"these are a few of my favorite things..."

tally says: "paddenstoelen" (toadstools, specifically the red ones with white dots)

i thought these were just a cutesy cartoon creation but they do exist and they pop up everywhere in the fall in holland. as we walk, we keep our eyes trained on the brush, looking for them and signs of their inhabitants - kabouters (gnomes). the dutch use paddenstoelen as a motif in their design. tally loves her paddenstoel lamp, and we collect clothes, accessories and shoes (see her flamenco shoes) in red with white dots.

"these are a few of my favorite things..."

tally says:

"the bloemenwinkel"

(flower shop)

"these are a few of my favorite things..."

tally says:

"all my friends"

the old and the new

gracie and lotti

madelief

alban

"the kids' new playground is in the cemetery..."

says chris in a call from england to the states. i am too surprised to respond, so he rushes on sheepishly. "the great thing is that it's only a couple of blocks from our house..."

holly road playground is situated in the center of a cemetery and located off an alley that runs behind the high street businesses. because it is on our route to and from practically anywhere in town, we stop there often for picnics and/or play. joe thinks that if he stands on the headstones and really stretches, he can reach the trees. i choose not to explain what lies beneath his makeshift ladders.

flashback: bij het poppentheatre

the grounds.

poppentheatre muzipo is tucked within a neighborhood of row houses just three blocks from our home in breda. then tucked behind the small theatre is playground and our area's dierenpark--petting farm. this unmonitored farm is home to goats and rabbits and all manner of fowl. because it is sponsored by our area of breda, zandberg, local businesses keep it funded, volunteers keep it tidy and the city government hires the help to care for the animals. families are free to wander in among the animals during daylight hours. there are no problems with this system. the gates are always latched when we arrive. a container of disinfectant hangs on the side of the barn. i love this about the dutch. individuals are responsible for their own behavior. no litigation would follow a goat nip. just a scolding from a parent. so after we see the puppet shows, we wander over to the compound and into the tiny barn, where we leave an euro and choose ten eggs from a big wooden chest. the variety of fowl means that the eggs come in all colors and sizes. it's so fun to choose.

the puppet theatre.

the non-litigious nature of the dutch makes this theatre possible as well! the actual theatre is up a twisty, narrow, tall set of stairs, in what was the loft in an old house. i bring my folks to see a show and my mom comments, "if there's a fire, we'll all die." this is her first and last show.

i learn that the shows are easy to understand, regardless of language proficiency, from my own language tutor. she is right. not only is the content simple, but so is the production. we actually see the puppetmasters in action. i love this. joe enjoys it as well. tally not so much.

but we go quarterly because the cumulative experience is so quaint. each time we attend, it seems a birthday child is in attendance. after the performance, we sing to them the dutch birthday song, lang zal ze leven (which is the first song -dutch or american - tally knows by heart). on the "hoeras!" strands of colored lights pop down from the pitched ceiling and confetti falls. it' so old-fashioned and festive.

afterwards, we all stumble-trip down the stairs and purchase dixie cups of apple juice for 50 cents. then the children play. long tables are set up with puzzles and art books and colored pencils. a fantastic castle backdrop covers a fireplace, into which the owners have somehow crafted stairs. the children dress up as princesses and knights, disappearing into one side of the fireplace and reappearing on the other side. this experience becomes one of my favorites in our time in breda.

at the puppet barge

as i turn toward the richmond riverside on my morning run, i notice the red and yellow stripes of what i assume is a carnival tent sitting not far from the bridge. when i get closer i see the words "puppet theatre" painted on the side of a barge that is actually docked at the river. my interest is piqued.


i learn that the puppet barge is a special london attraction. it moves up and down the river thames, docking for 2-3 months at a time and holding shows for children aged 3-12. in the late summer, it docks in richmond.



i purchase three tickets to "the tale of babuschka baboon." we attend on the windiest day of the year, which gives joe and i an uneasy feeling. trapped on a boat in the wind- it's one of those situations that's bound to end badly, as we both experience severe motion sickness. but after a few initial dips and rocks, the captain tightens the hold on the dock, and the show goes on. it is a message-heavy script - ivory-hunting in the congo- but the production is fanstastic. interesting shadow play, multi-jointed monkey puppets that make a happy clackety sound when in motion. a very different kind of puppet show than we experience in the netherlands...

river thames 2: twickenham to richmond

grandma spends a night and day with us on her way back to the states from bahrain. on a blustery saturday morning, we walk the richmond toepath to petersham nurseries cafe for soup and pastry -- about 1 1/2 miles along the thames. we see the usual saturday morning scullers and loads of people walking their sheep dogs and airedales.

