Winter 2010

Sinterklaas, December

December 5th was on a Saturday this year, which means that Sinterklaas occupied most of our week and weekend!

All week long Cameron and I left our wooden klompjes on the floor in front of our family room fireplace, and each morning I raced downstairs to find candies and toys in them that the Zwarte Pieten had left. Cameron couldn't always get to his the next morning, but I left his gifts in his shoes for him.

On Saturday morning, I went to Oranjeschool. I dressed in my purple velvet Zwarte Piet costume to fit in [right]. The school had a celebration in the gym. Sinterklaas and his Pieten visited, and the different classes sang songs for him. Then we played games, ate Dutch treats, and the Pieten gave us all presents.

That afternoon Mommy, Papa, and I went to Lake Forest Park for the Sinterklaas party hosted by the Holland-America Club. Inside, I got a little passport to collect stickers at the game stations, and I made a paper hat and colored a Sinterklaas picture. Mostly though, since it was a sunny day, I played on the playground while we waited for Sinterklaas to arrive. Finally his boat pulled up to the dock, and out he came with his Zwarte Pieten. Once we were back inside, all the kids and parents crammed together, but I found a spot on the floor where I could sing and yell with everyone else. When Sinterklaas was done, the Pieten gave us another gift, and I also got a pocket full of pepernoten and candy.

We had our Sinterklaas dinner on Sunday night so Cameron and Emily could be there, too. We ate our traditional waffles with fruit and whipped cream—yum! When we were done eating, there was a knock on the door. I jumped up to open it and found that Sinterklaas had left a large burlap bag on the doorstep! Cameron helped me drag it into the family room, and then I got inside it as far as I could and pulled all the goodies out. There were candy, poems, and wrapped gifts. We opened our gifts, read our poems (some in Dutch, some in English), and ate some Dutch candy. It was very gezellig.

My Grandma, December

My Grandma Joanie gave good hugs. I liked to go to her apartment with Mommy. Grandma always had cookies and juice for me, and while she and Mommy talked, I was allowed to watch special movies that Grandma kept just for me. Grandma was especially good at birthdays and Christmas. She loved celebrating and presents. This is us on her birthday in May [left]. I read her birthday card to her.

Grandma visited us at Thanksgiving, but she wasn't feeling well. After Thanksgiving, she got more sick and had to go to the hospital. Then she got so sick that she went to the hospice. For a week Mommy sat with her every day, all day and evening long. I visited her several times, but she wasn't able to talk to me anymore. My Grandma Joanie died on December 15th. Mommy is very, very sad that Grandma is gone. She says that Grandma's spirit is all around us, but that's hard for me to understand. I will miss my Grandma.

Baking, December

With Christmas coming, I worked hard helping Mommy prepare holiday goodies to share.

First, I made a gingerbread house. Mommy bought the gingerbread pieces at Ikea, and Cameron and Papa glued them together with a special boiled sugar paste. (The glue got so thick on the stove that only Cameron was strong enough to stir it.) Then I decorated the house with frosting and lots of candies [right]. My favorites were the spice drops and red hots, but Mommy watched carefully so I didn't eat too many.

Later in the month, Cameron, Emily, Mommy, and I decorated sugar cookies. (To help Mommy, Miss Trudy made them for us.) I think my cookies were much prettier this year than last year. And Cameron decorated his like an artist. Mommy put them all together on a plate, and we shared them with family on Christmas Eve.

Santa, December

Like we've done each year, we went to Molbaks to take our Christmas photo. Cameron and I posed for photos in front of different backgrounds, and one of those became the picture for the family Christmas card. A special surprise was seeing Santa there. He let me sit on his lap [left], and he gave me a candy cane. He was very nice, but he didn't ask what I wanted for Christmas.

Later in the month, I got dressed up in my sparkly maroon holiday dress, and Mommy and Papa took me to Nordstroms in Bellevue to see Santa again. This time he asked whether I'd been a good girl. I said yes, of course, so then he asked what I wanted for Christmas. I told him one thing: a reindeer costume. This was very important because even though I told him that last year, somehow he forgot to bring it. This time he said that he'd do his very best, and he gave me two large candy canes, one for me and one for my brother. I ate mine up right away.

Christmas Eve, December

Mommy, Papa, and I went to Grandpa's house for Christmas Eve. (Cameron had to work at Target until 7:30, so he came later.) While the adults talked before dinner, I played with my cousins. Everyone was there—even from Chicago and France!—except Lindsay and Kyle. When dinner was ready, I got to eat at a table with all those big kids! (We had roast beef, potato, which I didn't eat, green beans, salad, and a roll.)

