance.

Ayla sleeps with her friends....

2011-05-28T14:38:00.002+08:00

You wanna know how our daughter sleeps?
She buries herself with stuffed animals....the more the better !
Check this out......
Pretty funny, huh?

Sunway Lagoon, Malaysia

2011-05-28T13:45:00.009+08:00

A couple of weeks ago we went with 3 families to Malaysia to the Sunway Lagoon Park. This is a spectacular park with all kinds of great entertainment for kids. There are actually 6 theme parks within one park. We went to the waterpark, the animalpark and the amusementpark. Great place to go for a (long) weekend with friends and family !

Soccer GALA

2011-05-26T08:38:00.009+08:00

At the end of the Coca Cola Season they have this End of the Season Gala to celebrate the achievements of the teams who played in cup and league. They really go all out for this with special guests from TV, performers and all kinds of things to entertain the kids.
Forgot to post some photos of this happening!

Cup Final

2011-05-03T10:53:00.003+08:00

It was heart break for Noah and his team mates on Saturday when they lost the U8 cup final against arch rivals BIS 2-0. We had beaten them in the league 4-1 but things were different this time.
Our boys didnt have the best preparation as they all had taken part of a charity run the day before @ JIS and some even ran up to 10 k. No wonder they looked a bit tired on the field on Saturday.

We can look back at a great season though. Boys did really well!

Queens Day

2011-05-02T10:50:00.003+08:00

On Friday we celebrated Queens Day in Jakarta at the Dutch School.
They had changed the whole school into a market place where you could buy and sell things.
Also there was awesome ( Dutch) food available and free flow of ( Heineken) beer.
Not a bad way to spend your Friday afternoon.
At the end of the afternoon there was a talent show by kids from the NIS.
Of course Ayla was dressed 'in style' and she looked fantastic when she posed in front of the Dutch flag . We had a great time !!

Oma and Opa's Visit to Indo

2011-04-27T14:06:00.013+08:00

For the first time in 3 years opa and oma decided to come for a visit to Jakarta. Of course we were all thrilled to see them here again.
They stayed with us in Jakarta for a week and on Friday we all flew to Bali together except for Sue. Unfortunately she had school work to do during the weekend couldnt join us.
All these pictures were taken during our time in Bali. GOOD TIMES !!

The Party

2011-04-27T13:53:00.012+08:00

Ayla celebrated her birthday one day after her birthday. Forgot to post the photos of the party......

She choose to go to a very cool pool for a swim and a play with her friends. After the water fun we all went back to the house for a 'TREASURE" hunt and of pizza and the birthday cake.

GREAT PARTY!

Ayla turns 6 !!

2011-04-21T12:17:00.005+08:00

On April 8 Ayla turned 6!

At school she celebrated with a 'mountain' of donuts and later at night we all went out to dinner to one of Ayla's favorite restaurant where she unpacked her birthday gifts.

Spring Break 2011

2011-04-07T13:41:00.014+08:00

A couple of weeks ago we were in Bali for our Spring Break. Our friends the Merritts stayed with us in Seminyak.
We met up with lots of friends during the week.
Everything was good: the weather, the food and the company !
GREAT WEEK!

Ayla takes the bus

2011-03-18T13:36:00.004+08:00

Ayla started taking the school bus to school. She sits and waits at 7:00 at the gate patiently for the bus to pick her up.
She loves it........and so does her mum, who doesnt have to put up with her morning moods anymore. So it's a win-win situation for all.... :-)

Another Championship !

2011-03-17T14:45:00.010+08:00

Noah's soccer team won the Jakarta School Soccer League after beating main rivals BIS 4-1 in their last league match of the season. We can even win the double if we manage to win the Cup as well. Semi finals for the CUP will be played on April 2nd.
Special thanks to Kristan for taking pictures !

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Father-Daughter Dance

2011-03-04T15:36:00.013+08:00

Ayla joined the girls scouts this year and one of their special events during the year is always the FATHER/DAUGHTER DANCE.

For me and Ayla it was the first time. It really was a very special event and I was happy I could share this with my little baby girl! The girls were dressed up like princesses and most of the dads were in tuxedos.

The whole set up was really cool. The gym at JIS was changed into a 5 star hotel ball room.
There was red carpet at the entrance for the special guests and as soon as you came in the paparazzi were waiting to take your picture with or without a big "OSCAR' statue in the back ground.