to cross to the richmond side of the river, we use the ferry (one pound a piece for adults and children, dogs 50p.) this little boat seats about six and operates 10 months out of the year, depending upon the tides. the captain lives in a compact house boat right above the dock. his interior window sills are lined with chipped enamelware and wilting potted plants. "cosy," says joe. "can we live here next?"

flashback: joe's fourth birthday at eftling

grammy and gramps join us for joe's fourth birthday. we make the occasion special by taking a trip to eftling, a fairytale-themed amusement park a thirty-minute drive from our house in Breda. joe and grammy ride the children's roller coaster, both kids sneak peaks into the "kabouter" (gnome village), and we all eat poffertjes (silver dollar-sized puffy pancakes) with powdered sugar as we watch the goose parade.

birthdays abroad

who comes?

we live in holland one month before tally's second birthday, england one month before joe's fifth birthday. not exactly enough time to develop relationships. fortunately grammy and gramps make the trek to holland for both tally's second and third birthdays and joe's fourth.

differences in the ways birthdays are celebrated in cultures also make a difference in how we choose to celebrate them.

in the uk, birthday parties are enormous affairs. the children's guidebooks have pages of listings for entertainers. there are fairy-for-a-dy parties. magician parties. construction parties. the mind reels. entire school classes are invited. a party joe attends later this week has no less than sixty invitees. we decide that taking the family to eurodisneyland for a weekend for his fifth probably involves less effort and expense!

in holland, birthday parties are intimate affairs. the celebrants wear paper crowns created by hand, announcing their age, no matter what that may be, and their dining chair is decorated with paper slingertjes, mini-flags and balloons. the taart is served and the songs are sung as soon as all guests arrive. adult guests then eat, drink and mingle, the children play, and everyone goes home when they please.

even though i take an hour-long train ride to utrecht to pick up tally's third birthday cake from a baker that makes north american style buttercream frosting, the children prefer dutch taart --essentially layers and layers of slagroom (freshly whipped cream) over another creamed filling or fruit, all loaded in a pie shell.

joe at eurodisneyland

highlights:

any rides with daddy, as long as they are not too scary. it's a small world is "sooo interesting."

being served four desserts on one plate at tally's dinner with the princesses.

spending forty-five minutes at the shooting gallery.

tally at eurodisneyland

highlights:

even though we see racks and racks of princess dresses, tally chooses the giant lolly as her souvenir.

she meets all the characters from peter pan and plays on captain hook's ship.

she chats with all the princesses at a fancy dinner.

more on the dinner... 55 euros per adult, 20 per kid. we are unaware of the price at booking, but chris and i put our faith in the french kitchen. we are not disappointed. excellent wine, and children's meals that are not dumbed-down. joe eats salmon in puff pastry. amusee bouches for them include crudite with red pepper oil and whipped yogurt dipping sauce and quail's eggs. a surprisingly elegant feast. "four whole desserts!" says joe.

each of the princesses spends time at our table. belle speaks with an american accent, the first american accent we've heard all day. "are you american?" i blithely ask. "no, i am a princess," she replies with a gracious smile. oops. what a mistake. she does, however, linger for awhile at our table, asking the kids all about their home in the states. and she comes over to wish us a special farewell.

as we leave, tally announces that being a disney princess at this restaurant is precisely what she wants to be when she grows up. no foolin' that savvy one, even at age three.

river thames 1: our view

walk to the end of our block. cross the high street. continue down the slope. there's the river.


in our section of the river boats dock and geese flock. it feels as english as it gets.


i prefer buildings to brine. but as i jog the toepath to richmond and back three mornings a week i have the urge to belt out the little river band song "cool change." i love this river.

tally practices ballet

on the green and

with cinderella's mouse at eurodisney.

she takes her ballet lessons once a week at the crown pub. yep. the pub. evertson asks his boss to leave early one thursday to go watch his daughter's ballet class at the pub and gets a raised eyebrow. we find it fantastic. in what other country can you have a pint during your child's extracurriculars?

first day of school for tally

tally wants a uniform like joe. she gets a pink sweater with pearlized buttons instead. she's satisfied.

tally attends nursery, the term used for "pre-school," right next door to joe -- st. mary's asquith nursery. her school is composed of one classroom and an outdoor area that is separated by a fence from joe's classroom's outdoor area. the two see each other playing and joe often comes over to "check on" his sister the three mornings she attends. tally also loves her school. and so do we. her key teacher, rebecca, is loads of fun and speaks with a bold central london accent. tally's friend sienna's mom now says she doesn't hear an american accent with tally like she does with joe. evertson says "that's just because tally talks funny anyway." but that little mush-mouth is giving way to "mum-may," instead of "mommy."

