Wow, that was quite something, such a first morning. But it was fun!! But at twelve o'clock I was tired and happy to see mama. Home!
But after a lunch I revive, and we prepare the evening meal: we need to grind the last hazelnuts. I get into the mood, and I get 'sugar' (flower) and water to play with, in the hot spring sun.
Then I need a bath.
I am nearly four year old, and ever since I turned three, I have been saying: 'when I am four, I go to school', basisschool I say, that is the official name of the school.
A couple of weeks ago we went voting, and voting took place in the school. I met miss Maartje. She was so sweet and showed me my name plate for my coat, and on my own little chair.
This morning I was very excited. But finally we were ready! Here I am just before I go.
Thank you Grandma Franka! She gave me these shoes when I was born. Now I fit them. Look, how well Snow White (= me) can dance with them. Ballet means lifting your legs high!!
Papa brings me to day care. Mama waves through the low window in the dining room.
In the book is shown how you can finger knit. But I don't have the patience for it. But there is an easier way to make nicely knitted cords. You twist and twist and twist. And then it twists by itself. And then you have a nice necklace. Or head band.
This a mama's old puppet Lily. But I have today called her Isa. Sometimes I am Prinses Isa, but today it is the puppet.
I am dressing and un-dressing her.
The baby dragon always wants to be be fed with the black stones by little children. Yesterday it asked Alex to feed him, but mama said no! Too many stones in its stomach already.
So, uncle Frank invented the lunchbox for keeping the stones.
Today I tend to the dragon and give him a little blanket and feed him from the lunchbox.
Simon has made a chocolate cake with raspberries. Mmmm! 'Shall we come and bring you some?', he asks. Yes please! And we sit in the bright sun eating cake. I am very excited about bringing my cooking table out, and so Simon and I cook outside.
Alex, of course, is firmly attached to our ponds. Luckily he finds our fish back, after the heron visited us.
Mama and I walk into the village, to pick up the new curtains for my room. Running downhill is fun, and here near the bridge is my chance!
As we drive home from day care, I am talking with mama. 'I can't see the sun today. It is a grey day.' I say. 'Het is een grijs weertje vandaag'. This is perhaps not translatable, adult words by Ces.
On holiday mama gave me a holiday book, with puzzles, riddles, pictures to colour and more. One of games was to connect points and then you get a picture. You go from 1 to 2 to 3 and so on.
Now we are back and reading the newspaper together. And here I spot a game! I run to get my pencil and draw the lines: from here to here to here.....
Sinterklaas is back in town! He is wearing his cape (brown instead of red, but who cares?) and he is now riding his -slightly unwilling - horse Amerigo.
Karen comes to visit us, and we enjoy that! Look at the game she invented here. We are in the circus and we walk on a rope. Look how wel we can do that!
Of course we went to the beach.But the water was a bit too wild for me. Not for mama.
And yes, mama was there with us.
This year's kiwi harvest was enourmous. Ellie from mama's choir, helped us out picking them. Now she helps us out making kiwi jam. Mama and she are chatting in the kitchen while peeling the kiwi's, while I occasionally help them out.
Isn't this an enourmous pot of jam? And we have three more of these sessions in the next couple of weeks! If you bring us a jar, you get another one back full!!
This is Alex's birthday gift, but Simon and I take full advantage of this gift on this cold Sunday afternoon. With pauzes we jump around for hours. We jump and we roll. And finally I have beaten Simon: he is tired, and I continue. Usually he beats me ....
My mama is cooking and I am drawing on the blackboard. Papa has to participate, I find. So, I ask him to draw a house and a sun. But then my papa says 'Come on, Ces, You can draw as well'. I like it better if my papa does things for me, but I agree to draw the rays.
And papa goes to the hair dresser.
There is a circus in town, and we can't miss that!! Before we go, I paint myself an elephant. I am very excited about the monkeys, and so I want a photo with them.
When we are inside I get very excited: this is really a circus: a round tent, and lots of animals: horses, camels, elephants, tigers they all know their show and walk in formation or do a dance. And so close. They even managed to get a zebra and a giraffe to make a little round!
But the monkeys don't have a show. Why not? I am a bit disappointed about that at the end.
Now that I have a new room, we are ready to paint the room for my new brother. You already know the color, after I blogged earlier about it. Today we are not painting on paper, but on the wall.
We are making a nice mess of it, but then mama drops the whole can of paint over herself!!! 
We are going to paint your old room today, Ces, my mama says this morning. I haven't told you yet, that I am in a new room: much bigger. And my old room needs painting for my new brother.
We go painting, untill we see the blue sky. This is not a day for inside painting. It is a day for mud - on the beach where a cold Northerly blows, and in the dunes, where the sand is warm.
My aunt Klara and uncle Ronald were supposed to come for Christmas, but all the snow in Germany made it impossible to make the trip from there to us. We had to miss them.
But they sent us the presents they had for us. Look the beautiful hat aunt Klara made for me. With two little tuffs he made it my favourite immediately! And I am not the only one who got a new hat: there was one for all of us. Thank you Klara and Ronald!
It is a sunny, warm day. And the first signs of spring are there, see the flower below. And I play in my sandpit for a long time, and mama and papa drink a beer in the garden.
My mama is upstairs hanging the washing. We have just returned from buying paint for the wall. I like paint in any type. While mama is upstairs, I check out this pot. I take a knife and open the lid. I carry the open pot from the kitchen to my table, I fetch a piece of paper and start painting. I go upstairs and tell mama: 'I am painting with the wall paint!' And then return downstairs to go on.
This is what mama sees when she comes back. I have painted very carefully, you like it?
Once a year I get to see mama sing, and today is it. And the dinner afterwards is nice. There is a boy as well. We run around and play 'sleep'. Of course we are the entertainment for all the adults.
Alex celebrates his second birthday, but he doesn't want to stay at home. The train museum in Utrecht is a great spot for kids.
And for uncle Frank. He is a volunteer for the traditional barber. Just need a bit of time.
A personal highlight for us kids is Thomas the train! We take turns to sit in it.
But the man of the day is of course Alex. He is enjoying the sentimental journey in the train. A real trip! Here with Felix and Anja
This morning, as we wake up, there is a dreary drizzle, that makes the snow disappear fast. But then the sun brakes through. I have slept in the car and am keen on a walk to a little restautant. I really like anything, if it involves a drink and a cookie in a bar. Isn't it beautiful?
