Nijntje, Richlands, USA

inkie1010 Posted Nov 8, 2008, 2:35 pm	Hello everyone! My name is Nijntje and I am a little rabbit currently living in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I would love to see the world and tell my family about other places. I am a light and small little rabbit. I love fastfood and theme parks and also I love to see places which are on the Unesco World Heritage lists. If you like to host me, please send a PM Hope to see you soon! Nijntje's hosts: 1. Greycat - Austria 3. Olgamaus - Germany 4. JaymeC - Japan 5. wmphimu - USA 6. Pixiedustlady - USA 7. Smaug - Canada 8. inkie1010 (home) - The Netherlands 9. Pixiedustlady - USA 10. inkie1010 (home) - The Netherlands
inkie1010 Posted Jan 25, 2009, 9:19 pm	Hello all! This week my tag finally arrived! So now I am ready to travel. Tomorrow my mum will bring me to the post-office and I will travel to Austria! I can't wait! Just packing my stuff and saying goodbye to the other toys here! Hope to talk to you soon from Austria! Nijntje
Greycat Posted Feb 1, 2009, 4:49 pm	Hi Mum! On friday I finally arrived in Vienna and there was someone else in the post with me, his name is Big Bird, also Lucky Duck arrived just some days before us. It's great not to be the only one who's new  Everyone here is really nice, my hosts, by guest brothers and sisters and even Micky, the cat (I'll try to get a pic of her some day!).  I hope you like the "welcome" pics we took A big hug from Vienna, Nijntje
Greycat Posted Feb 2, 2009, 2:36 pm	Hallo! Today I went to the Prater to see the GIANTWHEEL of Vienna, but it was really,really cold outside! Greetings from my hosts, with love your Nijntje
Greycat Posted Feb 12, 2009, 7:07 pm	Today I´ve seen the Stephansdom - the big cathedral in the center of Vienna, you know? And then I walked through the famous Kärntnerstraße to the Opera. There will be the world famous Viennese Opernball next week, on thursday. Pictures of this event are shown all over the world...and my host will be part of it. She gives her ´debut`, that means it´s her first time to visit this famous ( and normally really expensive) ball and this young couples "start" the ball with their dancing. They have to prove their abilities in vienna waltz and were selected, because they were good! So, pay attention, perhaps you will see her ?
Greycat Posted Feb 25, 2009, 9:12 am	Hi Mum! Friday we had to say "good bye" to Mr. Lemony, he's continuing his travel, it was quite a sad evening. But yesterday we celebrated carnival, how do you like my costume? Love , Nijntje
olgamaus Posted May 9, 2009, 9:57 pm	Hi Mummy, I arrived at my new host's home today. My new host is Katja, I already met some more ToyVoyagers at her home. I met Roo, Ewan E. Ewok, Migui+Gui and Decker. In the afternoon we took a walk in the forrest. First we had to walk to a district called "Hasten", one of the oldest dictricts of the city. Here you can already see that the city is surrounded by valleys and forrests. We met Katja's friend Erika. While witch Gui played with cat Lizzy I had a look at the flowers on the balcony. We left than. Gui stayed at Erika's home, cuddling the cat. We walked through a rural distric, pretty flowers everywhere. The city centre of Remscheid is situated on a hill. You can see it in the background, with the two towers, one of them is the one of the city hall, the other one is a water tower, close to the city hall. We are living on that hill, we walked the whole way. We came through a forrest than. Here are two tracks, the left one is for pedestrians, the right one for riders. I saw a large cut tree. Katja and Erika decided to have a drink in a restaurant, it's called "Sunshine Ranch". First they ordered a beer. Suddenly they realized that they were hungry, too. Of course we also were hungry. So they ordered some snacks. I am really tired now, after the long journey from Austria and this long walk. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted May 10, 2009, 9:20 pm	Hi Mummy, today we visited Wuppertal. Wuppertal is the neighbour town of Remscheid, famous for the worldwide one and only Monorail Suspension Railway (Schwebebahn). The suspension railway travels along a route about 13 kilometres long, about 12 metres above the surface of the river Wupper and approximately 8 m above the city streets. At one point the railway even crosses the A46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes. One of the stations is "Zoo/Stadion". Here we entered the Schwebebahn. This is the station where we left it, can you see the incoming train? We wanted to visit the botanical garden, situated high on the steep slope of the valley. For pedestrians you can find many long stairs leading uphill, like this one: In this part of the town which is called "Hardt" you can find many pretty old villas. We reached the botanical garden than. In the background you can see Elisenturm, an outlook tower which is 21 m high. The botanical garden was founded in 1890 as a school garden. On the left side you can see a greenhouse, than the Elisenturm and the entrance area of the garden. First we climbed onto the tower to have an overview. From here you can see the city lying in the valley. We walked through the garden and saw lots of pretty and interesting plants. Here we are sitting under a date palm. The botanical garden is running together with the park "Hardtanlage". Here you can see many people relaxing in the grass. Again an overview across the city, this time from the edge of the park. We walked back to the city centre. I saw this funny scultpure. It's title is "a new day at work". This is the famous quarter "Luisenviertel", where they have many pubs and restaurants. In this pub we enjoyed  a cool drink. This was a really nice day, although a little bit exhausting. