Feliz Navidad!

We're not even a week in Argentina and we already bumped into Alex and Maxima!

Merry Christmas!

Moving!

With our luggage, kids and the cats, we spent the last US-night in a hotel. A comfortable two bedroom suite with a little kitchen and living room. A good test night for Nina and Stasiu as they will be sharing a room for the first few in months in Argentina too. The cats were happy to be together with us again instead of being locked up in a room because of the movers packing up the house. The next day, a taxi aka minivan had been arranged to take us to the airport. It was a full load! We made it through check in and security without problems and the first leg of our trip could start to Washington. There we hit the Red Carpet club with the whole club and the kids had a great time running around the business men and playing with other kids. The cats were not too impressed. Then off to Argentina on the night flight - we all survived! Now we are settling into our temporary place in Buenos Aires, Palermo in a full summer setting.

Packing up

And so the date came that the movers arrived to pack up our life again. 3 days were planned to box and crate our stuff and pack it in a big 40ft container. By 4 o'clock on the third day the house was empty with only our prepacked suitcases and cats plus travel carriers left. We had a wonderful time in our house in Waukegan and are surely going to miss it as well as the great friends we made. But an new adventure is awaiting: Argentina here we come!

First snow 2010

The first snow in Waukegan is a fact. It was still not too cold so perfect to go out and make that snowman. Nina and Staszek did all the prep work so that Stasiu and Anita could put on the finishing touches and take pictures. This will probably be the last snow we will see for a while :)

Sinterklaas 2010

This year again, Sinterklaas made it all the way to Chicago. Weeks of anticipation with the Sinterklaasjournaal on tv, putting the shoes at the fireplace side, and still on the 'moment supreme' Nina did not want to shake hands or even go near him! Stasiu was having a great time taking balloons off Sint's chair; not afraid at all. But the pepernoten were a treat for both and the presents even better!

Halloween 2010

The pumpkins had been out for a little while already, but today it was finally Halloween and off we went for some serious 'trick-or-treating' in the neighbourhood. Nina had picked an Elmo costume and Stasiu was her furry friend Winnie the Pooh. Their treat baskets filled up quickly so soon it was time to sample the loot. Lollypops were this year's favorite!

Fall has arrived!

Fall has arrived, the leaves are turning red, yellow and brown and are coming down by the thousands! Time for some serious raking in our yard. Nina and Stasiu were ready to help!

Petting Zoo

We thought it would be nice for Nina & Stasiu to go the petting zoo so they could not only see, but also touch the animals. For Nina they were a little too big and they came a little too close and all at the same time - she was not a fan of the sheep and goats. Stasiu however made some new furry friends!

Nina's 3rd Birthday!

Last Wednesday was Nina's third birthday. First she celebrated her birthday with her daycare friends complete with crown, birthday stickers and treats. Then on Thursday, the house and deck were full of balloons, streamers and cards to show for the her big day. In the afternoon we had invited friends to share the Shrek birthday cake Nina had picked. They came with lots for presents and Nina is a big girl now!

Road trip Michigan

A long weekend in September, take the car, load the kids (and a lot of stuff) and off we went on our road trip to Michigan, on the other side of the lake. The kids did great and got plenty of beauty sleeps. Our trip took us along the lovely coast of Lake Huron up to Mackinaw City, where a huge bridge defines the border between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. We took the ferry to Mackinac Island, a car-less island famous for the Chicago-Mackinac sailing race. Then we continued along the coast of Lake Michigan, playing in the sand at Sleeping Bear Dunes, making our way to Ludington. There we boarded, with car and all, the SS Badger steam boat ferry to take us across the lake again. It was fun trip!

Day in Downtown Chicago

Taking the kids downtown by choo-choo train had been on our list for a while. Off we went to Waukegan Metra station for a 1 hour 20 minute trip into Chicago. Of course the novelty wears off quickly for kids and sitting down is not their forte. But after numerous stops we finally reached our destination and we had a nice walk in the city and cooled off in Millenium park. A great day!

Its time to move again...

Completely unexpected, a new adventure presented itself to us a few weeks ago. After a quick weekend trip and some further negotiations we are excited to tell you that we are moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina!



From January 2011, Buenos Aires will be our new hometown. The coming months we'll be busy preparing our move and learn some Spanish...

If all goes as expected we will move into a nice house, with lots of room for guests in the middle of the Palermo Soho neighborhood.

We'll keep you updated...

Chicago Air and Water Show 2010

We got up very early on Sunday morning and had breakfast on the boat while we set course to Chicago. What an experience!
Aircraft with screaming afterburners were flying so low we were afraid that they would scrape of our mast! And all of that in front of the beautiful Chicago skyline. It was great day and with aching ears from all the noise, we sailed back to Waukegan were we arrived late evening.