Pchum Ben Holiday at Shianoukville

On October 10 school was closed for a 5 day weekend because of Pchum Ben. This is a Buddhist festival to commemorate the spirits of deceased ancestors. We took the opportunity to visit a beach resort in Cambodia. The resort is called Sokha Beach and it is a peacefull place to escape to. It took us a little over 3 hours to get there by taxi, which cost us 35 US dollars...
S and E love the sand and sea. J bought the girls these swimsuits a week before when he was visiting Singapore for an IB conference. The sun is very strong here all the time, so the suits help protect their skin...
Going for a sea kajak ride. The ocean is very warm--quite a contrast with last year's North Sea.
Loving life in the water. E can do this all day.Happy girls!

Going to school

Many people liked hearing about the way we get around in Phnom Penh, so here is another picture of S and E in the tuk tuk. Our driver's name is Sovan and we pay him a weekly salary. He picks us up at home (see picture) and takes us to school. He also takes me all around town to do groceries, go to playgroups etc. It is a fun way to get around as long as traffc is not too heavy!
This is S unpacking her bag at school. Kids take their shoes off before entering the classroom.
The morning classroom routine: Checking out a new book for nightly reading. That is really the only homework she has so far.

A few "every day" moments.

The girls in the small pool in our yard. It's nice to jump in an cool off without having to go to the pool at school or at a hotel. By now we have the plastic playground with the slide near the pool and S and E slide into the water for added fun.
In the tuk tuk on the way to school at 7:15 in the morning. School starts at 7:30 AM, and ends at 2:30 PM. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to get to school this way, depending on the traffic. We have an arrangment with tuk tuk driver Sovan. He picks us up and dropps us off every day and takes me anywhere I need to go during the day. He speak English really well and so also acts as my translator, and guide for anything I need--because where Do you buy lightbulbs or markers in Phnom Penh?
This is a picture of the Mekong river. This is moments before a heavy tropical rainstorm started. We were in the pool at a hotel when the rain hit, the girls loved swimming in the rain!

New House in Phnom Penh!

So, here is the new house! These pictures were taken within the first few days we moved in, things look a little differently now. The landlord agreed to have the whole place painted, inside and out. We had ceiling fans installed and the kids swings hung. By now it feels like home.
The front porch area, with E in her swing. You can see the front gate behind her that leads out into our street.
The inside: where the brown chairs are is the living room, behind it is my "office" where the computer is. So when we skype you--that is where we are!
Another picture of the front of the house with the porch. We now have a ratan sofa and some other things there. The bedrooms (4) are on the first floor (american second floor) and the party room is on the very top--more like an open space on the roof with a roof over it.
This is the area behind the house. On the left is the official entree to the house, on the right (not in the photo) is the kitchen, laundry room and maids room. The girls like to play in this area because it stays dry in the rain--and it rains almost daily this time of year, really loud, flat, tropical rain.

First days in Phnom Penh

The first few days at the hotel were pretty hard. We were trying to get used to the heat, eating most of our meals at the hotel and trying to make it as comfortable as possible for the kids in our room. The director of the school and his wife really helped us get situated, had us over for dinner and had their teenage daughters babysit our girls so that we could start househunting--the first major task!




















Here we are looking at a few houses. Homes are very different from other place swe have been. We only looked at houses and wanted a yard, meaning grass. For some reason none of the homes have grass here, thay have tiles all around the homes. There are not really yards in the back of the house either, that area is considered to be servant area...

After 1 day of looking at homes with the girls, I went by myself the second day. The last house we went to look at we could not view because as the guard said, the current renters move out tomorrow. I liked the feel of the street and the gate (see picture of Pa, the real estate agent above) so we arranged to meet the next morning at 8:30. We went back the next day, but the renters (a french women who worked for the consulate) was there. After some explaining by J she let us have a look around the place, even though another agency was supposed to come over and put the place on the market that afternoon. After a quick tour J and I spelled out YES to each other and before we knew it we were signing the rental contract at the landlord's home!

The Next Adventure

We left the Netherlands on July 28. Saying goodbye to my parents was very difficult, as was saying goodbye to Holland. Oma took this picture of us in front their house.
We flew from Amsterdam to Singapore, a 12 hour flight. The kids did very well. The portable DVD player helped, as did the small wrapped gifts we had brought along to keep them happy. J read most of the latest Harry Potter on the flight, while I tried to catch up on my movies!
The picture above was taken at the airport in Singapore during our two hour layover.
J filling out an enormous amount of papers for customs arrival in Phnom Penh. The last leg of the trip was a two hour flight from Singapore to Phnom Penh. The kids were still great at this point but I fell asleep, exhausted!

Meeting up with Friends in July

After the wedding we still had 10 days in the Netherlands which we filled with visiting friends and taking care of last minute details. In the picture above S is holding the lates member of the I. Family. S and E are mesmerized by the baby and every doll is now named after this little sweety.
We were lucky to find out that one of our favorite tv series"Knofje" in Holland had been turned into a musical. It was performed at an outdoor theatre in Zuiderpark, and we went with a nice group of friends.
Coffee at mam and pap's place after the musical.
And icecream for the kids of course. S and E. loved being with all these very good friends!
Lunch at opa and oma's house-- the trampoline is turned into a pretend school where they must eat from lunch boxes!

July 16, 2007-- J & J's Wedding

Brother/brother-in-law/uncle J is marrying the love of his life in the Netherlands in July. We return from our vacation in the USA to be part of this event! The girls are invited to be flower girls (bruidsmeisjes) together with cousin B and the daughter of J's best friend. Here they are waiting for the bride and groom to arrive. J & J arrived and here they enter the old city hall in The Hague for the civil ceremony. This is followed by a church ceremony.
Officially married! Aren't they beautiful?
The flower girls took the car with J & J to the beach for the reception, dinner, and party.
Mama and papa are proud and happy on the big day.Beautiful beach girls!

Summer vacation 2007 at Deep Creek Lake, USA

Happy Fathers day Papa!

Look at the bear! We saw a mature brown bear on and around our property twice this summer!

Happy girls, ready to get in the speedboat to buy ice cream at the Lakeside Creamery across the lake.

Cool dude.

Lots of family and friends came to visit us this summer.

Visiting Grandma an Grandpa's house.

J on the wakeboard behind our neighbor's boat.

With oma at the end of the Fourth of July Parade. Two years in a row makes it a tradition!

S and her best summer time friend C. E always gets cast as the baby....

S and uncle J--also known as uncle Croc. He and P spoil these girls to pieces!

And speaking of spoiling... Here they are with auntie C when she visited us in the Netherlands with Nana this May.

Goodbye Montessori School!

Groep A with juf Annelies

The kids made a book for S and gave her a framed photo of the whole class.

S is treating everyone to an ice lolly.

S with her best friends from class. E is happy to be part of things too.