Last weekend was a really nice one. Probably my favorite so far. On Friday night I went out for dinner and drinks with two new friends we’ve made in the local area. El initially met the wives while they waited daily at the school gates. The kids of the respective families are same ages with Reuben, Ariana and Felix which is very convenient. El went out with the girls the weekend before last and we boys took our opportunity on Friday night just passed.
Parenting is unforgiving, and despite the late night I had to take Reuben into Veldhoven for an 0830 swimming assessment on Saturday morning. Most schools and children’s sports clubs in the Netherlands will not let children take part in water activities until they have achieved the A, B and C diplomas in swimming, so this was the first step towards getting him into the right classes.
The swimming pool is situated on the same bike route to work, but only half the distance along in the centre of Veldhoven. The swimming pool was very nice, and the swimming teacher seemed (in the brief time we were together) to be very good. She was pretty no-nonsense with Reuben, but he responded well to her despite the language gap. Her analysis of Reubens swimming ability was that he needed considerable work from the basics up, which was a bit surprising to us. Not a total shock, as we did question the approach and effectiveness of the swimming classes he attended back in Scotland, but still, he can swim and he is confident in the water. So he’ll start some more basic lessons and get his form and strength sorted before proceeding.
There is a nice independent bakery in Veldhoven next to the swimming called Moeskops. I have cycled past it and looked longingly through the windows many a time. It has also been recommended to me by a number of locals at work. Reuben and I decided to go in on the way home and we picked up about 700kg of baked goods.
When we got back it was around 0930 and noone had really had any breakfast yet, so we got started on the Moeskops haul. Soon after we headed out to Philips van Lenneppark, which is a large open park about 10 minutes cycle north east from the house – it’s actually very very close to the Outdoor Urban Sportpark I mentioned in a previous post.
As well as having a good playpark and a lot of open space they have a Kinderboerderij, which is a like a petting zoo for small farm animals. They are typically free to enter and mostly unmanned, but very well utilised and maintained. This one was lovely.
We spent an hour or so playing around there before heading back to give Felix a sleep and eat more of the Moeskops order. Weekend gebakjes proberen [en:weekend baked treats trying] is a term we’ve coined for one of our favorite weekend, family activities. Everybody is invested in making this a good time and this was no dissapointment.
For the next hour while Felix slept El did some of her Dutch Language Course homework, the kids played around and I did a few jobs in the garage. It was nice outside still so we decided to go out for a walk. In the process of working in the garage I had put Arianas push bike (as opposed to her balance bike) outside in the garden. Upon noticing it she was determined that she would take the bike on the walk. We all know how that goes though – they get just far enough from the house to make it not worth going back, but otherwise refuse to touch or go near the method of transport again until next time. However, this was not to be that afternoons’ plight…
It’s worth setting some context here. In Scotland Ariana had become quite good on her balance bike, but had only once or twice tried the push bike. It is quite heavy, she wasn’t big enough for it until after summer last year so the weather was never particularly good for an outdoor lesson, and also, we just had other kids to manage also. The result being that, save for one or two fairly unnotable attempts, she never really got much of a shot at learning to cycle.
Keen to encourage her unanticipated zeal for cycling I chose to give her a quick shot in the street with my assistance and aid. Within perhaps five minutes she was cycling unassisted. She needed pushed off to begin with but she was actually doing it! I was asking myself who had been teaching her to cycle!? She’s a fascinating like creature. So strong-willed. That has it’s drawbacks as a parent, but is certainly worth something.
On Sunday we took a cycle out to a nearby village called Vessam. It was very pretty and the cycle took us out into the countryside which was nice to see.
We came across a teeny tiny little church just to the side of the cycle path. It was such a cute but odd little place.
By the time we arrived it was later in the afternoon so before returning home we decided to have Bitterballen and Frites met out. Everyone was in a good mood. It was very pleasant.
Another great blog Joe. Lovely to see the family at play and enjoying their new life. Very encouraging. Great terrain for cycling; flat and excellent hard surfaces. I was very impressed with Ariana’s progress on her pedal cycle and also El sailing serenely along on the Babboe with kids and a bike on board. The chocolate bun filled with cream looked delicious. I’ll have to try one of those when we come to visit; together the apple pie with cream on top. You know my passion for cream. Genuinely my mother’s son.
Spring has arrived here in Scotland now. The famous Dundee daffodils are sprouting everywhere, the hillsides are showing huge patches of yellow gorse and the snowdrops in the woods haven’t quite disappeared yet . A lovely time of the year.
Keep the blogs going. Much love Dad.
Love the blog and all the videos. It’s good that you are having time exploring with the children they look really happy. The toads and paths look great for cycling and clean. Not loads of litter strewn around the place. I can see I’ll have difficulty keeping dad from the bakeries when we are over! Take care and keep enjoying life xx
I enjoyed the blog, photos and videos 😍. Cheers. Ben