After dinner, we had dessert—cookies and candy that Mommy and I made and that Aunt Kristi and her daughters brought. They let me help serve it on a tray.

Next, all the kids went into the back room and made up some song/skits. I put on a reindeer nose and danced around like Rudolph while they sang.

Then it was time to open presents. As the smallest person there, the job to hand out gifts from under the tree fell to me. Unfortunately, even though I'm a pretty good reader, I couldn't decipher everyone's hand writing, so I had to have help. All the unwrapping was very noisy and messy.

Grandpa and Bonnie gave me some coloring workbooks and a music jewelry box, which I really liked. They also gave me an Egyptian ghutrah, which they bought from a young boy in Egypt. I put it on and felt like one of the Christmas shepherds [right].

Christmas Morning, December

Mommy warned Cameron and me that we couldn’t wake her and Papa until 7:00 on Christmas day. Cameron woke me up. I ran into Mommy and Papa’s room and yelled. “Wake up!” as I jumped on their bed. “It’s Christmas morning! It’s Christmas morning!"

Before we all went downstairs, Mommy went first and lit a candle for Grandma near the Christmas tree and her picture, which sat beside the Christmas clock Bonnie gave us; it chimes Christmas music every hour.

Then we gathered in the family room, where it was obvious to see that Santa HAD come. The cookies and milk I had left out were gone, and our stockings were full. Also, waiting for me beside the tree, with three bows attached to it, was a purple and pink PlasmaCar. I hopped right on and got it going. Even better, another package from Santa contained the reindeer costume I had asked for—with a flashing Rudolph nose! I was so excited that I put it all on and wore it most of the morning [left].

After Christmas croissants, we finished opening all our gifts. Among other things, I received a Bloco dragon building set, a mask decorating kit, a 12-book set of The Magic Schoolbus books, and a Play-Doh spaghetti factory. Mommy liked the bath bubble set I gave to her, and Cameron liked the tools I gave him, too.

To finish the morning, we had a simple lunch. Usually Grandma would come over and we would eat a big, special Christmas meal, but because she couldn't be there, Mommy wanted to do things differently. I know Mommy missed her a lot.

Then Cameron had to leave for Mr. Scott's house, and Mommy, Papa, and I began the second half of our Christmas Day adventure.

Great Wolf Lodge, December

After lunch on Christmas, Mommy, Papa, and I packed up the car and drove south to Great Wolf Lodge to spend the night. Mommy thought she would be too sad being at home on Christmas without Grandma. I liked getting away because Great Wolf Lodge was awesome!

The lodge was all decorated for Christmas, with indoor three-story trees, ice block thrones, and polar bears. After we took our bags to the room—I had a special bed that pulled out of the couch!—we put on our bathing suits and went right down to the swim area. It was huge! There were wading pools and swim pools, a water playground, giant slides for single inner tubes and group rafts, and even a giant wave pool. One of my favorite places was a pool with floating animals to climb on [right].

We ate dinner in the restaurant, where trees lit up and animals were singing. We shared a very special dessert: chocolate fondue, with strawberries, bananas, graham crackers, and even marshmallows for dipping!

After dinner I put on my jammies and gathered in the lobby with other kids to see the bedtime show. In the middle of the lobby was a treehouse, and around it [animatronic] trees, animals, and children danced and sang. At the end of the show, snow floated down—inside the lodge! Then Rudy Rudolph arrived to read us a story, and I gave him a hug.

The next morning, after our buffet breakfast, we spent most of the day swimming and playing in the pools. I had such a good time that I didn't want to go home.

Mexican Cruise, January

On January 17th, Papa, Mommy, and I (Cameron was finishing his first semester of senior year) took a plane to Los Angeles, where we met Oma and Tante Monique so we could all take a cruise together! We spent a week on the Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas, a really BIG ship [left]! Here are some of my favorite parts of the trip:

	At the Adventure Ocean kids' camp, I played games with other kids, performed as a clown in a public circus, ate lunch at Johnny Rockets, and acted in a talent show. It was so much fun that at the end of each camp day I begged to stay.
	One night we watched a fancy ice show with lights and costumes and music, and then later in the week I ice skated with Mommy and Papa on the same rink!
	Each morning in the buffet I was allowed to eat bacon, my favorite, along with donuts or pancakes or waffles. Heaven! At night in the fancy Sound of Music dining room, our waiters (from India and Grenada) brought me chocolate milk, French fries, and applesauce. And I always had vanilla or chocolate ice cream for dessert!
	There were two swimming pools and lots of hot tubs to soak in. Sometimes Papa treated me to a soft-serve ice cream cone by the pool.
	We made three fun stops. The first was in Cabo San Lucas. Papa, Mommy and I took a glass-bottomed boat to El Arco, at Land’s End between the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific ocean, for a look at the rock formations and Lover's Beach, as well as sunning seal lions and pelicans. Then the boat dropped us off at Medano beach, where we found some chairs under an umbrella, ordered a plate of nachos, and played in the sand. I met some kids from Canada, who shared their beach toys.
	We also spent a day in Mazatlan. Mommy and Tante Monique went on a kayaking and hiking adventure together. While they were gone, Papa, Oma and I took a taxi to downtown Mazatlan. We explored the Immaculate Conception cathedral there, and then walked across the street to the park called Plaza Principal. Then we strolled the boulevard to the beach, where I played and looked for crabs under rocks. We took an open-air taxi back to the ship again.
	Our third stop was Puerto Vallarta. All of us took a bus tour together. We went into town and walked to the cathedral, and Mommy bought a beautiful necklace in a jewelry shop. Papa also bought me some Mexican candy from a street vendor. We walked along the Malecon, and the water splashed up the seawall and soaked me completely! Then we took the bus to a tequila factory. The tequila smelled terrible, but we had some chicken tacos that were pretty good, and I watched the señora make the shells on a special machine.

By the end of the trip, I knew just about every inch of the ship. It's too bad we couldn't have stayed another week. I was just getting into the swing of being a cruise girl!

Birthday, January

January 29th was a Friday. I turned six, and it was a great day!

I went to school, but because I had finished my checklist for the week, I had "free day" to choose my own activities. Then Mommy and Papa arrived in the afternoon, and the class held a circle-time birthday celebration. I chose a globe to carry, Miss Debbie lit the sun candle in the middle of the circle, and then while Mommy read a story about each year of my life, I walked around the candle "sun" with the earth in my arms. Afterward, I handed out the chocolate chip cookies Mommy had made while Miss Debbie read a birthday story. Then everyone whispered a special wish in my ear before it was time to go home.

When I got home, Cameron and Brennan arrived. I opened presents. Some of my favorites were an ant farm (we have to send away for the ants), a butterfly house (ditto), a Scooby Doo book set, and origami papers. Next we had chocolate cake (because Cameron had to work at Target and couldn't stay for dinner). After everyone sang both the birthday songs, I blew out all six candles in one puff [right].

Later, Mommy made the dinner I'd requested: chicken nuggets, French fries, and broccoli. It WAS a great day!

Six and Sassy, January

A week after my birthday, I had a kids' party at TechCity Bowl. The theme of my party was space. I like space. At school I learned that it's always moving. I told Mommy that it's like being on a ride.

Ten friends came to my party from the Montessori, Oranjeschool, and the neighborhood. The bowling alley put bumpers in the lanes, we put on our special shoes, and we spent the first hour bowling. It was really fun, and I was good at it, too. In fact, I won the match with 78 points!

Then we sat down for pizza and lemonade. My cake was blue and purple and decorated with a big moon, a space shuttle, and two astronauts. Inside was chocolate with cherry filling. Everyone sang and I blew out all the candles. Mommy cut the pieces 'cause Papa always gives the kids way too much cake! Next I opened gifts. My friends were really nice to me; I received everything from a kid's camera, to a Barbie doll, to a giant, noisy dinosaur puppet head! To top off the party, Papa gave us quarters and we all played video games and air hockey. My party was awesome!

You know what else is awesome? Being six! I can do lots of things: read lots and lots of books, wash my hands and brush my teeth without a stepstool, get my own cereal in the morning, and make my own bed (sort of). At school this year I have a weekly checklist that tells me what kinds of work I need to do, but I get to choose when and how I do it. I like playing with my toy animals; I make families out of them. I like running around the playground with friends, and I like playing games—like pick-up sticks, Candyland, and Don't Break the Ice—with anyone who will play with me. I also like drawing, coloring, painting, cutting, and gluing. My favorite things to draw are dinosaurs and unicorns. I love drama class and swimming lessons. I like after-school soccer class, too. When I grow up I want to be an astronaut, an actor, a veterinarian, and a mommy.

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