* Avondvierdaagse, one of the Netherland's traditions

Avondvierdaagse is one of the Dutch traditions. It is a sport activity. Four evenings hiking, singing, making fun with your friends from the class, sport clubs and organizations.

Yesterday I was very tired after hiking that's why I was not able to write anything. My kids have this school activity "AVONDVIERDAAGSE". Pupils from group 3 until 8 can participate. Pupils from 6 to 9 years old will walk for 5 kms. Children from 10 and older may hike for 10 kms., but that is not necessary. Mostly it takes 2 hours to hike 5 kms. On the way, the organizers give something to drink like: juice, water, tea and coffee.My 8-yr. old daughter wants to, so I have to go with her as chaperone. She enjoyed very much singing, talking with friends while hiking.
Today is the second evening, I still have 2 evenings to do. I hope I still the energy to walk until Thursday which is the culminating day. Annabel is very excited since she will receive a medal in memory of that day. Each participant receives a medal if he want to. So, this one of my life's memorable experience that I can have a medal. lol. I never had one before. lol. I am very curious about the culminating activity on Thursday evening.

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* Annabel's children's Party

Yesterday my daughter celebrated her 8th birthday with few friends. There were 7 kids. We went to a children's farm. The party started at 1 p.m. It begon with the singing of the birthday song in Dutch and then the opening of gifts. She was very happy with the gifts she received. In Holland if you attend a party you should bring a gift not like in the Phils. that only few visitors bring gifts.
Since we were in the kid's farm the theme was about "The Farm Animals". The first activity was coloring the cards. On the cards were animals like ducks, horses, donkeys, chickens, cows etc. Every kid had a card and he/she had to color. After that, they had to write theirs names and gave it to the celebrant as remembrance. While doing the that, they received some drinks and cakes (of course the cake I baked, lol). The second game was question and answer portion. My husband led the game. He read the questions and the children gave the answers like; yes or no. The questions went like this: Do brown cows give chocolate milk? or Do cavias have tails? etc. Everybody did their best so everyone received candies as price. We went outside to see the farm animals. The part they liked most was playing in the playground. They were very active running, jumping, sliding etc. At 3 p.m. they were allowed to feed the animals. They fed the chickens, geese, doves, rabbits, pigs, and goats. Other group of kids fed the rest of the animals.
At 4 p.m. the parents came to pick them up. As thanks for their (physical) presence Annabel gave some give-aways. It was a nice, beautiful and memorable day!

Thanks to Joyce Bongers who helped us yesterday. Dank je wel! Joyce
My husband was the photographer. I hope I can post the pictures soon.

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FreE TimE, kiDs

While waiting my cake to be baked I have nothing to do. The cake is for Annabel's children's party tomorrow. I am not good in baking but I tried my best.
The kids are playing. At 8:00 o'clock I will bring them to bed. Then after that I will be free. Sometimes it is a big relief when the kids are in bed. I love the kids so much. They are lief. But sometimes we need time for ourselves, sometimes away from the brawl and the noise they make. I can not live without them. They are very precious to me. They (my family) are the only assets I have in this world, no material things can replace them.

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* Annabel's friend

It is 4:45 p.m. Annabel, my daughter has a visitor. Her classmate comes to play with her. His name is Siard. First they were at the playroom. They ate cookies and drunk chocomilk. Then they played hide and seek outside since the weather is fine. It is sunny today. Now they are watching tv, jackie chan. It is always nice if someone comes to play with them at least they are busy. They will not bother me if I am behind the computer.lol. I see Siard's mother coming to pick him up. Playing time is over. So, my free time is also over.

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* Jenny, thank you!

I am sitting behind the computer almost the whole afternoon trying to figure out how can I make the layout and settings look better. I am trying to find things which I can apply to my blog. I visited some other blogs. I called up my friend Jenny who taught me how to make this blog. She explained to me many techniques. A million thanks to her for making this blog possible. Jenny, daghan kaayo salamat!
I know it will take me weeks before I will be done with the settings and layout. But it doesn't matter as long as I will be satisfied after all the efforts I invested. I will keep on gathering informations until I have all the infos I need. I know I will be calling her up every now and then for help. I hope that she will be there to help me with this.

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* Keukenhof, Holland

I was so disappointed. We went to Keukenhof yesterday.
It is an hour drive from our house to Keukenhof. We arrived there around 10:30 a.m. I was so excited to see the flowers. But when we entered the place I saw immediately plants without flowers. The flowers in the garden were already overblown. Almost 90% of the flowers were overblown. We strolled down the park looking for a playground since the kids wanted to play. The kids enjoyed playing and I was unhappy sitting on a bench looking at the kids playing. Around 12:30 in the afternoon we took our lunch. After lunch we went to the lilies and orchids show. The lilies and orchids were amazing, the colors and the sizes of the flowers. They had this kind of orchids with small petals, it was so beautiful. My husband took lot of pictures. I will post the pictures maybe tomorrow. We drove home around quarter to four. The time we left Keukenhof we immediately encountered the traffic jam. It took us 2 hours drive to get home.
I was so disappointed of the flowers and very tired of the traffic jam. What a day!

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Keukenhof the Park of Flowers

Today will be a nice day! The temperature is going to be 20 degrees celsius. The kids are free. They have three days vacation from school starting today until Friday. My husband is also taking three days vacation from his work. The plan today is that we are going to Keukehof, the park of flowers. Keukenhof has been the most beautiful place in the world, where spring bursts out in all of its colourful majesty. Here you can find inspiration and relaxation in a magnificent park environment. In addition to the millions of blooming flower bulbs and fantastic flower shows, Keukenhof has the largest sculpture garden in the Netherlands and is the most photographed spot in the world. Today is second to the last day of their opening. Tomorrrow is the last day of the show.
If you ever come to Holland don't forget to visit this place. I will ask my husband to take lots of pictures. So that you can see the unbelievable bright colors, dramatic flames and frilly petals of the tulips and also the arrangement of the flowers, especially the tulips and lilies. They have the largest lily show of the world. I hope that my husband can take nice pictures for you.

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The AuThoR

I am Faye from Cebu, Philippines. My husband is a Dutch guy. We have two lovely children. My kids are 8 and 5 years old. I am a plain house wife taking care of my family. We live in the Netherlands, one of the countries in Europe. I want to share to you my readers and visitors my experiences here which I think are very interesting especially the Dutch culture and lifestyle etc.
Hope you find something intriguing, captivating in my blog that will make you coming back.

ENJOY reading my posts and don't hesitate to leave comments in doing so I may learn something from you!

HaVe a GReaT dAy!

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