Splash

It is not a mountain stream, but it is great too! I can splash with my feet. 'Pettere', I say.

Wild games

I love wild games.

Dolmades

We have a grape vine in the back yard and in spring the big leaves need to come off. We try to make Dolmades with them, just like real Greek mama's do: put rice on the leave and roll'm up.

It is rice with raisins, and I pick the raisins out. Mmmm.

Whit Sunday

A hot, if somewhat windy, Whit Sunday. We make an outing on the bicycle to the recreation area. The animals have holiday, so we can't visit them, but there is a very fancy, if over-engineered, play ground. For some reason they put a fence between the stairs and the slide???

Of course we are early again, so we have the freedom.

Simon's strip

Simon has a beach, it is called The Strip ('De Strook') at the Loosdrechtse Plassen, it is a beach strip along the lake. It is beautiful on this Summer's day on the Whit Sunday long weekend. I am always up early, and so is Simon, so by the time we get to the beach, it is still empty.

We run up and down and play 'splash'. And scoop sand in our buckets.

It is quite exciting to get into deeper water. I try it. Wow. And then suddenly! Oops, fell. I cry from disappointment. Luckily we have two dry changes!! Simon is a bit more careful: he stops at the crucial depth, where cold feels really cold!!

I am a bit jealous because mama sings my rainbow song to Alex to get him to sleep. But then Simon and I help singing and that is fun.

Grandpa and Grandma visit me

Grandpa and Grandma have missed me, so they come to visit. I have missed them too. I have 'called' them nearly everyday on my makeshift phone (any toy that is around). 'Hallo opa, hallo oma', I say through my phone.

It is a beautiful day, and Grandma doesn't do any of the chores she said she would do (clean our plates, weed the garden), but she plays with me in the sand pit, and Grandpa enjoyes to watch us, read his news paper and the good weather.

We forget to make a picture, while we are having so much fun!!

We brought them swiss cookies, and they even forget to take those home.

Salt 'n Peppa

Meet Salt and Peppa. Sterre gave them to my papa and mama when they got married. But I took over. I like Salt and Peppa, because they toiiiink so nice when you make them bump heads. That is because they are made of porceline. So far they have proven very robust.

I play with them a lot and occasionally they drop to the floor - not even a whimper from them!

Sorry Sterre! They are better for playing than for spraying over my food.

Talking

I should probably also let you know the words I can say. That is impossible: I know so many words. And of course, I have learnt 'Bonjour' in Switzerland. It is what everybody says there.

But I now realise that one can say more than one word in a go. For example: 'Sir lolly Kasha gave.' And this was the friendly waiter in the Bird's park restaurant who gave me a lollipop. I was very happy with that, and repeated the sentence above hundred's of times!

Or I say: 'Mama hole belly'. Then we look up mama's navel. And then I say 'Kasha hole belly', because my most favourite thing is 'together'. Mama and papa and I should always do things together. Unless of course it is 'Self do'.

And you know what: I know also 'left foot', and 'right foot'. I can point to each of them.

And I recognise lots of animals now: mole, guinea pig, peacock, owl, frog, crocodile, tiger, lion, giraffe, elephant, goat.... you name it, I know it. Ah, don't forget the snale: I know the snale. You know I fish them from our pond and squeeze them.

Perhaps the most difficult words to learn are on and off. The light is off and I switch it on. Then the light is on and I switch it off. ??? This is confusing. Also confusing is small and large. Is something small or large. But then there is always something larger.... or smaller.

My memory is now also longer. I remember things for a long time, actually. At least a couple of weeks.

Going home

	And then it is time to go home again. The car is fully filled, also with mama's latest addition of plants. I am looking forward to watching my dvd's again!
	Bye Switzerland with your snow and mountains! See you later again!!
	We arrive late in the evening home, I have already fallen asleep for the night. This time we didn't have many nice stops, as we had on the way out. But one stood out: "Restaurant im Vogelpark" in Germany. It is, as the name says, a restaurant in a bird's park. Great fun and excellent food.

Further holidaying

I am now really starting to like 'holiday'. I get so much running, climbing and gliding time, I am always happy to go to bed when it is time, in the afternoon and in the evening. We have had rain and lots of sunshine, and two rainbows! I know a song about rainbows, so I am really happy to have seen one!!

Papa and mama have found my ruck sack and I love it! They breath heavily when we walk though....

So, what have we've done?