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted May 12, 2009, 6:38 pm	Hi Mummy, I went with Katja's sister today. I'm going to stay there until Saturday. She told me that some relatives of me are living in her home ... Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted May 17, 2009, 12:30 pm	Hi Mummy, as I told you I'm spending a few days with Katja's sister. Today we went to the theatre with the class of Katja's nephew. This is a pretty picture in the vestibule. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted May 17, 2009, 12:38 pm	Hi Mummy, today Katja came visiting her sister. We were sitting in the garden, enjoying cake and coffee. Do you know what happened here at Katja's sister's home? I met relatives here! We read a book, it is even written in Dutch. Katja's sister likes spending her vacations at the seaside, so the garden is full of maritime decoration. I went home with the other ToyVoyagers today. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted May 19, 2009, 8:24 pm	Hi Mummy, today Katja showed me the city hall. She is working close to the city hall so had a closer look at it. A really pretty building with a tower, 48 m high. The original city hall was built in 1906, than it was destroyed mostly destroyed in World War II and rebuilt afterwards in a more modern style. This is a water tower, situated at the rear side of the city hall. The drinking water for the inhabitants of the city centre is pumped from a dam in a nearby valley up to this water tower. In the background of the next photo you can see the beginning of the shopping street. Also on our way home ... Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted May 20, 2009, 9:13 pm	Hi Mummy, today Katja showed me more of tht Trasse des Werkzeugs (Route of Tools). This time we started at the same point as last week, but we walked to the opposite direction today. This is the rear side of a supermarket. Someone tried to paint the Berliner Bär (the heraldic animal of Berlin), but the result is looking more like a wolf. Along the route you can also find delapidated factory buildings. This complex of buildings is the former slaughterhouse. The buildings are listed buildings. You can find signs and pictures paintedo on the ground. Here  the route is shaped like a landscape, with seatings and plants. This is a discarded carriage which was used  to transport alcohol which was extracted from agricultural products by ethanol fermentation. We proceeded into the direction of the central station. These houses were built really close to the former railway track. We walked to the city centre than. Good bye for today Nijntje
olgamaus Posted May 21, 2009, 6:32 pm	Hi Mummy, today we took a walk to the neighbour city Solingen, to visit Schloss Burg, a medieval castle. Katja's friend Birgit went with us. We took the first photos in Solingen-Unterburg, which is one of the oldest districts of Solingen, the closest to Remscheid. You can walk there through the forrest, it takes about 75 minutes to get there. Unterburg is a picturesque part of the town with lots of "Bergische Häuser" (houses in the style of the region Bergisches Land), mostly covered with slate and also timber-framed houses. River Wupper is running through Unterburg, but on the next photo you can see the Eschbach (a creek), which is opening here into the river Wupper. To get to the castle, we had to walk uphill through the forrest. Here we are still at ground level, you can see the chairlift, which is going steep uphill, directly to the castle. Of course Katja wanted to walk, bunnies also prefer to hop  through the forrest. We reached a pretty outlook pavilion. From here you have a fantastic overview across the valley and also to the castle. Almost there ... We reached the castle, this is the front gate. Schloss Burg was built in 1133 by Count Adolf I von Berg on a hill above the river Wupper.That's why this region is called "Bergisches Land". Many people believe that it's name refers to the landscape with hills and valleys. (For those who do not speak German: The German word for mountain or hill is "Berg", so many people think that the name "Bergisches Land" means "land with many hills") About a hundred years later it was enlarged by Count Engelberg II von Berg. This is the guy on the horse in the courtyard. In Thirty Years War (17th century) many parts of the castle were destroyed. It was rebuilt then, but it was used for industrial purposes for many years. In the end of the 19th century they began to rebuild it as it appears today. In the castle courtyard you can find souvenir shops and shops whose owners are doing an "old" handcraft. For example someone makes soap, another makes brushes, then you can buy things that were used by knights for the kids, like swords and helmets.  