The food was exquisite, the music was great and all dads and their girls danced the night away.

Definitely a night to remember !!

Pedicure at home

2011-03-03T12:37:00.004+08:00

Most people have to go to the salon to get a pedicure but I can get mine at home.

Ayla does the whole works....cleaning, washing, shaving, cutting. massage and of course the highlight...for her....nail polishing.
And she charges for all this only Rp.5,000.

Boy, am I lucky !

Noah's Soccer Season

2011-02-22T15:56:00.004+08:00

In January Noah's soccer season started here for the Coca Cola League. That is a competition between school in Jakarta, sponsored by Coca Cola. Noah plays for the JIS PIE U8 team.

So far they have played 5 league matches and won all of them. On Sunday they also beat the Japanse Club 7-2 to reach the quarter finals of the Cup.
To be continued.......

'Rats' in the House

2011-02-22T13:12:00.003+08:00

For the longest time Ayla and Noah have wanted different kinds of pets.
We have tried to keep them happy with fish....didnt really work
Then we got a rabbit ( twice)...they both died in no time
Then we got a cat...who is still alive, but Sue doesnt want her in the house because she is allergic to cats..so not much of a cuddly pet.

Now one of Noah's friends' hamsters' had babies and they begged us to have one. So here we go again.......Pet # 4 !

So now we have 2 small 'rats' in the house. Let's see how long they 'll last......you never know with a cat in the neighbourhood..... :-)

Soccer Kids

2011-02-22T10:40:00.007+08:00

We have known for a while how crazy Noah is about soccer, but now it looks like Ayla has also been affected by the soccer virus.

Last Saturday she had her first training and she loved it.

She even managed to score 2 goals in her first match. Do we have another goal scorer in the family?
We will see......time will tell!

Skiing in Korea ( video)

2011-01-20T22:11:00.006+08:00

Noah on skis for the first time.

Ayla on skis for the 1st time

Noah and Ayla on skis at the end of their first day.

Noah going down the hill at the end of his 2nd day on skis !

Skiing in Korea

2011-01-16T11:44:00.019+08:00

We had a great week in Korea ...we were in Seoul for a few days and took the kids skiing for the first time.
It was really cold but most days sunny and perfect ski conditions.
I was with the kids on the first day on the 'baby' slope to teach them the basics. On the 2nd day Noah already went up the chairlift with me and managed to ski down by himself. Really cool to see how quickly he picked it up. Ayla took a little longer but she was happy to play on the baby slope and came up with us a day later.

Awesome break...cant wait to go skiing again...next winter!

Cristmas Brunch

2011-01-01T10:19:00.002+08:00

For the past few years we have been going out for Christmas brunch on christmas day with some good friends.
This year we went to the Ritz Carlton.It was really good!
Great food and fine company!
Merry X-MAS!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T15:01:00.007+08:00

On Christmas morning we woke up at 6AM....well..... actually the kids woke up at 5:00, but they were not allowed to get out of bed until 6:00......

The tree looked great....thanks to Sue and we were all so happy to see a pile of presents under our tree.

Kids were so excited !!

Christmas? You gotta love it!

Adventure Time !!

2010-12-16T09:26:00.026+08:00

Last weekend I organized an 'Adventure Weekend' for Noah and 3 of his best friends and their dads. This was also a special goodbye trip for Santiago, one of the boys who is leaving to Bangkok with his family.
We left at 5:30 in the morning to avoid traffic to go to the Puncak area, which was still a 3.5 hr drive.
We went on an exciting rafting trip, the boys did the flying fox, we did some walking and of course the boys spend every minute of 'free time' playing soccer....because that's what they all live for!
Here are some pictures of a GREAT trip!

Thank You, Oma and Opa !!

2010-12-14T09:13:00.002+08:00

One of Noah's coolest presents was sent to him from Holland. Oma found this awesome Ajax bed set with sheets and pillow cases of Noah's favorite team AJAX!!

More Birthday Stuff.....

2010-12-13T15:47:00.005+08:00

It has become some kind of tradition in our family that we go out for dinner when it's somebody's birthday and the birthday person gets to choose where we go....
At the restaurant they get their presents. Noah wanted to go to Dim Sim...Chinese restaurant. You can see him showing his presents....

Noah turns 8 !!

