Big Johnny's side of the story: "The Truth"

Let me start by saying, I am glad I didn't have to pay for this dam trip. First off, I have to drive 6 fricking hrs in the OPPOSITE direction from where I need to end up, what the hell is that all about!!!! The drive went good and the directions even I could follow. So, I get up there and it takes her neighbors about a nano second to find out who the new person is in town. I thought Sussex was small town, ooohh noooo. We have a winner, and it is NEW PRGUE. I met all her neighbors in approx: 45 sec. There all swell!!! No really they are!!!

Anyway, so we get everything packed and ready to go and we are off to the diasaster, I mean the airport!! Katie and Megan and the kids in one car, Kyle and myself in the other. We took different ways to the airport. It just happened, we were following each other and then Kyle and I were paying somewhat attention to the road and we missed the exit. We decided to call Katie and Megan to let them know we were all right but who would off thought, Megan's phone was in our car and Katie left her phone back home. Right now I can just imagine what was going through Katie's head. Kyle and I decided we would get there when we would-oh well.

We all get to the airport and the fun begins. As I see Kyle and Megan laughing at me as they drive away, I can only think "What did I get myself into". Let me just give you a little bit of the end of the story now. BIRTH CONTROL USE IT!!!!!USE ALOT!!!!!!!! Anywho, we get everything checked in and we are off to our terminal. We see all of the tickets everyone has seats, but big Johnny. Not a big deal, I am sure once this passenger sees the beacon of joy that these kids posses he will gladly give his seat up to me. WRONG!!! This dumb guy says in order for him to give his seat up he wants an isle seat, AN ISLE SEAT!!! Are you frickin kidding me!!!! I look down at me ticket and unfortunatly I did have a isle seat. That lucky guy. I was praying that I had a window seat, or a seat under the plane where I had to serve the frickin food, but that is all right the flight is only 9 hrs. Oh wait, Katie corrected me it is only 8hrs. Like that fricken makes a difference. Come on katie!!!!! I won't bore you with the details but lets just say the guy in front of lil Johnny didn't sleep a wink. Too Bad!! Thankfully I am a heavy sleeper and Curtis couldn't wake me up for about 1.5hrs even with Katie telling Curtis to wake me. Thank God for growing up in a big house, you can just tune stuff out. All right, we get to Amsterdam, and I have never been more excited to see Erik in my LIFE!!!

All is good and we get to the appartment and it is beautiful!!! They have a view out of every window that is amazing. Either the Ocean or of the City. We spent the first couple of days on the beach and surprisingly the boys wanted to be burried in the sand. I told Katie, I'LL DO IT!!!!!!!! I got to see my first set of breast on the beach. But don't get too excited for me just yet, just like in the military when you are trying to hit your target there is some collateral damage. Yeh, not all the targets should of been showing. The Dutch should put a age limit on the bare breast issue! But my thought "You take the good with the bad".

Anyways the boys were awesome on the beach and listened very well, untill they were tired, and they were tired a lot, aaaaa looooott. So we played on the beach, we went to Delft, then we went to, wait a second you need to hear my side of the story to Delft. First we couldn't decide whether to drive to Delft or take the tram. So we drove, we get there and it isn't to crowded yet. It is around noon time so we thought we should get some food in the little guys stomachs so they weren't so TIRED anymore! We ate at this place that was right off the cannal, they had a boat on the cannal that we could eat on, so we did. The food was awesome, but one thing surprised me, you can get a Hieniken for all most the same price as TAP WATER. How the hell does our country have a drinking problem and the Dutch don't.

Needless to say the boys don't like to shop, WHO WOULD OF THOUGHT!!! Curtis was not liking the shopping experience so Erik took him and lil Johnny home in the car. Now the car at this piont is about a 15 min walk. You guessed it Curtis was upset the whole way to the car. On the other hand, Katie and myself took advantage of all the little shops. Some stuff was reasonable but alot was very expensive. My Mom and sisters would love Delft!!!! The city is one big craft store!

So the shopping is done and a few days later it is the second weekend and we decide to go on a bike ride. Katie and I went to the storage unit and got all the bikes ready for the next day, so we could just get up and go. When we went down in the morning and got all the bikes, Katie decided to get a few more pumps in her back tire. For some reason the pump didn't work right and the air came all out. At this time Eric and I are trying ot rectify the the problem with the tire and Katie is outside with the boys and the other bikes. A short time later we hear Katie yell"Guys come quick!" Erik and myself run outside to find lil Johnny with his index and middle finger stuck in between the chain and where you pedal. He is screaming bloody murder and Curtis listening very well was sitting on the ground. Curtis was spinning the pedals when lil Johnny stuck his hand in. We got his fingers out and they were a little bruised. Then lil Johnny was still crying and I don't think this bike ride is going to be good. Katie decides to keep lil Johnny home and the rest of us went out. Curtis was a champ. We went around 28 ikilometers and there was no whinning. Other than Eric's complaining about his butt. In his defense it was his first time biking in about 10 years and he had to carry Curtis behind him. Not really a 1st bike ride you want right out of the gate.
The Bike ride was so fun along with everything else I got to do over here. Well this is it and i am leaving in two days. There is a lot more "Truth" to the past few weeks, but I am a slow typer and I've been on the computer for 90 minutes typing this, and it's now cost me 5 Euros and 40 cents! Hope it's worth it!