This monument is showing Count Engelberg II von Berg. You can see that the castle really is situated high above the valley. Today it's Father's Day, many people are taking a walk today, so the courtyard is full of booths. You can eat here (Katja had a piece of smoked salmon and a beer, her friend Birgit a currywurst (curry sausage). We are leaving the castle complex now to walk downhill to Unterburg. This time we took the faster, but much steeper path. Here you can see the chairlift again. We walked a bit through Unterburg, waiting for our bus. They have really pretty houses and narrow alleys here. Katja already told us that we will return to Solingen tomorrow, to walk the "Korkenziehertrasse", also a former railway track, about 10 km long. You'll read more of me tomorrow. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted May 24, 2009, 6:11 pm	Hi Mummy, today we walked along the Korkenziehertrasse (corkscrew route), which is also a former railway track. We started at the former central station of Solingen, only the depots remained there. This route is called "Korkenzieher" because its course, meandering through the city, reminds of a corkscrew. We started at "Standort Bahnhofstraße" and walked to Gräfrath. Here you can also find some artwork, these scissors for example. In Solingen cutlery, utility knifes, scissors and swords are produced for centuries. So this sculpture is a great mixture of a local symbol and the one for the Korkenziehertrasse. You can also find graffiti along the route. Some are good, some are not. I liked this one, because it's a bunny! Some chicken escaped from a nearby estate. One of some tunnels ... The botanical garden of Solingen is situated close-by the route. Of course we made a short detour to visit the botanical garden. Here is a sun dial. Here we found fantastic animal sculptures, made of metal, for example ants, a giant butterfly, a reading raven and more. This butterfly is so big that you almost cannot find us sitting by its leg. Here is the reading raven Do you know that there are existing public bookcases? Here is the only one that Katja has ever seen. You can take any book out of it to take it home, bring it back or keep it.  Katja even found a novel written by Michael Crighton here, which she took with her. Next time when she will come here she will put another book into this bookcase. We learned a lot about insects here. They have "hotels" for many kinds of bees and other insects here. Back on the Korkenziehertrasse ... This tunnel does not look inspiring confidence, it looks like an entrance to the sewage system. Suddenly the city disappeared and there was this rural area. ... back into civilisation ... We left the route here. This is Museum Baden, a museum of art. We than took a walk in the district Gräfrath.
olgamaus Posted May 24, 2009, 6:15 pm	They have trolleybusses in Solingen. In the district Unterburg you can find a reverser platform, one of worldwide only three reverser platforms. The district Gräfrath has a historial city centre with lots of well preserved houses. Katja and her friend had a coffee here. This is the market place. We saw a funny fountain here. [img]  [/img] We really enjoyed our trip. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted May 24, 2009, 6:23 pm	Hi Mummy, Katja's parents visited us today. They told us that they will travel to Northern Germany in a few days. They will go to Dornumersiel, situated in Ostfriesland, at the waterfront. I asked if they could take me with them and they invited me to come with them. That was very kind of them They will send me back to Katja after a few days. I'm so excited! Love Nijntjel
olgamaus Posted Jun 5, 2009, 5:07 pm	Hello Mummy, I'm on the small island Baltrum in Northern Germany now. Baltrum is an island near the coast of Ostfriesland) (East Frisia) and a municipality in the district of Aurich, Lower Saxony. It is located in the middle of the island chain of the Ostfriesische Inseln (East Frisian Islands ) and is the second smallest permanently-inhabited island in the chain. The island is about 5 km long and 1.5 km wide. We took long walks here. The weather is wonderful, so we are outside for almost the whole day. People here say "Moin Moin" instead of "Hello" or "Good morning", the whole day long, although it sounds more like "Good Morning". This is one of the ferries. This is a ... it is called "Hafenfeuer" in German, maybe it is called harbour lights in English. I'm sitting on a breakwater. In the Western part of the island project activities are taking place. I'm sitting in the marram grass. Katja's parents said that I'd be a really pretty bunny. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted Jun 5, 2009, 5:12 pm	Hi Mummy, they even have a small airport on this island. We watched some planes starting and landing. I'm leaving Baltrum soon and travel back to Katja. I've even made new friends here. This was a really great trip! Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted Jun 13, 2009, 9:29 am	Hi Mummy, in the afternoon we decided to take a walk to Muengsten Bridge, which is the highest railway bridge of Germany. To get there we had to walk through the town, than through a forrest and than downhill, also through a forrest. Here we are still in a housing area, but it is already looking more rural hiere. I like it here, it's looking great here with horses on pasture land. Here you can see allotment gardens. Have a look at this beautiful foxglove. We rested for a while on a bench. Katja told us that Muengsten Bridge is overspanning the valley of river Wupper connecting the citiesof  Remscheid and Solingen. It is 465 m long and 107 m high. It was finished in 1897. We reached river Wupper first. A leisure park is built underneath the bridge. On weekends you can see hundreds of peple here, relaxing in the sun. The sun came out sometimes, so we were relaxing also. Here is the bridge - it is so wide that you have to walk away to take a photo of the complete bridge. We went home by bus. On our way to our home we saw these pretty old houses. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted Jun 27, 2009, 9:25 am	Hi Mummy, we visited Katja's friend Kerstin today. She is living in Lüttringhausen, a district of Remscheid. Lüttringhausen is one of the old districts with a histiorical city centre. We went there by bus in the early evening. The weather is not good, Katja and her friend had planned to take a walk with Kerstin's dog Pepe anyway. Dogs usually don't ask for good weather. Here we are in the city centre with lots of old houses and narrow streets. We walked to Kerstin's house than. It started to rain really heavily when we arrived her home. An hour later the rain nearly stopped an we went walking with Pepe. From the city centre of Lüttringhausen you only have to walk for a few minutes to reach this pretty scenery. This road was still steaming from the recent rain. It was very warm today. It started to rain again but we were almost home than. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted Jul 5, 2009, 10:35 am	Hi Mummy, we ordered pizza, pasta and salad in the evening. I shared pizza and salad with Roo. Yummy! Love Nijntje
olgamaus Posted Jul 5, 2009, 12:18 pm	Hi Mummy, Katja told us that we will travel to Spain tomorrow, to Barcelona. That's great! We'll come home on Thursday in the late evening. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted Jul 12, 2009, 8:10 pm	Hi Mummy, we went to the railway station to go to Düsseldorf airport. We'll fly to Barcelona! When we left the house, we found an envelope on the stairs with cute little mouse UrselHH inside. She arrived just in time to accompany us to Spain. At the railway station we climbed out of Katja's bag to get a bit of fresh air.
olgamaus Posted Jul 12, 2009, 8:15 pm	We are at Duessldorf International Airport now. After the check-in we spent some time having a coffee. Here you can see my  friends UrselHH and Misty Mouse. Afterwards we took a walk through the Airport. We also went to the visitor's platform. When we entered the plane I was happy that we had a window seat. So I'd be able to look out of the window. We were ready for take-off than.
olgamaus Posted Jul 12, 2009, 8:16 pm	It was late evening when we had reached Barcelona, went to our hotel by bus and went out to the promenade. We walked to the harbour and had dinner.
olgamaus Posted Jul 12, 2009, 8:33 pm	Hi Mummy, today I went out with Katja and her friend Kerstin, Penny-Bo, Migui+Gui, Herbie and Nijntje. We had planned to watch some of the touristic highlights. First we went to the promenade again and walked to the old town along the coastline. These highrisers were built as the olympic village for the 1992 summer olympics. The left one is cointaining a famous hotel nowadays, the right one is an office building. In the background you can see the fish fixation, created by the architekt Frank Gehry, manifested by a 35 metre x 54 metre fish made of steel lattice. The fish marks the start of the Olympic Port area and is placed at the base of the two landmark towers. Barcelona has about 7 km coastline with several beaches. We reached the old harbour, called "Port Vell" than, situated opposite of the old town. Here you can see the statue "El Cap de Barcelona" by the American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. We walked to the beginning of "Las Ramblas" than. Underneath is path a two-lane motorway is running, you don't see it nor can you hear it. I took a look to the newer part of the harbour. We walked through the wonderful old town than. It was built in medieval times. These are the famous "Ramblas". Next to "Las Ramblas" we found one of the Gaudi buildings - Palau Güell. It was not easy to take photos because this building is crammed between others in a narrow street. It is the building with the colourful chimneys on the roof. By the way, all Gaudi buildings are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I saw a lot of them today. We also had a look at the old market "La Boqueria", coverd with a cast-iron construction. Here I am standing in front of the cathedral, which is under construction at the moment, hidden under a scaffolding. Here I am at Placa de Catalunya, the central traffic point of Barcelona, where the old town and the newer parts of the city meet. The plaza is surrounded by walls, statues and fountains to keep the traffic noise away. We went along "Passeig de Gràcia" than, a famous shopping street. Here we saw another one of the famous buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi, "Casa Milà", also called "La Pedrera". This building was built during the years 1906 - 1910. We took a bus than and went to Park Güell. Park Güell is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of el Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. It was built in the years 1900 to 1914. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudí". We did not use the main entrance, but the entrance at the top height of the park. You have a fantastic overview across the city from here. We reached the central part of the park than, the main terrace, surrounded by a long bench in the form of a sea serpent. You can find this fountain in the main entrance area. Nearly every surface is tiled with colourful fragments of tiles. This is the probably most famous statue in this park is this mosaic dragon. This is one of the entrance buildings, decorated very original and remarkable with fantastically shaped roofs with unusual pinnacles. Here you can see the "heart" of Park Güell. We left the park than and walked to another masterpiece of Antoni Gaudi, Sagrada Família (its original name is Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família), a massive, privately-funded Roman Catholic church that has been under construction in Barcelona since 1882. It is supposed to be completed not before 2026. This is the Passion faccade, facing to the West. Here you can see the Navity faccade, pointing to the East. In the late evening we returned to our hotel, after having dinner and a few drinks in a nearby beach bar. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted Jul 12, 2009, 8:44 pm	Hi Mummy, today it was our last day in Barcelona - what a pity! An even worse case was the weather today. It was raining cats and dogs, to make it even worse nearly the whole city centre were closed today because of the Tour de France, which will arrive here today. So Katja and Kerstin had to look how to get to the airport in the afternoon. We went to the city centre despite of the rain to see one more Gaudi building, "Casa Batlló", also situated at Passeig de Graciá. This house was built in 1877 and remodelled from 1905 - 1907. Have a look at the shapes of the balconies and pillars - they look like masks and bones. The local name of this building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones). We all became completely wet and had to drive to the airport with a taxi, because nearly all the traffic in the city centre was stopped. I had a great time here in Barcelona. Bye Nijntje
olgamaus Posted Jul 25, 2009, 9:10 pm	Hi Mummy, I'm on my way to Japan now. I will bring some stickers and sweets for Jayme's kids, delicious German Haribo gummi bears. Bye Nijntje]
JaymeC Posted Aug 14, 2009, 10:57 am	Dear Mommy, I arrived to Okinawa! I got out and met Co Co Rabbit, Fitzy the Pup, and Tipu. They were all very nice. From there we were off to go out for a bit. We went to a place called Round One. It had lots of athletic play areas. We played some putt-putt. And played in the volley ball area with a big beach ball Then we headed to a lower floor to let the children play some, so we got to play in the ball pits there! After that we headed home to find out I wasn't the only new toy that had arrived! Nori had as well. We relaxed around the house some playing dress up And meeting the other toys of the house We went to the children's section of the library nearby for a bit to get some books for the little ones So then of course we had to come home and read I hope to have a more exciting update soon for you mommy! Nijntje
JaymeC Posted Aug 17, 2009, 4:34 am	Dear Mommy, This weekend we went to the zoo here in Okinawa. Its very small and doesn't have many animals, but the kids like it. First we walked down along the pond to feed the carp there. Here you can see the sign for the zoo and the pond. Then we went to see animals! It was lots of fun. After that we headed home to rest for a bit, Jayme's classes start Monday. Yech! Hope we still have time for something fun! Nijntje
JaymeC Posted Aug 26, 2009, 5:25 am	Dear Mommy, Today we went to the Futenma Friendship Flightline Fair. Its supposed to be to kindle friendship between the Japanese and Americans in Okinawa. It was a lot of fun! We could see this flag from far off when we first arrived. We walked through and saw lots of tractors and such for the kids to climb on. There were also jeeps and such. I thought this was an interesting one! Its to set up a mobile airfield. After seeing all the ground vehicles we went to let the kids play in the kids area some. There were lots of bounce houses, but it was VERY crowded. The kids we down this one quite a few times. Finally on the way out we stopped to see the helos. It was really crowded so we didn't get too good a look But we did get a few pictures. At home we had some fun as well. Jayme invited us to help her make part of the dinner. She bought some Okinawa sweet potatoes. This is what they looked like when they're peeled. Aren't they bright? And this is them while they're cooked. Even though they're purple, they still taste quite yummy. It was lots of fun! I'm sure I'll write more soon, Nijntje
JaymeC Posted Sep 13, 2009, 9:39 pm	Dear Mommy, I'm sorry its been so long since I updated! So sorry! Everyone here has been varying degrees of sick for the past month it seems, and Jayme started school to boot so she's been very, very busy. Last weekend however we all needed to blow off some steam, so we headed out to Ocean Expo Park. This is the park that the aquarium is located in, but we didn't go to the aquarium today, but the grounds around it. Since its a very long drive, we started off at the playground to let the kids stretch a bit. Then we walked around the grounds, headed towards a museum. We went to the Oceanic culture museum. Here I am at the entrance. There were different ships to see Along with other watery things, Jayme's pretty sure this is a whale skeleton After that we headed outside again and walked to the Tropical Dreams Center, which is a huge garden! Here are lots of pictures in the various gardens, it took about an hour to walk through. I hope we have another update much sooner this time, Nijntje