• We have been in an open air swimming pool – you can't fool me to get in the cold water, but I wouldn't have minded the huge water slide! If mama had let me.
• we have played football on the lawn instead, but I can't share my ball with other kids yet.
• we have been in a warm thermal swimming pool – I was still cautious after the cold debacle, but now I love it, especially the bubbles.
• I helped mama with the vacuum cleaner
• we have been to the zoo with tigers (whroah-ah-ah does the tiger!),
• we ate more sausages in the forest,
• found snow in the forest – I know snow from my snow bear book and was very excited, I wanted to take snow into the car home,
• went to a pebble beach along Lake Geneva and dined in Nyon, very sophisticated,
• everyday I get to play on the play grounds with slides and rope bridges, and now I am a robust rope-walker and even can use the swing a bit.

And the weather is rapidly improving and flowers everywhere!

The weather forecast is not all too splendid, but we have some wonderful moments anyway. The first day we barbeque in the forest near a stream. We make a stone-and-mud tower in the stream and papa and mama realise that they should bring about three changings of cloths and knee high boots, if I am to come home dry-ish.



The holiday has a theme: walk the line. Wherever we walk, we try to find lines. It is the best way to get ahead. Although some lines (read: walls) I am not allowed to walk on my own....


The other theme is 'self do'. Self do shoes, self do hair clips, self do eat. And when mama or papa helps me, I get really angry and do it all over for myself.

And you know my name? 'Kasha', is how I call myself nowadays.

Driving to Switzerland

I wake up, and the house is all a-roaring already! Bags, survival food, and everything else is in the kitchen. In my new suit case I have stuffed all my toy animals. I am ready to go.

Then we drive for a very long time, while I eat my breakfast. Just when I am thoroughly done with it, we stop in a little town near Moenchengladbach: Reydt. There is a wonderfull play ground there, under shaded trees. Close by is a beer garden. The slide on the play ground is very high! Not a problem for me!

And then we drive again for a long time - I fall asleep. How long will this driving go on??? But there it is: the dvd player!! Yes!! You won't hear me again for the next three hours. We replay the Wolleke story twenty times, not a problem for me!

Then we are suddenly in Switzerland, to celebrate this, we stop for veal sausages and rosti. And again a wonderfull playground, with a papa-train! And motor cycles (vru-u-um!).
A little more driving, and then we are in our holiday home. It was a long day, but we made it in one day!! The airconditioning and dvd player saved our trip.

Pan cakes at the windmill

Papa says: 'The windmill has flags!' Ah! That is good news, because it means they serve free pan cakes!

There is jolly music and whole weat self-milled flour pancakes. That is a great lunch!
It is our last lunch before we go on holiday. But it has made a big impression on me.

After the holidays, our first breakfast back home I see the wind mill: "Mill", I say. And: "Pan cakes". Sweet food is important!!!

On holiday

I am going on holiday! See you later!

Dock worker

Mama and I are building a new path. I help her carry the tiles. Mama says I am a dock worker!

My thumb

I know what is my thumb and what is my little finger.

Today I fell on my thumb in the garden and there was a little scratch. Of course I cried, not of pain, but of disappointment of having fallen. Because we are playing in the garden, my mama says she will put some cream on and a band-aid. I let it all happen in silence, but afterwards I run to papa: 'Band-aid, band-aid!'.

Then we go to the library. The band-aid is in the way of climbing, so he has to come off.

In the evening I am bored when we eat: Band-aid, band-aid! I say to mama. Mama puts the band-aid back on. Band-aid off! We take the band-aid off. The thumb becomes more and more painfull, the longer I think of it. In the end I cannot do anything with it anymore, but hold my hand painfully in the air. Hmmm, why are papa and mama laughing??

Climbing

Climbing is still my favourite thing to do. Sometimes I even climb on mama, walking up her legs and stomage. But this is in the library. The first few times I slid off the wheels, but then I got the hang of it, to sit on the yellow front. And then a little push and I stand.

To get down I slide my feet either side down and I sit again!

Oh yes! And we got new library books too.

end of color separation

This is my clay. Do you like my latest creation?

I had three colors: blue, red and yellow. Many times I have played with it, and it stayed these three colors. Now I have also purple, orange and green. And brown.

Eating pasta with a bruise

Sterre has a bruise. Me too. Sterre got hers from bumping into the slide. I got it because I was juggling with a baby maxi-cosi and fell over a strap.

But that is all forgotten now and I am eating dry pasta. You wanna see?!! I open my mouth for you!

Then I do my casual stand, cross legged. Cool attitude, what?!

