Last day of 2012 on Mt San Jacinto!

The last weekend of 2012 was spent in Palm Springs! It was a last-minute thing which worked out great! We left on Sunday around noon, drove 2 1/2 hours and arrived in Palm Springs around 3 o'clock. After checking into the hotel (Hotel Zoso) we met up with our friends Barbara and Peter and their kids Martha (almost 3) and Lousia (1.5 yrs, just like Ennio) and made a stroll through the main streets of PS. We had dinner at Sammy G's Tuscan Grill (kids behaved reasonably well!) and then headed back to the hotel. Lily was ecstatic about her big bed. Ennio on the other hand didn't like his baby crib too much. He is actually getting too big for a travel bed, but he can't sleep in a regular bed yet (he would fall out). It took some time to get the kids down, but once they were off to dream land, Marcus and I were able to take turns and head down to the hotel bar and have drinks with Barbara and Peter. Funnily enough, everyone we passed in the lobby or met at the bar was very gay so it made me wonder if we booked our stay at a gay hotel??? Who knows?

The next morning we had a nice breakfast (we took it slow, which I regretted later), then headed off to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway which took us up to San Jacinto State Park where we had some Family Fun in the Snow! The only drawback was that it was REALLY busy, so we had to wait 1.5 hours before we could board the tram car. We only got to the top around 2 o'clock. It was worth the wait though. It was Ennio's first time in the snow and he loved it (unlike Lily's first time 2 years ago!!!) Especially sledding down the hill with papa was a huge success! He cried every time we took him off the sled! Lily liked the snow better this time around. She was very excited - at least in the beginning. After a while, she started complaining her hands were cold. No wonder, she kept putting her hands in the snow and eating the snow!!!

After about 2 hours, the kids had enough of it and we decided to head back down. We still had to drive back to Los Angeles to spend New Year's Eve at Sven & Edine's! There we enjoyed a scrumptious raclette grill (not to mention Sven's delicious aperitif cocktails!!!) and danced the last hours of 2012 away... We left around 2:00 (Lily being all upset because we had disturbed her "sleepover". She didn't want to go home but kept on wanting to go back to "the other house" to continue to sleep!)

For 2013, we wish you nothing but the best, especially good health and happiness, and also... a lot of fun!

Oma Eva and uncle Tobi's visit

It has almost become a yearly ritual... for the 3rd time in a row, Oma Eva and uncle Tobi came to visit us during the Christmas holidays (from Dec. 16 until Dec. 29). As always, it was great spending time with them. Tobi took hundreds of pictures (1707 to be exact... I'm not kidding... I haven't even seen all of them yet.) I'll post a small selection... soon :-)

(2 months later...)

Here's my selection. Under the motto "less is more", here are a few of my favorites:

Ennio and Oma Eva playing ball!

Ennio knows how to scream!

Everything is fine in Oma Eva's arms...

Ennio and Eva

Ilse and Lily at Lily's preschool Christmas potluck - playing the shy girl...

... not for long!

Ennio on the swing!

Running around!

Lily and Oma at one of daddy's recording sessions!

On a walk through our neighborhood.

Opening presents on Christmas Eve! (She kept on saying - with her hands on her chest - I'm so lucky!!!)

Lily got a Rapunzel dress and Ennio got a tricycle.

Rapunzel braid!

Our Rapunzel princess!

Reading Christmas stories with Oma. Yes, Ennio, that is your nose!

The long hair was a success!

Crazy uncle Tobi and crazy hair!!!

Hollywood in the morning!

Santa in the air!

And A Happy New Year!

Voor mezelf wens ik momenteel maar 1 ding (ingegeven wellicht door hoe ik me nu voel): meer slaap, alstublieft!!! Verder een goede gezondheid en de rest komt vanzelf.

Aan iedereen de beste wensen!

Merry Christmas!

Aan iedereen die hier meeleest, prettige feesten gewenst!

 

Mmm!

Weeral een weekend dat voorbijgevlogen is!