JaymeC Posted Sep 19, 2009, 10:57 pm	Dear Mommy, Today was the last day before Jayme's oldest son, Jacob, started preschool. He'll be in school all day and Jayme is going to miss him a lot, but today he got to pick where we would go for the day for his last day out before school. He picked the museum at the zoo! But since it was a sunny day we started off by walking to the petting zoo. We stopped to see the merry-go-round on the way, and both boys went on rides. Jayme thought it was funny the music was the same as the electric light parade at Disneyland We did see some kangaroos on the way. And a sleeping koala. Then we got to the petting zoo and they had baby chicks! And rabbits. They also had some goats, but I was kind of afraid to pose near those, I hear they might try to eat something as small and cute as me... After that we went back to the wonder museum, which is really more like a play area for kids than a museum. They had a new magnet display that the kids had fun with. See all the balls they stuck on the magnet here? We also examined some eggs on the bottom floor. They're supposed to be relative different sizes for different birds. Like the ostrich egg Compared to the chicken egg. They had lots of other things to do as well, we had lots of fun. We were all quite worn out by the time we got home! More soon, Nijntje
JaymeC Posted Sep 19, 2009, 11:05 pm	Dear Mommy, After taking Jacob out for his last day before school we of course had to help get him ready for school. We got up early the next morning and helped Jayme pack up all of his school supplies in a bag to carry down. There was a lot! Then we all hopped into his bookbag so we could go along! But Jayme told us we couldn't go because Jacob would need to sit down and learn and we couldn't distract him. So we sadly got out and stayed around to play with Jacob's little brother all day instead of seeing the school. We did get to do one more fun thing that day though. Since it was Jacob's first day, Jayme wanted to make a very yummy treat for him to come home too. So we made up some buckeyes candy. Don't they look delicious? Buckeyes are a special candy from the area Jayme was born in. Ohio is called the Buckeye State, and the Ohio State football team is also called the Buckeyes. Needless to say, there's a bit of fascination with buckeyes. Normal buckeyes look like this They're the seeds of buckeye trees, and you really shouldn't eat them. They can make you quite sick. But we made buckeye candy by mixing powdered sugar and peanut butter til it wasn't so sticky. Then we froze the balls for awhile. Afterwards we pulled them out of the freezer and dipped them into melt chocolate. Viola! Buckeyes! Hope we have more updates soon, Nijntje
JaymeC Posted Sep 28, 2009, 5:51 am	Dear Mommy, Today we got even more sweets (it seems Jayme's diet is doomed).  It was the birthday of Jayme's husband. He turned 30. As you can see, she hammed it up a bit He isn't really over the hill, and maybe the older than dirt cake was a bit overboard, but we had lots of fun. More soon, Nijntje
JaymeC Posted Sep 28, 2009, 5:57 am	Dear Mommy, Jayme told us we were going out somewhere special for dinner. Imagine our surprise when we came up on a pancake house! Yum. After driving around for a half hour looking for parking nearby we were finally able to go in The plus to being a toy is that you eat very little helpings, so you can share a bit from everyone! The children had the kids platter which you can see came with M&Ms. They were amazed to have candy in with their food. And Jayme wondered how they didn't go on sugar overload since they were dipping their M&Ms in syrup. Yikes! I also got to try some of Jayme's banana pancakes. Don't they look delicious? We had a lot of fun going out for pancakes! Jayme says we're going to have one more small adventure before its time for me to go to my next host Nijntje
JaymeC Posted Sep 28, 2009, 6:01 am	Dear Mommy, We had one more big adventure in store! We went to a playground with a giant cement slide. First we had to read the rules at the top. Jayme says this sign always makes her smile a bit with the lost in translation point of it. Then off we went. You can't see us, but we're tucked in with Jayme's husband and son here. Whew! Here's a view from the bottom The boys talked us into walking back up that hill 3 times before we could be done, so I was quite ready to climb into my envelope and head off to my next host. Hopefully its lots of fun! Nijntje
wmphimu Posted Oct 9, 2009, 7:25 pm	Hello from the United States!! I arrived here in Virginia this week! I met Plaid Moose first - he is such a great host and showed me around the house. The best part was when he introduced me to the rabbits, Cinnamon & Freckles! It was fantastic to meet other rabbits like me! And with the weather so nice, Plaid Moose and I have been playing outside in the trees! Can you find me in the tree? It's a dogwood (the state tree of Virginia) and it looks so beautiful with the fall colors!
