Ennio's Ninja Party!

We celebrated Ennio's birthday with his friends today in Ninja style!

In the morning... playing with his new lego's while anxiously waiting for his friends to come.

Decorating our patio...

 

Lily decided to set up her own face painting station where she'd give the kids a free face paint and ninja tattoos!

Ennio was excited to have goodie bags at his party! They had a ninja balloon, tattoos, a sticky toy, a ninja stress toy, a japanese candy bar and a pair of chopsticks in them.

Snacks in the kitchen for everyone! The sushi platter was the first one gone!

And then... one hour into the party... a REAL ninja showed up!!! The boys could hardly believe it and were all over him (literally!!!).

Lily was happy that some of the boys brought their sisters along, who are also in 2nd grade, just like her!

Piñata time!!! The piñata may look cool but alas, the quality was not so good. After just a few hits, it broke open 😞. Only Ennio and maybe 2 other boys had a go at it... I was disappointed, but luckily, the kids didn't mind too much. All they cared about, was grabbing the candy!

Finally... cake time!!!

Before the Ninja Master left, he suggested we take some pictures. Sure!!! 

It's not every day we have a ninja in our back yard!

 And of course... Ennio won the fight 😄!

April 29, 2017: Ennio is 6!!!

6 today! Thank you, Oma Cecile, for the cute outfit!

Finally, the day had come for Ennio: today, he turned 6 years old. He had been looking forward to this day for so long! He woke up and entered the kitchen to a table full of presents - lots of Lego and Minecraft toys, which he loves (thank you, Oma's and Opa's!). But after blowing out his candle and opening up his presents, he looked a little bit "underwhelmed" (is that even a word?). I don't know what he had expected from today or from being 6, maybe it just felt strange to him, that it was a day like any other day, and he was still Ennio, and he was still the same boy, just one day after he was 5... It reminded me of what happened on his 2nd birthday, when Lily had been so excited that her little 1-yr old brother would turn 2, and would be a "big boy" from then on (that's what we had been telling her). When she walked into his room that morning to sing Happy Birthday, she was so excited, but when she saw Ennio, she started crying. We were so surprised and asked what was wrong, and she exclaimed: "But he is still the SAME!!! He's still a baby!" 

And now he is 6... definitely not a baby anymore, but a big boy indeed! He enjoyed playing with his new toys in the morning (we skipped Dutch school, which for Ennio was a little treat too... he doesn't always like going...) and in the afternoon, we went to Nahla's 8th birthday party at Gerrish Swim Club. The kids had a great time in the pool, and I realized that Ennio - who loves the water, but still can't swim - is urgently due for some more swim lessons... I think right about now is the perfect age for him to learn. Something else to put on my endless to-do list!

It was a fun day. We love our little boy so much, he's such a one-of-a-kind, he's Ennio!!!

Happy Birthday, Ennio!

Today is one day before Ennio's actual 6th birthday (April 29). It is Friday, so I thought it would be a good idea to bring his treat (donuts) for his birthday to his classroom today. Ennio LOVES donuts, he LOVES birthdays (he has been talking about his upcoming birthday for MONTHS), so you would think he'd be pretty excited, right?
Well, here's a typical Ennio reaction.
We are walking to school in the morning, he has his field trip T-shirt on, because the Kindergartners will go on a field trip to Citrus College today (something else to be excited about!), I am carrying the boxes full of rainbow sprinkled donuts, and I am asking him: "Ennio, are you excited???" and he says: "No!!!". Perplexed, I ask him: "Why not?", and he says: "BECAUSE I'M STILL 5 TODAY!!!"
That is SO Ennio! He is indeed particularly interested in numbers, dates, etc. He knows the birthdays of all of his classmates by heart. So, to "celebrate" his birthday on a day that's not his actual birthday, but when he's still 5 years old, didn't make sense to him and didn't make him feel very excited. He has such a special little brain!

This is when I picked him up from school later that day. He had had a fun day after all!

It's not hard to guess what Ennio is into...

His drawings are a dead giveaway!

Answer:
* Bees and wasps and scorpions and ... Basically, anything with a "stinger", that could poke you or sting you!
* Rollercoasters! Goliath and Twisted Colossus (roller coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain) are among his favorites.

Happy Easter!

Het was weer een supergezellig paasweekend! Zaterdagmorgen na Ennio's doktersbezoek trokken we naar het park bij ons in de buurt waar jaarlijks een Easter Egg Hunt georganiseerd wordt. We zagen er onze oude buurvrouw Irma terug (ze is enkele jaren geleden na de dood van haar man verhuisd) en heel veel kinderen en ouders uit de buurt. Dat is het leuke van naar een buurtschool te gaan, je leert zoveel mensen kennen! Lily had zich verkleed als paashaas (de "klokken" kennen ze hier niet!) en poseerde met plezier!
Op zondagmorgen, Pasen, deden de kindjes hun pakjes open die Oma Eva had opgestuurd. Ook smulden we van Belgische, Duitse en Zwitserse chocoladen paashazen, schaapjes en eitjes! Die waren niet alleen met de post gekomen, maar zijn ondertussen ook voorradig in winkels en supermarkten zoals World Market, Gelson's en Whole Foods 365 (yay!)
Rond de middag kwamen er vrienden langs voor onze jaarlijkse paasbrunch (eigenlijk 2-jaarlijks want soms slaan we een jaar over! Vorig jaar zaten we met Pasen in Florida.) Marcus had paashaas gespeeld en meer dan 60 plastieken eitjes verstopt (er waren 8 kinderen). Voor de brunch had ik besteld bij Le Pain Quotidien en dat was echt een voltreffer. Het was de eerste keer, maar ik denk dat ik nog terugga! Het eten was tot in de puntjes verzorgd, allemaal biologisch en heel erg lekker, en de service toen ik alles ging ophalen op zondagvoormiddag was super! Ik kreeg enorm veel hulp en uitleg, en als klap op de vuurpijl kreeg ik nog een reusachtige chocolade mousse taart in de vorm van een paasei toe!!! Ik had zelf enkele side dishes gemaakt, zoals deviled eggs. Met een mimosa in één hand, een tartine in de andere, en de zon op ons gezicht was het een leuke namiddag in de tuin! Happy Easter!

 Filmpje van de Easter Egg Hunt.

Enkele van de lekkernijen van de Pain Quotidien!

Pamela met baby Jacob!!!

Ennio's 6 year old check-up

Almost 6 years!

We had Ennio's annual physical check-up with Dr. Kathy this morning and here are his stats:

Nederlands
Lengte: 127 cm (8 cm gegroeid op een jaar) (99e percentiel)
Gewicht: 27,7 kg (3,5 kg bijgekomen op een jaar) (97e percentiel)
BMI: 17,2

Ter vergelijking: Op 6 jaar was Lily 122 cm groot (91e percentiel voor meisjes) en woog ze 22 kg (70e percentiel voor meisjes).

English
Length: 50 inches (he grew 3.25 inches in one year) (99th percentile)
Weight: 61 pounds (he gained 7.5 pounds in one year) (97th percentile)
BMI: 17.2

His blood pressure was measured (92/42) (normal). His vision was tested and is 20/30 on both eyes.


No vaccinations this time, what a relief! Happy boy and happy mom!