Oct. - Dec. 2009

27.12.2009

Christmas has been really exciting for Sarah. She got some presents on Christmas Eve from 'Weihnachtsmann' and a lot more presents on Christmas Day in the morning from Father Christmas. Unfortunately Sarah got a bit ill, so we decided that it would be better for Oma and Opa to come and visit in the New Year rather than for Christmas. Sarah was so excited about her new toys from Father Christmas that she couldn't get to sleep in the evening, woke often up in the middle of night and didn't want to go back to sleep, but instead get up and play. And she woke up early in the mornings, too. So we ended up leaving the door to her room open and the light in the hall on, so she could play a bit in her bed and we could at least get some sleep... (Now she still only goes to sleep if we leave her door open and the light on!! Should have never started it...) But otherwise is was a nice Christmas! We had especially endless fun with the marble run we got for Sarah. See also pictures in Sarah's photo gallery!

20.12.2009

I sent my thesis to the printer last week!!! We celebrated my birthday a little bit and finally put up the Christmas decorations. We also decorated our Christmas tree. Sarah was a bit ill, so we decided not to go out for a meal. On Sunday it snowed so much, that we couldn't drive to the supermarket to do our shopping! But we built a snowman instead.

13.12.2009

Nick and Sarah have been to England to visit Sarah's grandma, aunt and cousins. I stayed at home, working on finishing my PhD thesis. I quite enjoyed the weekend at home alone - first time alone at home for more than a few hours since Sarah was born! Sarah had a ride on the Christmas train in England and received presents from Father Christmas on the train (a little pink dog and a wing-flapping Tinkerbell...). Now her favourite song is 'Jingle Bells'. Photos from Sarah's England trip are in Sarah's photo gallery.

06.12.2009

We celebrated Nikolaus (or Sinterklaas as Sarah would say) today, although in Holland it is celebrated on the 5th of December. But with some things I like to stick to the German traditions ;-). Sarah got a book, a game and a few chocloates.

24.11.2009

We spent a few days in Switzerland, Lausanne. The last weeks have been quite busy for us, especially for me with starting a new job, being pregnant and working on my PhD thesis every evening. And Nick did a fair amount of travelling for work, too. It was nice to get a break and go abroad as a family for a few days. Unfortunately we were very unlucky with the weather. It was raining almost continuously... We still managed to go for a walk along the lake, do some shopping, visit friends and eat cheese fondue! Sarah found it very exciting, sleeping in a hotel in her own big bed, in the same room as us. She was very proud that she travelled by car, bus, plane, train and metro all in one day!

Tomorrow Sarah will get her flu vaccination...

15.11.2009

Stefan and Ilka spent the weekend with us. On Saturday we did some shopping in Den Haag. On Sunday we went to Leiden and visited the science museum.

04.10.2009

Oma and Opa paid us a visit this weekend. We went out for a meal at an Italian restaurant. Sarah enjoyed her Spaghetti and tomato sauce (which is about the only thing she would eat at a restaurant apart from Frankfurt style sausages). On Sunday we went to the zoo in Rotterdam. Sarah is a big fan of the elephants. On the way back we had to take a long detour via Gouda, because the motorway between Rotterdam and Den Haag was closed...