Home again...

Gosh, a month later now. Lots has happened! We had a fabulous break in Europe. It started with a 10 hr delay in Kuala Lumpur. There was so much snow in London and Amsterdam it caused chaos in airports all over the world. It wasn't too bad. We could go to a hotel, an hours drive from the airport called: Palace of Golden Horses. By the time we checked in it was past 1am and the wake up call came at 4.30, but hey... we had a bed and we got fed! Asian/cosmopolitan style breakfast buffet which meant you could eat anything from chilli noodle soup, nasi  to eggs with chicken sausages, yoghurts, fruit etc. The rest of the journey went fine. Guess the last bit was the most hazardous: driving back from Roosendaal in foggy/icy conditions, but my mum did very well and we made it! My brother arrived the next day without any problems from San Fransisco so we spent the next couple of days together planning for Christmas. It involved decorating a tree, building an igloo and a snowman (never seen so much snow in Vlissingen, even the beaches were covered!), some snowball fights (Willem's favourite) and a couple of lovely walks on the beach, dunes, woods. Christmas was lovely. Turkey with all the trimmings and some TV and games. On the 27th we drove in my mums car to England. Very busy on the M25 but driving in a traffic jam is not so bad when you drive an automatic..(says Jamie). It was great to see Jamie's sisters and family again and we had a good time, despite the fog. Lots of food, drink and muddy walks. And then it was 2011! Jamie and Maarten had to go back home on the 3rd so my mum and I drove them to Schiphol. I spent another couple of weeks in the Netherlands. We didn't see much of the sun, in fact it rained an awful lot, but it was still good to see (nearly) all my friends. Not enough though, saw most of them only once.. but still a brief catch up is better than nothing. Went to Utrecht for a weekend to meet up with a high school friend and friends from Oman which was lovely. A daytrip to Amsterdam,  A daytrip to Arnhem to see friends of my mum who are getting rather old now and a daytrip to Antwerp for some shopping and a good meal ( shrimp croquettes, you can't beat them!). A great relaxing time. I just love being at home with my parents.. The boys love it too. A very smooth flight home. The boys are wee stars! Only difficult bit was the landing in Kuala Lumpur. Willem and Frank both woke up with motion sickness. KLM air hostesses weren't particularly helpful and it wasn't easy juggling with sick bags between the two of them but I am happy they can aim very well :). Bought some medicine at KL so it won't happen again!  So now acclimatise. It's lovely and warm here. Willem had trouble last night falling asleep (which was normal bed time in the Netherlands, very early in the morning here) Guess he was just too excited. We all woke up rather dopey around 12 noon. It'll take a couple of days...