Today, I woke up even more sore after sleeping on the precious bunk beds. At this point, my back and neck are counting down the hours until we leave and get back to a normal bed at Theresa's house where we have been staying since we arrived. We ate our normal breakfast and then were hanging around talking about how we wouldn't mind taking a walk since the snow had melted some and it was a bit warmer out. At first, I thought it was just going to be Marsha, Bill, Ed, and I but it turned out that more people were walking and the adventure was headed up by Ewald, Theresa's husband. He is in the military here and is quite the character who loves the outdoors. I should have know better but went anyway.
It was really nice out and with all our winter gear on, it was not that cold out. We started out on a road and headed into the woods:
We walked for a bit and then the snowball fight started. Mary and I decided we were Switzerland and were neutral territory. I was the photographer anyway.
Kim needs to play softball because she has quite an arm on her!
Oops....Bill fell on his bill (bill is actually Dutch for butt...which is funny when that is someone's name. The kids love it!)
Here is the ringleader himself - Ewald.
Ewald getting Ed.
Bill's snow angel.
Here is where the walk got tricky. See my midget foot in the snow? It only got deeper on our tromp in the snow. This is where the pictures of this lovely walk end because I ended up falling and twisting my ankle a bit. It was fine after awhile, but hurt at first. Not to mention that I was wet at this point and cold and pissed off. So, the camera got hurled at Ed and put away.
Horses!
Of course, when we found these guys and were on solid ground, I got the camera back out and took more pics! Here is our walk back to the house. It really was pretty but more than I bargained for in my not so good for my feet snow boots. Oh well, what can you do?
We got back to the house and more people had arrived for the party we were having later for Tante Olly's birthday. These Dutch folks love to get together, eat, drink, and play games! When they all get together, they do it up right!
Happy Birthday Tante Olly!
Of course, no celebration would be complete without children running around and playing while the food is being prepared. Bill even gets in on the dancing action!
Of course, they have to have their games too!
Dinner time!!
I think this is one of my favorite meals so far!
Sutay - Chicken, Pork, Beef with Peanut sauce!
Ed, get your eyes off my krupuk (bowl of chip like things that are so tasty!!)
After dinner, we got a Salsa lesson from Oom Kono....who would have thought I would learn the Salsa in Holland taught by a Dutch/Indo?
There is nothing like a friendly game of musical chairs to pass the time:
Bill got a little brutal during this game to keep his chair!
It's down to the kids!
You're out!
The winner: Kim!
Limbo anyone?
Modified Limbo for the smaller kids:
These kids loved to dance and Michael Jackson was their favorite! Apparently, there is a movie called, "Moonwalker" that came out in 1998 with MJ in it. None of us had heard of it, so we assumed that it was a Europe release only. Back home, we pop in a Disney movie to calm the kids down or keep them entertained. Here, all you have to do is pop in this movie with MJ and they are either dancing to it or watching intently. It was pretty funny to watch. Here are some of their sweet moves:
Okay, don't let this sweet face above fool you. This is Pascale and she is a riot! She will bat her eyes at you one minute and karate chop you the next. She is the ring leader in picking a victim and torturing them in some fashion. All other children follow. I was one of the firsts. Ewald is the regular victim but it was time to choose a new one and on one of our first days here, when we were patiently waiting for more of us to arrive, I became the first American victim. I have slippers that my aunt gave me at Thanksgiving (Thanks AB....they were a lifesaver here!) and I have been wearing them all the time we are in the house. A few of us were sitting at the table talking when the girls crawled under the table. They started tickling my feet on the bottom of my slipper. I played along and laughed until someone got smart and stuck their little hands inside the slipper and started tickling. I thought I had lost all feeling in my feet like that after months of torture to fix them but apparently, when there are six little hands in your shoe tickling your feet, you laugh until you cry. That went on for awhile and my slippers were stolen and thrown up into the Christmas Tree. They are so cute yet so evil. It's situations like that where I am sad that I don't know Dutch to play with them but somehow, they manage to play with us without words. Pascale, for example, likes to give a mad stink eye and play a little staring game.....it's a bit scary until she cracks a smile and you know you are okay.
She put Bill to sleep when we got to the house. It kind of reminded me of Olivia "packing me up" at my aunt's house. Pascale would sit Bill down and proceed to take his glasses and watch and yell, "Slapen!" which is Dutch for sleep. She would then make a noise resembling a rooster and yell, "Opstaan!" which is Dutch for wake up. She would put his glasses and watch back on and make him sit up. She did this several times and it was hilarious!! Here is a looky loo at her game:
Carrie became a victim tonight as well!
Now, it was time for the honored guest to come back downstairs (where she was basically being kept hostage until her surprise arrived). Tante Olly's daughters, Wendy, Theresa, and Donna (along with the rest of the family) hired a Gospel Choir to come and sing to her as she loves this type of music. So, they arrived and set up as she was being kept upstairs as she had no idea. Here she is!
Theresa, Wendy, and Donna presenting her with a birthday card.
The Gospel Choir
After that, we all tried to stay up longer and some leftover dinner was brought out but after a drink or two and some food, we were all exhausted. We headed up to bed. What a fun night!