2010-12-13T13:31:00.008+08:00

On Sunday May 5 Noah invited 5 of his best friends to our house to celebrate his 8th birthday!
We had an early start....the boys met at 7 for breakfast...pancakes with sirup. After breakfast we wll went on a mini bus to go to Water Bom and cool water amusement park just outside Jakarta.

The boys...and Ayla...had a great time and NOah had the best birthday party!

Noah over the Moon!

2010-12-02T13:53:00.006+08:00

Noah's JIS U8 team played in a tournament last weekend at a school outside Jakarta.

It was actually the first time that this team played together and guess what??

The team won the tournament!

First we won all our 3 group matches pretty convincingly....7-0, 4-1 and 5-0.

In the final we were up against our old foes STB...the team that knocked us out of the CUP last year. They have Fandi Ahmad's son in their team. Some people in Holland may remember Fandi...he played professionally for FC Groningen in the 80s for a few seasons. He was considered the best player from SE Asia. His son is the best 7 year old player I have ever seen. Really talented and way ahead of all his peers.
We managed to contain him pretty much though during the game....he only scored once against us. The final was a very close and tense match. We scored first, they tied it up 1-1 HT. IN the second Noah scored his first headed goal ever to put us in the lead 2-1, but they again managed to tie the match 2-2 FT. In the resulting penalty shootout we were the luckier team beating them 3-2.

Here are some photos of our proud boys with the trophy.

SInterklaas is back in Jakarta

2010-12-02T12:54:00.007+08:00

Believe it or not but Sinterklaas arrived in Jakarta once againthis year. Amazing how he can visit this many places at the same time....

Here are some pictures of our children's 'best' friend.....

Nervously awaiting SInterklaas' arrival.....

Yes...he is coming!!

Noah was brave enough to shake Sinterklaas' hand this year!

Enjoying the show......

One season ends...the next one starts.....

2010-11-26T17:35:00.005+08:00

Noah just ended his soccer season with JYS (community soccer) and team Netherlands.
Next month the next season will already start.... which is the Coca Cola league. This is a soccer league in Jakarta between schools. Last year no less than 52 schools were in it and over 2000 kids competed.

Ayla in Talentshow

2010-11-22T19:48:00.004+08:00

Enjoy photos and video of Ayla's talentshow performance @ JIS last week.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T14:51:00.007+08:00

Just like last year we celebrated Halloween at the American Club in Jakarta.
It's a really cool and well organized event with trick or treationg for the kids on the parking lot from nicely decorated car trunks.
Noah was a scary vampire and Ayla was a witch......

October Break in Bali

2010-11-02T14:37:00.011+08:00

You can't go wrong with a week in Bali with sun, beach and friends!

UN Day Performance Ayla

2010-11-02T14:03:00.002+08:00

Enjoy Ayla's and Mariska's UN DAY performance.
Special thanks to Butch for recording!

A few more Noah soccer pictures......

2010-10-15T14:26:00.006+08:00

UN Day Performance

2010-10-15T11:21:00.004+08:00

Ayla participated in the UN Day performance for the USA.
She was very much into it....was really fun to watch!

UN Day 2010

2010-10-14T13:51:00.005+08:00

The kids had UN Day today @ JIS. This is always a special day and kids wear things from their home countries.

Our kids are from different countries....according to them.....when you ask Noah where he is from...he will alsways say HOLLAND. When you ask Ayla....she will always say AMERICA>. Interesting, huh? No idea where that comes from.....

So today they dressed up as.... Dutch (Noah) and American ( Ayla) and Vietnamese (Sue).

Team Netherlands

2010-10-14T10:30:00.005+08:00

In the JYS ( Jakarta Youth Soccer) league Noah plays this year for the Netherlands.
I have been coaching the team with Doudou, who is the father of Noah's best friend Bachir. It has been a lot of fun to work with these kids. We have a few more week to go in the season which ends in November.
Here are some photos of last Saturdays match when we beat Brazil 3-2.

Our New House

2010-09-29T10:06:00.011+08:00

During the summer we moved house in Jakarta. We moved into the house of our old friends the Kerrs, who left for Shanghai.
We absolutely love our new place and the location is just perfect. Sue and the kids are now in walking distance from the school. It's a quiet resedential area... so great too for the kids to safely ride their bikes and we have some nice restaurants around the corner. This could be our LAST house in Jakarta....ever!
In case you want to know what it looks like.....here are some pics!

