Part 37: An American holiday in a very Dutch place

Halloween is largely an excuse for American commercialism to run rampant. It just gives kids reason to eat too much candy and parents to spend too much money on costumes kids don't want to wear...

Oh yeah --- and, it is a ton of fun. Who doesn't like Halloween? Sugar rushes, pranks, goofy costumes with great scares, and great pumpkin carving contests.


Too bad most of Holland hasn't recognized the value that this holiday brings to their country. Fortunately for us, the American Woman's Club of The Hague always puts on a Halloween party for Americans abroad. This year was particularly fun because of the mummy games that we played at the party and the fact we have gotten to be so much better friends with the families at the club.

There is one neighborhood in Holland that jumped on the Halloween bandwagon in first class style. I don't know why, but this area in Kijkduin goes all out for Halloween. So, we met a few of Amanda's friends and went trick-or-treating. It was really really cold, so Jacob's kilt didn't do much for him.

Nevertheless, like the trooper he always is, he went out and had a great time. But, then again, when driven by food, Jacob will do just about anything. The good thing for him in Holland is the candy isn't wrapped or "razor-blade" tested. So, he could hit the house and eat immediately --- he loved it.

All the kids had a great time and most slipped into their PJs before leaving for home. Jacob and Liam enjoyed one bedtime story by Ben.

Part 36: Twooo, tooo, tooo....

On Monday Jacob turned two. I know it is a cliche, but we can't believe it. It is amazing that this little guy has already been around for 2 years; it seems like just yesterday.

He is really turning into a little boy; ok, he already has.... He is running all over the place, mimicking everything we do, and repeating everything we say. On Wednesday this week he even started school --- so wierd. Mom was more worried about it than Jacob (probably very normal) and he did just fine. He looked extremely cute with his new outfit and backpack. He looked even cuter when he came home with a couple of library books. Totally cool.

For the day of his birthday, we decided on a just a family dinner with his favorite food minus the french fries (meatloaf, green beans, and kraft macaroni and cheese), a special cake (rice krispie treats), and lots of presents...

It was a really fun night.

The first party was the family party, the second party was the friends party. Amanda had been planning this party ever since last year. I can't begin to tell you how many magazines were bought and research was done in preparation.

She went all out. The theme was "round", with an emphasis on balloons. Amanda purchased an assortment of round candies, made a table-runner of construction paper balloons, etc. She even made the party invitations out of balloons --- i.e. you had to blow up the balloon to see the invitation.

To start the party we bought Jacob 24 helium balloons... He really liked this. He would run around the room with the balloons trailing behind, then let them go and say "Uh-Oh". Then Mom or Dad would round them up, pull them back down, and hand them off to Jacob. Then the process repeated itself --- this kept on for 30 minutes.

Ben, Rachel, and Liam arrived around 11am and we played outside with the bubble maker, had lunch (round sandwiches and cupcakes), and finished by decorating cookies.

We ended the day with some healthy fitness activitites on the Wii Fit. Ben especially liked the yoga moves, but the rest of us thought he was a little scary...

Happy Birthday Jacob! Hope you had a good year. We love you.