little princesses

Stijn's sister Liselotte, husband Nils, and their two daughters Isolde (3) and Linde (1) came to see us in Tervuren last weekend. The kids had a blast, changing dress-up clothes 4 or 5 times and having a make-believe marriage, with Thijs as the handsom groom and Phoebe as the lovely bride. You can tell they're already thinking about the wedding of uncle Thomas and Lucie in Tchechie this summer! At any rate, the cousins were happy and we were thorougly entertained. Oma and Opa Verschuuren stayed with us Sunday, following an emergency visit to see Harry's brother Piet, who was in the hospital with respiratory problems.

This is the first time in 18 years that we're living in such close proximity to family, with the exception of Gainesville, Florida, where we first met. Stijn's oldest brother and sister live just 2 h away in Holland, and his youngest brother and parents live 7 h away in Switzerland. It's too far for spontaneous visits, but at least we're able to get together more often and more easily (12 times in past 8 months). One of the reasons we moved to Europe was to live closer to Stijn's family and see them more often. So far, we're off to a good start!