Entrance with garage

Front side of the house with some nice garden space.

Ayla sitting in our spacious kitchen

Back side of the house with pool

Living Room

Living room from a different angle

Upstairs kids play and TV area

Master Bedroom

Will it ever stop?

2010-09-29T08:56:00.007+08:00

The weather in Jakarta has gone totally crazy! This is normally the end of the dry season and instead it has been raining all summer long. We have had a constant downpour almost every day in August and September. We wonder what will happen during the 'real' rainy season?? Will the whole of Jakarta disappear under water?
The kids are liking it though......

Waterfall Fun

2010-09-09T17:14:00.008+08:00

On one of our days in Spain we visited some waterfalls.
Great place to hang out for a few hours on a hot summer day!

Noah going for BIG splash!

And of course our fearless 'little' girl ( see middle of the picture) had no problems following her big brother, jumping down from 3-4 meters high.

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Spain

2010-09-09T09:04:00.018+08:00

Our last stop this summer was a week in Spain with my brother Arjen and his family. His wife's family own a house not far from Benidorm.
This is just a perfect holiday place....nice big house, huge garden, swimming pool and the beach only 10 minutes away.
Needles to say that we had a great time there!

A Day at the Beach

2010-09-02T10:31:00.010+08:00

We visited our friends Richard/ Pauline and their2 kids and had a glorious on the beach with them.

Back In Holland

2010-09-02T09:33:00.007+08:00

Boy, it's been a long time since my last blog post! The World Cup hangover must have hit me hard....Time for some updates!

After the States we went back to Holland and we stayed in Soest, @ my sister's place...
These pictures were all taken during our stay there.

The Dream is Over.....

2010-07-13T09:00:00.005+08:00

The title of this post was supposed to be......WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!

Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be and Spain deservedly beat us 1-0. However we will always remember the 52nd minute of the match when we (Robben) were only a few whiskers away from taking a 1-0 lead, which would have been enough to win it.
There is a fine line between eternal glory and misery......

As soon as the final whistle sounded Noah started crying and screaming...he was just inconsolable...he couldn't stop sobbing for about 20 minutes or so.....his world had fallen apart.....he didnt know that sometimes the Orange lose too......

Now he knows!

Canobie Lake Park

2010-07-13T04:54:00.009+08:00

Every year we take the kids to Canobie Lake Park. It's a really cool amusement park... some kind of mini-Disne with lots of fun rides. Grammy has a friend who works at the park.... who gets us free tickets every year. Not bad, huh? let's hope grammy will keep this friend for a long time..... :-)

Water Fun

2010-07-12T23:18:00.006+08:00

Ayla and Kathy having fun in the lake.....

Silly Putty

2010-07-10T04:50:00.004+08:00

Have you ever heard of 'silly putty'? I hadn't...until recently.Apparently it is something that kids in the US play with. What is it? Still not sure.....it is soft, like pizza dough, chewy, guey, sticky, snotty, etc....
This is what it looks like....

Carlos Tevez?

2010-07-08T07:38:00.006+08:00

Noah loves to watch the pros on TV and to copy his favorite players.
The latest thing is to put on a head band and to wet his hair, just like some of his favorite World Cup players....

4th of July

2010-07-08T07:30:00.005+08:00

We had a nice and relaxing day on Independence Day.... we went to the beach, hung out and had a typical US BBQ dinner..... and of course we watched the fireworks! Very nice day!

NYC

2010-07-08T07:20:00.003+08:00

Forgot to add this picture from New York. This is one of my favorite photos.....love the contrast of the dark construction and street lights in the front and the bright manhattan skyline in the back ground.

Going to the Big Apple

2010-07-06T04:59:00.019+08:00

Noah and I went to New York City for a 3 day trip to see Matisse Bloem and his family. Matisse and Noah were best friends in Jakarta, but unfortunately they moved to NY last year.
From where we are in NH, it was about 5 hours drive to NY, but with a gameboy and a dvd player it was even for Noah 'I hate long car rides' Sietsma do-able!