wmphimu Posted Oct 24, 2009, 11:43 pm	Hello! My host wants to apologize for not helping me post my pictures for awhile - she's been busy. And so have I - I have been helping out a lot and learning what it's like to live in Northern Virginia! Fairfax is in Northern Virginia - it's just outside of Washington DC and is a super busy metropolitan area. It's different from home...we have to drive everywhere, and there is always traffic! I have been helping with the errands. Last week I went grocery shopping. Here I am outside of Wegmans (the grocery store)... My favorite part was the produce section - I picked out the biggest bag of carrots I could find! Last week I also went with Mara to the library and the REC Center (though I didn't exercise - Mara likes to swim laps, and rabbits are not known as good swimmers!) Yesterday I went with Mara to Target. She says it's her favorite store because you can buy everything there! It's right by her house, and she goes all the time. I liked the travel sizes aisle - everything was the right size for me! Today we went to a craft show. The weather has been strange - it stopped raining for a few minutes so I could take a picture with the trees. And you can also see me looking at all the pretty crafts!
wmphimu Posted Nov 1, 2009, 3:08 am	Happy Halloween! It's Halloween here in the United States, and I had a ton of fun celebrating! Yesterday, we went to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkins... Then, tonight, we carved our jack-o-lanterns! I helped to clean out the pumpkin... Then it was time to carve! Look at how great our jack-o-lantern looks! I helped get the candy ready to hand out to trick-or-treaters And when it got dark, we put the jack-o-lanterns outside on the steps with candles inside! What a fun night!!
wmphimu Posted Nov 23, 2009, 11:41 pm	Hello! I have been having lots of fun here in Virginia (even if we haven't updated my pictures - my host just got a new laptop, so the technical issues seem to be resolved!) At the beginning of the month it was election day. In Virginia we voted for governor. I got to go and vote - my first time!
wmphimu Posted Nov 23, 2009, 11:46 pm	Last week we went to the mall. The mall is totally decorated for Christmas already! We liked looking at all of the pretty decorations, and Plaid Moose really liked the giant moose! The best part of going to the mall? I fulfilled one of my missions and had lunch at a fast food restaurant! We ate at Chick-fil-a - it's a favorite of my host's! It's really well known for it's chicken sandwiches, so that's what I got. It was SO yummy!! (and don't worry mommy - I shared my fries!)