Big Johnny- OUT

The Rundown!

Well, I'm sitting at a cafe' STILL- as our internet and phone have not been installed yet! The company is SO slow and we had major problems last time we lived here. Now they tell us, it will be installed sometime in the next 7 business days. I'm crossing my fingers b/c I have a LOT of cool pictures to put on the blog. I'll up-date more often when I can do it from my house! Don't worry, I'm laying off the HARD STUFF at the cafe!

Things have been going very well with Big Johnny here visiting! This past weekend we went to a small town called Delft. It's where they paint the white and blue plates in Holland. We started the day with the whole family in Delft. We ate at a great cafe' on a boat in a canel, which over-looked a beautiful Church. As the morning passed into afternoon, Erik took the boys back home. Johnny and I went up about 10 stories in a church's tower and saw miles and miles of Holland! We found some great little shops and had LOTS of coffee and hot chocolate without kids around! It was a great day. We took the tram back home about 35 minutes.

On Sunday, the morning started off rough. We were ALL going biking in the Dunes National Park. (IT's right outside our house). I had the great idea to add a few pumps of air to my bike tire. Well, I didn't know that the Europeans had different valves on their bikes, than we do. Needless to say I have a COMPLETELY flat tire on my bike, and we have NO idea how to blow it up! So, Erik, Curtis, and Big Johnny went on the ride. While, I went on a walk to the boat Harbor with little Johnny. On the back of Erik's bike, we have a bike for Curtis where he can peddle, and sit like he is riding! Four hours later when they STILL weren't back, I figured that SOMETHING had to have gone wrong. I was SURE they were stuck on the Dune with Curtis whining that he was too tired, or his knees hurt. Boy was I wrong! They had a great time, and Curtis was a champ. They biked all the way up to another beach town- like 15K. round trip. They stopped and had lunch at a cafe on the beach! They said Curtis LOVED it! So did the men!

Last week, was a BEAUTIFUL week here in Holland, so we spent the majority of it on the beach building sand castles, boogie boarding, and FAKE fishing! There are SO many jellyfish in the water and on the sand...so we have to be extra careful with the boys. This week, we rested a bit on Monday. Big Johnny went back to Delft by himself b/c he loved it so much. I took the boys to a playgroup. I met a British mother on the beach last week and she invited me. It was great! We will go every Tuesday and Wednesday. The mothers I talked to were all from the UK, as I was the only American there. It's at a church- but not a church group. For 4 Euros, we get coffee, juice, and snacks. The kids play, and moms talk! We are all in the same boat, living in a different country! It was SO nice to meet others with kids. On Friday, I will be getting together with Helen, the mother and her child I met on the beach! So, we are now making new friends! Which helps!

Well, this was a LONG blog...but people have been bugging me to write SOMETHING! So, that is our last week in a nutshell! Big Johnny leaves on Friday...which will be VERY sad! We miss everyone back home! I'll be on this more when and IF I get my internet! I can live without the phone, but the INTERNET is driving me BATTY! I mean, it took me like 3 days to finally hear that Rosie quit the VIEW! I'm missing ALL the hot Gossip!

We Made it!

Well, we made it to Holland. The trip itself went pretty well. Only a few mix-ups. My cousin Johnny went with myself and the boys. When we went to our gate, Curtis, little Johnny, and I were sitting together. Big Johnny was 2 rows behind us! I was SO ticked off and the NWA workers wouldn't do anything about it. When we got on the plane, a guy was sitting with me and the boys in the middle of the plane. (Now who in their RIGHT MIND would want to sit with a 1 and 3 year old and their crazy mom?) I asked him if he would trade places with Big Johnny and he said, "Only if he is on an aisle!" I looked back and THANK GOD he was! So, it all worked out and we got to sit together in the end. Curtis was a CHAMP and traveled excellent and adjusted to the time with NO PROBLEMS AT ALL! I was surprised! Little Johnny did well. He had a rough hour on the plane at the end. But we were all ready to get off by that time. He also has a bad habbit of answering "Dora the Explorer" out-loud. So, it was on his little TV and he had headphones on and would yell out answers and laugh loud. That REALLY annoyed the guy in front of us! I thought it was MUCH better than the screaming!