We arrived on Thursday afternoon in Jersey City. This is just across the Hudson river and it has an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline. The boys instantly clicked again and it was like they had never been separated. Best friends again!
After our arrival Liesbeth took us for a ferry ride, a walk and we enjoyed the stunning view of Manhattan and Statue of Liberty. At night we had a nice dinner at the apartment with Maurice.
Friday was one fantastic day! In the morning Holland beat Brazil..against all odds....in the quarter finals of the World Cup 2-1! We were all so excited!
After the match we took the subway to Manhattan. Looked at the WTC site, we had an outdoor lunch at a park, played soccer, watched another amazing world Cup quarter final match ( Uruguay-Ghana)in a pub, played more soccer in Central Park, had dinner at a nice pizza restaurant and came back at the apartment at 10PM. July 2, 2010 had been a day to remember!
The next day we slept in, the boys played a bit more, we watched the Germans slaughtering Argentina and headed back to NH.

Best Friends!

We have missed Liesbeth and the Bloems so much!

9-11 Monument

Having lunch in the Park

Ghana were 1 kick away from first ever African team in the World Cup semis......Unbelievable Climax!

Strolling in Manhattan

Imagine.....Boys playing in Central Park...the place where John Lennon was shot...

The Crazy Gang

2010-07-06T04:25:00.005+08:00

Voila some pictures of the crazy gang of the family ........Kathy, Noah, Ayla and lots of dogs!

Red Sox

2010-07-05T23:12:00.008+08:00

Kathy and Jim had a great surprise for us last week......tickets for a Red Sox game at Fenway!
Wow.....that was soo cool! We loved it, but the Red Socks were pretty poor and lost 6-1 to Tampa

Summer Fun

2010-07-05T21:14:00.007+08:00

The weather has been fantastic since we arrived in the US. Since Aunty Kathy's pool is closed this summer, we often hang out at a nice little lake in Derry to cool off. It has a small beach, a deck, a raft and a grass field..... Perfect for families with small kids.

WORLD CUP FEVER continues.......

2010-07-01T02:56:00.006+08:00

Holland are still in the World Cup! In the 2nd round we managed to beat Slowakia, the team that surprising beat Italy in the 1st round.
We won, but we still didn't play that well. We will have to play a lot better if we want to beat tournament favorites Brazil in the quarters.
In the pictures you can see us wearing our special 'TroWoCuPas'......Tropical World Cup Pants. A friend of ours in Jakarta started a little business selling those pants for all countries in the World Cup....Pretty cool, huh?

Going Japanese !

2010-07-01T02:25:00.008+08:00

A few days ago we all went out for Japanese food. Maria ( Sue's youngest sister) was here too with her husband Adam.It was one of those places were they cook right in front of you. Food was delicious and the kids loved the cooking show.

Aunty Kathy and Noah being silly....as usual...

Ayla Did It!

2010-07-01T01:12:00.009+08:00

In Indonesia all girls have their ears pierced when they are babies. We never bothered having Ayla's done when she was little. A lot of Ayla's friends have ear rings, so Ayla has been asking about having her ears pierced, she was just afraid of the pain.....
This year she said she was brave enough to do it....so we decided to have it done here in the US at the mall.
This is how it went......

You wonder who is more nervous.....Ayla or Sue?

Here we go.....Ayla awaiting the inevitable, Sue can't face it anymore......??

It is done! A few tears, but those disappeared as soon as she saw her beautifil new ear rings!!

Well done, princess!

Back in the Dog House

2010-06-29T06:52:00.013+08:00

Yes..... we are back in the States and back in the Dog House!
Sue's sister Kathy used to have 5 dogs and got married to Jim last year, who had 2 dogs..so now there are 7 dogs in the house. Grammy who also lives with them has 2 cats.....so we live in a bit of a zoo, but the kids absolutely love it. So, who cares?
Kathy and Jim are great hosts and we are very grateful that we can stay with them every summer.
Their house is a perfect place for our kids with a big garden, in the middle of the forest._They can run, play, make noise, go crazy without bothering anybody.....( well maybe except for Sue.....)">
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Saying goodbye to opa & oma

2010-06-28T20:43:00.006+08:00

Saying goodbye is never a nice thing, but this year saying goodbye to opa and oma wasn't so hard, because we will be back in Holland for a few days in July and we will most likely see them again.

Play Grounds

2010-06-28T20:36:00.003+08:00

One of the cool things about our summer breaks is the fact there are such nice playgrounds everywhere in Holland and especially in the US. For us....families with small kids..... those places are great. Usually I bring coffee and something to read and the kids play....so we all have a good time!