first day of school for joe

we arrive in england on august 21st, still without a school assignment for joe. september 8th, the first official day, we find ourselves allotted to a school 2 1/2 miles away, though there are two schools within 1/2 mile of our house. we are first on the waiting list for one of them. we decide to wait. taking the bus to school seems a bit too much effort. on september 10th, joe's number is called. phew.

privated schools in england are called public schools, to, as christopher hitchens says, "soften" the connotation. public schools are called state schools. joe attends st. mary's church of england state school, the most oversubscribed state school in the united kingdom. he leapfrogged over forty children on the waiting list, based upon our location within twickenham. he is in a class with 29 other children, with one teacher and one teacher's assistant. his school has no playground, but his classroom opens up onto a shaded blacktop area that serves as an extension to the classroom.

we couldn't be happier with this situation.

even after growing up in the field of education and serving all of my professional life in it, knowing hundreds of teachers and schools, policy, curricula, etc., i have yet to feel as comfortable about a school as this one. the school community is welcoming and unerringly positive. joe's teacher, mrs. uprichard, is one of the best i've ever known. he loves school. we love school. and he's just so darn cute in his uniform.

greens 2

fellow amercians david and jessica live in surrey, the nearby county full of green, rolling hills and lots of old world (read posh) charm. we visit them at their home for the past year, a true english cottage located within the paddock of a horse stables. jessica takes care of three horses in return for their cottage. on warm mornings she throws open large leaded glass french windows to let the world into their low, beam-ceilinged dining/living room. on cold mornings, she shovels coal into the aga stove --their only heat -- and stares disdainfully at the ice forming on these same windows. of course there are many more of the latter mornings, so soon they will move. but we want to experience this world before they do, so we drive the rollicking, one-laned roads that wend through arches of old hawthorn trees. i enjoy the ride in the way i enjoy roller coasters.

the kids are immediately taken with this country lifestyle. they pick loads of cider apples from the ground and sort them out on the cottage floor. they ooh and aah over the cottage. "it's like the three bears!" exclaims joe. "i want to live here next."

jessica takes us out to see the horses. as we cross the first pasture, joe remarks, "what a nice green." jessica bursts out laughing. "haven't you ever seen a pasture, joe?" he shakes his head. city kid.

sinterklaas, november 2008

somehow, sint and piet manage to find 26 copthall gardens on their journey to holland!

in 2007, tally set two pairs of boots in front of the fireplace -- cheeky little girl. this year, she puts out her tallest boots, equating a taller boot with more loot.

in full zwarte piet dress, joe and tally empty their shoes and snatch up the fallen pepernotjes. "he left us a note in blocks!" shouts joe exitedly. it reads "kisses from piet and sint." we find out later that tricky piet has also filled the cookie jar with special cookies and left daddy a chocolate letter C.

joe is full of questions as he eats the cookies he's gathered in his hat. "do you think anyone saw sint on his horse?" "did he ride all the way from shore?" "he couldn't get amerigo (his white horse) on the train, right? so he must have!" "i bet that was a lot of work to get here--do you think he'll still come on the way back to spanje (spain)?"

goldilocks at the gallery

the kids and i take a train and a tube and then navigate the narrow little unmapped steets in the fitzrovia section of london to find the exposure gallery, where polly borland's sets from a just-released version of "goldilocks and the three bears," retold by lauren child (of charlie and lola fame), are displayed. the travel effort proves worth it.

we ooh and ahh over the intricate detailing of each diorama. some of the set objects are found; others are created specifically for a particular set. joe recognizes a red wooden car just like one he owns and is duly impressed that a toy can become art. tally looks for a way inside the glass cases; she wants to play with this art. wouldn't you?

flashback: first sinterklaas, november 2007

this weekend sinterklaas arrives in holland for his three-week sojourn. he navigates his stoomboot (steamboat) from his home in spain around england, through the north sea, and into the canals of the netherlands with his helpers, zwarte pieten. i can't resist taking the related costumes and books and toys out of storage after joe says hopefully, "his boat goes right by the UK, maybe he'll stop." so we sing the appropriate songs and reminisce as we flip through the foto albums. we try to remember how pepernotjes (little spiced cookies) and taai-taai (little anise cookies) taste, and we hope that sint and piet have put some aside for us. the children draw pictures and stuff them in their shoes before they head off for school, because just maybe piet will slide down the schoorsteen(chimney) and scatter treats and cadeautjes (little presents)...