Our car is great! We all fit with all the luggage! When we got the the apartment I was pleasantly surprised. The view is AMAZING! Absoulutly BEAUTIFUL! Erik did an awesome job picking out the place. I also love the funiture we bought from the Aussie couple! So, all the details that Erik hammered out, really came together nicely!

The past two days, we just ran errands to IKEA for house stuff, to the liscense branch for parking permits, and walked on the beach. The boys LOVE the ocean! Today my cousin Johnny and I went to Centrum (Center of the City) and had a great lunch and walked around and shopped a bit. It was nice to hang out with just adults! My friend Vanessa (who owns a coffee shop here) went with us! It's nice to have a Dutch person around to explain things to us!

All in all, it's been going well! We are still in the "honeymoon" stage! Feel free to e-mail if you want to comment on this, if you don't feel like writing comments. I just am using the blog so I don't have to send our 50 e-mails every time something happens. I'll start posting pics soon! We don't have a computer or phone yet! Suppose to happen this week! Until next time...

Little things people do....

Before I leave tomorrow, I wanted to post a great big THANK YOU, to all of our friends and family members who have helped us with the move. Our family has been a great help watching the kids for us here and there. My neighbor girls and high school babysitter have been LIFESAVERS for me almost every afternoon for the past few weeks so I could get packed up or have a cup of coffee by MYSELF!

All the little things that people do, stick out at times like this. When I look back on the last three weeks by myself with the boys, it makes me smile. Smile because New Prague is SUCH a great town with a lot of caring people and neighbors in it. Some examples are when the neighbors (more than one) have called up and said, "Come over for dinner". That makes my day- even if my kids are NOT "Dinner Party Material".

Two nights ago, my friend Rita came over. She had a bottle of wine. We sat around and talked. She does massages in town at the Fitness Center. She set up her table right in the middle of my living room. I took a LONG shower, then got an hour massage, and crawled off the table, and right into bed! It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me! I was SO surprised and relaxed!

It's the little things like that, that make me smile every day living in New Prague. Those are also the things that I will miss most too! I'll miss my neighbors, friends, and family and wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the little things they do! Bon Voyage!

Boys Will Be Boys...

All you mothers out there, know what life is like come 8pm at night. I like to call it the "Witching Hour" in our house. It gets a bit crazy, hectic, and everyone is usually crabby by this time. Tonight I was trying to clean the upstairs of the house, before I put the boys to bed. They were laying in Curtis's bed hiding under the covers. All of a sudden, Curtis starts SCREAMING bloody murder for help. He usually is my "Drama King" and I've learned not to go running too fast anymore. He continued screaming- "I'm STUCK AND THE WATER IS DIRTY"! That's when I went running, not knowing what the heck he was talking about. This is what I found. It brought a smile to my face, and his as well when he saw me cracking up! I think he takes after his father! (:

I know I said I wouldn't update this blog until I got over to Holland. But, I realized that Erik would probably love to see photos of the kids while he is over there. So, I decided to try to figure out how this whole "Blog" thing works. I have to say, I think I'm getting addicted!

This week in MN the weather has been AWESOME! A perfect opportunity to snap a few last shots of the kids playing in the Good Ole' USA. This weekend will be our goodbyes to family. Erik's dad and his step-mom are coming up on Saturday for a few hours. Then my parents will follow to celebrate Mother's Day and my Dad's Birthday on the 13th with us. I'm starting to feel sad about moving as the "Goodbye's" are starting. But, look forward to this opportunity ahead of us. One week and we will be on our way!

I'm New

In my last post, I told you to follow the link to see the new car. I'm new at this, so it's not happening as I thought it would. Once you follow the link, go to the second scroll and find- Bedrijfswagens. Click on that, and then go to Zafira Van. I know, it's too much work....I would skip it unless you are REALLY nosey or can read Dutch and understand the site! Sorry, I'll get better at this. I promise! I was just so excited that I had another topic to write about!

Our New Car

Heard from Erik and he is doing fine over in Europe. He called to tell me we got a company car. Here is a link to it below. It's a very large car in Europe. So, now when we have visitors we can all fit in one car! Hint, Hint.... First a Blog, now a mini van- I'm GETTING OLD!

http://www.opel.nl/

All My Bags Are Packed?

Ok, so I said I would "Never Do it!" But I did. I started a blog. This blog is to keep my friends and relatives up-dated on our trip to Holland for the next two years. I'll be posting blogs and pictures each week to keep those interested informed. This website is in place of the one I used on our last trip. It's free, so I thought I'd give it a try!

Erik is already over in Europe. The boys and I leave in a little more than two weeks with my cousin Johnny. Hope he still likes us by the time the plane lands.

My bags are NO where near being packed. So, I've got a lot to do before the movers come on Monday! I will up-date the site when I get over to Holland. This was just a "test run". I can't believe I started a blog. I'm sure my sisters are making fun of me now! Let the FUN begin!