Feeling better

Lilja was starting to feeling better so we took a nice walk to the river with the digs today. ( dog sitting for spring break) she is becoming her old self again , throwing rocks, flying on a "broom"and running around like a crazy girl.. yeah!! Getting my girl back!!

Mom, I am flying !!

Her little face is still a little pale, but her spirit is back !

Easter weekend

Well, I knew it before the fever started but lilja got sick again this weekend. And how did I know.. I was looking at these photos right after I took them and noticed the black circles under lilja's eyes. Such a tell all sign for this little one . We still had a great weekend. Two easter hunts in the freezing cold and a easter brunch at our house on sunday . We invited our neighbor ted, my friend barb and our friend david . Made a nice breakfast spread and watched lilja find her eggs. Funny how that can be so fun.. just watching a child search for eggs. Happy Easter everyone !!

Look I found a sparkly one 

And a blue one. The Easter bunny ( aran) was a very good hider and she needed some help from all of us 

Just keep on looking 

This was my easter card from lilja 

Lilja and her friend maddie.. this was the photo thst made me realize she was getting sick.  Two hours later she had a fever.  Yep.. momma intuition !!

Look at all those eggs. This was at the bayfield egg hunt in the snow .

Ofcourse we had to take a picture with the Easter bunny.. but lilja daid.. mom that is a costume .  She is too smart .. wonder if she will say that about santa this year too. 

"Knuckles"

Waiting for the Easter bunny in the freezing g cold !!

back home

Well, we are back home again. 12 days is definitely too short and coming back in the middle of the week was a waste. Lilja and I ended up home anyway with a big jet lag, waking up at 4 am so school was out for the first day . I could have waited to come back till Friday .. well, lesson learned . Things are now back to normal. We went bike riding and lilja is rediscovering her swings. What a great day it was . The biking was interesting as lilja had Fallen last tjme, so she was very timid this first couple of minutes. But after some crying and coaching she got back on thst bike and biked the best she had ever biked. Way to face your fears girly girl !!

look mom I am a sloth 

She loves to scare me 

Oscar the owl went with us bike riding . We probably rode about 5 miles 

There she goes 

Lilja wants to be a ballerina when she grows up. My parents got her a new outfit for her classes. She looks so cute 

Momma can you make a picture of me ? 

fun with brigitte and oma

A very silly girl shows up after pancakes with syrup for dinner after our gourmetten and ofcourse some icecream.. ofcourse .

Very cute picture of my sister brigitte and lilja . Two big buddies !!

Snuggling after dinner with oma. And then some sillies.

After finding all those shells, oma helped lilja made a necklace, bracelet and arm band just like the mermaids.. do you know Opa saw a mermaid? Yes they are real !! Opa says !

Going to holland

Lilja and I got to go to holland for a couple of weeks this month . My parents were not coming till September and that was too long . Plus lilja has passed her grade ( reading at 1st grade level)so the school had no problem in me pulling her out during this time. Holland during this time is pretty rainy and windy , not the ideal time to come, but the ticket prices were way better than the summer, so here we went . Lilja is an amazing traveler, however she did have problems with her ears, poor thing . Hopefully the way back will be better . The beach and feeding the ducks were on lilja's top favorite things she wanted to do ..

When lilja gets excited she always jumps up and down.. she did not stop 

On our way, can't wait to get spoiled !!

It was freezing the first time at the beach. We had to find shells for her mermaid necklace..and she was adamant about that.. yes, freezing windy cold ..

Always some little travelers will follow us around. This time two owls.

feeding the baby goats at a farm

One of lilja's favorite things to do and the most fun is feeding the baby goats at a little farm called t'Geertje. You can buy some milk and feed all the newly born baby goats and then eat a yummy pancake and go home . Every year lilja has a different experience . This year was the year of loving each little goat, giving them names and loving them up. Oh so cute !!

The smallest ones got a little hug 

They were hungry and lilja loved giving them milk 

One little goat wanted to give her kisses

more days in holland

Family is the most important aspect of this vacation. Lilja adores my parents and sister and each time she has a different more intimate connection with them . Being funny, silly, laughing as loud as she can, tickles and making jokes all belongs in this family and she fits right in. Plus she is a real outside girl. Going to the beach is one of her favorite things . Eventhough it is windy and chilly she still manages to have the best time .

Gosh, is she getting big or what 

Collecting seashells for her mermaid necklace 

Favorite photo !! Just the joy in her face and my dad's 

A beautiful early evening walk on the beach. Lilja got her second wind and just ran and rolled in the sand 

There were a couple of yucky, rainy dutch days so we went to the kids island. A fun climbing structure ball pit kind of fun.. the Dutch way.. nice and clean, modern and big . 

Young and old loved the ball pit 

Sister time 

She went all the way to the top