Chick

Meet chick. I met chick in the hardware store, and fell in love immediately. Chick is not always my main love, but on and off he is.

A little while ago we had real little chicks at day care. They were on loan for a week. So cute!! Now I am in love with my chick again.

My bed

This is my bed. Haha, no, just kidding!! It is my cupboard ('kastje'). It is my favourite spot in my bedroom.

I go in the cupboard, mama closes the doors and she says:"Cessie, where are you?".

Then I kick the doors open, very forcefully because the magnets are strong, the doors slam into the cupboard next to it. And then we laugh.

Not sure if mama really laughs all that loud. I have the impression she doesn't like my cupboard all that much. Perhaps the closing of the doors is not such a nice thing to do?? But I play this all the time! Mama now even changes my diapers in the 'kastje'!

Finally painting the walls

I have been putting tape on the edges of the walls for many times now, but never seen what it was for. I have just woken up from my afternoon nap, papa has collected me.

I see mama standing on my stool and painting! I want to paint to, even though I am very hungry.

My bare feet stick to the plastic floor covering, and then I have had enough: food!

Hairclips are all the hot rage these days. I put them all in and then contemplate my new puzzles.

Clock puzzle

This is my new favourite toy from queen's day. It is a clock with a puzzle around it. I like it: the circles always fit!!

My mama thought it would be a handy tool for learning time, but the clock indicators are stuck!! Awell, nothing that can't be un-stuck.

Queen's Day

The day started wonderfull. My papa put the flag out this morning, I wear my orange trousers, and then we take the bicycles into our town.

We walk the flea market and listen to our neighbour singing sailor's songs. And we listen to a girl singing alone (picture). I get orange candy. And we buy lots of toys. Then it is getting really crowded and we go home again.

But the mood sinks as we switch on the tv to watch the queen: 'koningin jarig': an idiot in a car tried to drive into the queen's bus and there are 4 people dead.

Still, in the afternoon we want to see if the music in the park is going. It is, but is getting cancelled. We are mourning and partying at the same time.

I see a cute baby in the park and walk over to her. The baby laughs at me.

We listen to a man beautifully playing guitar.

Ten Lions reading a book

Lion! I say. There is a picture of a lion on the table. We are eating carrot with rice and meatballs in tomato sauce. I like that, but a Lion!!

Ah, yes! Mama says, that is a lion. ''Reading book' I say. Uuuuh??? Ah yes! mama says. The Lion is reading a book! Well spotted, Ces. We look a bit longer at the bottle. There are many lions on the bottle. I count them. One, two, three, three, three. Four, mama says. Four, I say, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!

Then mama is quiet, and claps her hands! I do the counting trick again and again, I miss a number here or they, but I know I can count. And I know what counting is for.

Small and Big

It is morning and we are having breakfast. I have said that I wanna have breakfast in the sun room, not at our dining table. These days we always dine in the sun room, and now I am so used to it, that I lay the breakfast table there too.

I pick up Mama's fork. 'Big fork' I say. Then I take my own fork. 'Small fork', I say. 'Kleine vorkje'. Big fork, small fork, big fork, small fork.

When the day is over, and I am getting ready for bed, I grab my foot and point to my toe. 'Small toe', I say. Then I point to the other: 'Big toe'. Mama agrees, I think I get the hang of this stuff.

Blue

Mama and I are painting again. Just with our fingers this time. Blue, I call this. Although we have green, red and yellow.

I make beautiful brown paintings, with touches of yellow. I am carefull to only make one finger dirty.

After two paintings I want to walk. 'Wait', mama says. I want a full hand. And she shows me how. Full hand in the paint and then on the paper. I grab mama's hand and press her hand in the paint and on the paper. Over and over again, untill the paper is fully covered. But we have a nice painting of my hand too.

Grandpa plays with me

Grandpa spends the day with us. I like grandpa, because he makes lots of jokes. Here we are riding train.



Later in the day, he teaches me a game, while we are reading a book, the touch book of Niffy. First you touch the soft Niffy with two hands and sort of stroke it a bit. Then you do the same with you own cheeks, you stroke them. And then you press your cheeks and it makes a very funny sound. Nearly like passing wind. I laugh and giggle. And we repeat this ritual for 50 times.

Clip

Hair clips, I like 'm and I don't like 'm. I never leave my clips in, but putting them in is fun! I have finally mastered the art myself. "Clip self do, Kaas clip", I say.

And then I put all five clips in.