WORLD CUP FEVER

2010-06-28T07:47:00.003+08:00

Every 4 years Holland gets hit hard with a severe case of World Cup Fever....(if we qualify...). This year is no different and on match days everyone goes a little crazy. These pictures were taken around the match Holland-Japan...which we won 1-0

Celebrating the win with my old buddies...JanFRanco, Ben, Rene and Paul

Noah with his cousins face painted....ready to roar!

Soccer Training

2010-06-28T07:22:00.005+08:00

Every Day Noah wants to play soccer. He even managed to persuade his oma to play with him on a couple of occasions......

Amazing Recovery

2010-06-28T07:08:00.004+08:00

Most of you know that my dad was very sick last year. He had a heart failure and was in a coma for several days. Look at him now....What a difference a year can make!
He has made an amazing recovery and can do most of the things that he used to do before he got ill. He can go for walks, drive a car , ride his bicycle and even play a bit of soccer with Noah.
Yes...our old man is a tough one!

Summer Break is here!!

2010-06-28T04:53:00.008+08:00

Time to update the blog a bit about our summer holiday so far. As you probably will understand. I have been way too occupied watching world cup matches....

Okay ....here we go....

On June 6 we arrived in Holland and we stayed with my mum and dad in Zutphen for a week, before we all met on an island called Schiermonnikoog for our annual family get together. We stayed on the island for almost a week with my parents , the rest of the family were only there for 3 days since the kids still have to go to school in June and my brothers had to work.....

Here are some fun pictures of that family weekend.

Diploma A

2010-06-23T00:27:00.008+08:00

I know that we left for our summer holliday more than 2 weeks ago, but I still need to do a post about a remarkable accomplishment from our little girl, AYLA.
On the day that we left for Holland, she had to do a swimming test in the early morning at the NIS to get her Diploma A. Most kids in her group were 6 or 7 years old.... she was the only 5 year old and I wasnt sure if she would be able to make it.
She did really well and passed the test and of course we were very proud of her!

Ayla's End-of-the-Year Performance

2010-06-02T08:03:00.001+08:00

Yesterday Ayla celebrated her fantastic year in EC 2 at JIS. The parents were invited to watch a music performance and all the kids shared their work with their mums and dads.
She has grown and has learned so much this year. Well done, little one!

Ayla's first gymnastics competition

2010-05-24T08:50:00.008+08:00

On Saturday Ayla had her first ever gymnastics competition!
She was the youngest of all the participants. You can see her in her group holding up the letter B.
She did great and even managed to win 2 medals...a gold and a bronze.
Needless to day that we were very proud of our little girl!
Dont forget to check out the video clips at the bottom.....

Soccer Gala

2010-05-06T09:11:00.006+08:00

Last Saturday it was CUP Final day and we had the End of the Season Gala of the JSFA football season 2010.
The JSFA put on a big 2 hour show during which the League and Cup winners were honored. I was very impressed with the show...there were performances...with drums...dancers...music...slideshows. There was a well known ESPN presenter and there was Franco Baresi (AC Milan legend), as special guest, to hand out some of the trophies.
We were there as league winners. Unfortunately we were knocked out of the cup(4-2)by the team that ended up winning it

It was a great day and the kids loved it!

Junior Athletics

2010-05-04T15:56:00.007+08:00

Every Friday afternoon in spring Ayla and Noah are active in Junior Athletics.
This is a kind of track club for elementary kids. Last year Noah joined and this year also Ayla is old enough to do it. They just love it and have agreat time....running, jumping and throwing.

Phuket

2010-04-29T10:36:00.011+08:00

And I didnt even put any pictures up of our wonderful week in Phuket with the Koltais!

Red&White Day

2010-04-29T10:14:00.003+08:00

Every year we have a Red & White day at JIS in honor of ouor host country Indonesia!

All the kids wear red and white on that day!

Bike Day

2010-04-29T09:32:00.004+08:00

It's time for some updates of recent ( or not so recent) events from us in Jakarta
Let's go....

Here are some photos of Noah's bike day at school

A Princess Party

2010-04-13T08:46:00.012+08:00

Ayla celebrated her 5th birthday last Saturday with 5 of her best friends in a real Princess Party. Sue had gone out of her way to create a real princess kingdom for the 6 girls, in which they were treated like true royalty. Needless to say that they all loved it!