We bakten vandaag gemberkoekjes volgens dit recept:

350g plain flour
1-2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
100g butter or margarine
175g soft light brown sugar
1 egg
4 tablespoons golden syrup
Makes about 20 biscuits.

Put the flour, ginger and soda into a bowl and rub in the butter.
Add sugar and stir in the syrup and egg to make a firm dough.
Roll out to about 5mm thick and cut out your gingerbread men. If you don't have a gingerbread man cutter then use whatever you have - stars and hearts are just as tasty.
Bake at 190 C on greased baking trays (spaced out, as they will spread) for 10 to 15 mins until golden brown. Leave to firm up for a couple of minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool.

Ik gebruikte zelfrijzende bloem in plaats van gewone bloem en bicarbonaat. Voor de "golden syrup" gebruikte ik "maple agave syrup". De koekjes waren heel lekker alhoewel ik vond dat ze eigenlijk te weinig naar gember smaakten. Volgende keer voeg ik meer gemalen gember toe! En ik laat het deeg 10 minuten in de koelkast rusten vooraleer we het uitrollen. Nu was het deeg redelijk plakkerig en onhandig om de vormpjes uit te snijden. Beetje een knoeiboel, dus!

Gisteren een andere mijlpaal: ik ging voor het eerst met Lily naar de cinema! Wat een super-ervaring (voor mij dan toch). Ik heb enorm genoten van de film ('t was eeuwen geleden dat ik nog eens in de cinema was). We zagen "Rise of the Guardians", echt een hele leuke film, echt op maat van kinderen, maar ook voor volwassenen ontzettend ontroerend. Lily was meer in haar nopjes met haar "kids combo popcorn & lemonade". De film was precies bijzaak - de popcorn, die was fantastisch! Op 2 verschillende momenten vond ze de film ook een beetje angstig en kwam ze op mijn schoot gekropen. Iets waar ik stiekem zelf heel erg van genoot!!! Al bij al wel een goeie ervaring, want na de fim (die 1u37min. duurde, precies lang genoeg) zei ze dat ze dit nog wel een keer wou doen! Dat is dan afgesproken, meid!

Mmm... popcorn!

Happy Birthday, Oma!

Santé!

Oma Cecile werd vandaag... *tromgeroffel*... 60 jaar! Je zou het haar niet toegeven, hé?  (foto hierboven dateert van 1 september van dit jaar) 
Van harte gefeliciteerd, oma! Zo spijtig dat we er niet bij kunnen zijn, maar we zullen er bij ons volgende bezoek in België dan dubbel op klinken!!!

Dikke kussen van ons allevier!

Dancing in the rain!

Lily likes everything Christmas!

Na het bezoek aan Santa in de Hungtington Gardens, wandelden we er nog een beetje rond en vonden Lily en Ennio het de max om in de regenplassen rond te springen. Marcus wou hen eerst nog tegenhouden, maar we hebben hen dan toch maar laten doen. Ze hebben zich geweldig geamuseerd (het leed van op de kerstman zijn schoot te moeten zitten was zodoende rap vergeten!). We zijn daarna snel naar huis gereden, hebben de kinderen een warm badje gegeven en zo zat het eerste weekend van december er al weer op. Ongelooflijk hoe de tijd vliegt!

Me and my Lily!

Bye bye!

The Santa experience...

Heel positief voor wat Lily betreft. Ietsje minder voor Ennio.
Juist het tegenovergestelde van vorig jaar!

Ocharme Ennio en ocharme de kerstman, die er ook helemaal niet goed van was!!!

Lily and Ennio in playmode at home

It rained most of the day, so we stayed at home and played. We also baked cookies (I found the recipes on her blog and her blog) and in the afternoon, Pamela came over to keep the kids entertained so I could do some necessary household chores. Thank you, Pam!!! When it's just me and the kids, I have the feeling I don't get anything done and I'm still exhausted at the end of the day!!!

Lily is making paperbag puppets

She loves glue, scissors and stickers!

Future Toots Thielemans!

Our wild climber!

Good night!