Toilet Woes....

You know you are the only girl in a house full of boys when:

1) I go into the toilet, put the lid down, use the toilet, **flush**, and then lift the lid back up!!

2) I need to use boiling water and bleach to clean my toilet room once a week--that's right--the room: toilet, walls, and floors.....

A visit to Pays-Bas (Holland)

We enjoyed a great visit to Holland, to see some of our relatives (Todd has aunts, uncles, and cousins living there).  The boys were very excited to see where Opa grew up, and meet new cousins.  The weather was good, and we did not get rained on while we were out!

 Lunch in a pub, that also had loads of board games for the boys to play--a winning situation for everyone!

 Playing games at the cousins house!

 Happy birthday Auntie Trees!

 I do believe Todd and his sisters had their picture taken in front of this tree, as it was in front of the home where their grandma, Oma, lived.....

 Feeding fish!  We took Jacob here 7 1/2 years ago, and Todd used to go there too as a young boy!  It is just outside Wijhe, where Todd's dad grew up.  There were so many fish that we went through 3 loaves  of bread, and many of the fish were pushed above the water as they tried to get the bread before another fish.....

 Dad and his boys at Oma and Opa's grave.  The boys collected lots of precious rocks and dandelions to place on the grave--seriously, Noah had coat pockets full of treasured rocks that he had been gathering, and he shared most of them with Oma and Opa.

 We walked over to the school that the boys' Opa went to, and school had just let out for lunch.  These two boys heard us speaking English, and wanted to practice.  They asked the boys' their names, where they lived, and they even counted to 10 in French together.....they had pretty good english for 12 year olds!

 This is the farm where Opa was raised.  We didn't get to go in, but the boys got to see it from the outside!

 Walking on stilts with Uncle Gerard!

 Chocolate bread for breakfast--the kids were in heaven.....

 At Floriade, a flower festival in Holland every 10 years.  Yes, we took our kids to a flower festival...can you believe we had to drag them out after 5 hours......

Visiting with cousins on the farm....The boys were all so close in age, and they played so well together all day!  Thanks for a great visit!

4 boys in a wooden shoe....

Visiting with Todd's aunt and uncle.

Jacob Votes--Election Francaise

Today was the day that the president of France will be decided.  Jacob, for "devoir", had/has to draw what an bureau de vote looks like, who works at a bureau de vote and what their role is.

Since we know nothing about the procedure here, Todd and Jacob decided a "sortie" was in order--and off they went to the closest bureau de vote!!!

This voting station is next door to Jacob, Joshua, Nathan and Noah's school!

Step 1: Take each of the candidate's cards

 Step 2: Take a blue envelope

 Step 3: choose a voting booth, put your decided candidate's card into the blue envelope, eat or destroy in some other manner the other candidate's card.....

Step 3: Go see the President of the Bureau de Vote

 He confirms your identity.

Step 4: Drop your vote into your the locked box.

Step 5: Your name will be checked off on the voters list.

Here, the secretary of the Bureau de Vote, shows Jacob how they will count the votes at the end of the night.  Each box gets crossed out for every 5 votes.

And this is the official form that will be submitted at the end of the evening.....

They were very welcoming when Jacob explained that this was part of his homework, that he was from Canada and didn't know exactly how things worked!  Overall, a really great homework experience for Jacob (and us!).

4 Countries, 4 Meals--1 Day.....

Something to eat in each country....

Netherlands for breakfast!  The boys favourite:  Bread with chocolate sprinkles!

Köln (Cologne) Germany for lunch:

Liege, Belgium for afternoon coffee.....

Back to Holland to catch a flight....

And finally, Porto, Portugal for a midnight snack!