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 6, 2009, 12:53 am	Hi Mom!!!! I am now in the great state of North Carolina!!!! I had a very short plane ride from Virginia and it only took me a hours flight!  I landed at the Albert J. Ellis airport in Jacksonville and Darcie picked me up along with the rest of the TVs.  I went to my new home and it is all decorated up for Christmas!!!! I am very close to the beach, it is only 15 minutes away.  Darcie tells me that her and her husband are from California, but since her husband is a Marine, they are living out here.  The town is next too Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station, New River.  I might get to sneak into work with Steve and see all the helicopters and maybe even fly one!! hahaha!  Anyways here are some photos of me!!! Here I am with Thumper.  Thumper is Steves dog and she is a Chinese Pug.  She needs to go on a diet really bad and she was being told to sit and stay still and that is why she has a funny look on her face! Here I am meeting all the other TVs that are at the house! They tell me this is a fun place to be and we all exchange stories of the other places we have visited.  Thumper listens in and is nodding her head *yes* that she wants a dog cookie  Here we are under the Christmas tree with Darcies Disney tree skirt.  She had their last name embroidered on it and you can see Mickey and the gang decorating a tree!! There are a TON of movies here to watch! This is what we are going to watch tonight.  The movie is called *Christmas Vacation* with Chevy Chase and it is sooooooooo funny!! Here are Darcies favorite top three Christmas movies that we will watch this weekend.  *A Christmas story*  *Its a wonderful life* and *Miracle on 34th st* Here we are up on the window sill with Santa and Frosty the snowman.  You see it says *let it snow* well it never snows here and my hosts want it to snow for a week straight!! Here we are up on the fireplace mantle.  We like all the lights and the stockings. Here we are with all the fun Christmas decorations! dont we look great!! Here we are sitting under the tree with all the presents.  We all helped wrap them up today!! Well mom I am going to go play Xbox with Steve and then go to bed.  I will write again real soon!! Love Nijntje
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 7, 2009, 12:47 am	Hi mom! Today Darcie got two envelopes.  The envelopes were from California.  Inside the envelopes were five TVs that needed to be rescued!!.  I was happy to see some new friends and we sat around and talked!!  Tonight we had Pepperoni Pizza for dinner.  Here is our big gang of TVs minus two rescues who were sleeping in the next room  We are now watching a Christmas movie every night!! Tonight we watched *Christmas with the Kranks* it was really funny!! I am going to go get some hot cocoa and look at the Christmas lights!!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 10, 2009, 11:09 pm	Hi mom! Tonight we are doing a easy dinner.  Fishsticks and french fries!! We eat dinner and everyone agrees that this was very yummy! we then bake some Blueberry Muffins. We then all gather by the Christmas tree.  We love to look at the lights and we go around in a circle and talk about what kind of customs and traditions each of our own Country has.  It is fun to be in a different country and see how they decorate, display the ornaments, hang stockings and burn yummy smelling Yankee Candles. We want to watch a musical tonight so we go and get Darcies favorite one of all time *Sound of Music* filmed in beautiful Austria!! Darcie starts singing........... Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings These are a few of my favorite things Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes Silver white winters that melt into springs These are a few of my favorite things When the dog bites When the bee stings When I'm feeling sad I simply remember my favorite things And then I don't feel so bad
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 16, 2009, 1:08 am	Hi Mom!!! Yesterday me and the other TVs went down to Wilmington.  Darcie's car club was meeting up and then went to a senior rest home to deliver Christmas Presents.  We were suppose to take the Porsche but it was raining!!! The Porsche does not have a top so we would of gotten soaked!! The rain really ruined the entire day but we still had a fun time.  While we were at the rest home a new TV asked if he could join our gang.  His name is Tuffy and he is now a official TV.  We went to McDonalds for lunch.  Here we are with our Happy Meal Inside the Happy Meal is a horse from the new movie *Avatar* he hears all of us outside eating and talking so he jumps out.  He is very strange looking and he has six hooves! We introduce everyone to him and he asks if he can join us for lunch.  We say yes and we start sharing our traveling stories with him. We finish our lunch and when we get home Darcie says that Snuttig's mom has sent some beautiful and delicious chocolates and a beautiful postcard of Gratz, Austria where Snuttig is from. Dont we all look cute with our Santa hats on? Next Snuttig lays down and starts pointing and explaining all the beautiful pictures of Gratz and tells us about each place that is pictured.  We love our history lesson and we are also trying to figure out how to get the chocolate!! Snuttig sees we are trying to take all the Chocolate and he grabs a hold of the bag and pulls with all his bear strength and rescues it for Darcie to eat!! Well mom that is about it for now.  We are busy wrapping presents and getting ready for Christmas to arrive!!!  hope you are well!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 24, 2009, 7:51 pm	Hi Mom!!!! It is Christmas eve!!!  Today Darcie showed us some of her Vintage Christmas books.  She loves the 1950s and had some wonderful things to read about.  First though we want to bake something so we make some Orange/Cranberry muffins and put butter on them! They are sooo good! Do you like our Santa hats?  Next we get on the floor and start looking at the books...this one has old decorations from 1930-1960 and the photos are great! Here we are with a few more oldies from the 1950s. We decide to sing Christmas carols.  We start off with *Santa Claus is coming to town* Here we are with a book called *Its a wonderful Christmas!*  it is filled with all the old toys from the 1950s.  They sure had some neat things!! Here we are with the Christmas card holder.  I do not know if you can see it, but the card holders are shaped like Mickey Mouse!! Darcie is a big Disney fan! Today we went to a store called Lowes.  It is a HUGE store that you can buy things for your house.  Darcie had to get some replacement bulbs but then discovered all the Christmas stuff was 75% off!!! we bought a Cinderella Advent Calender that talks, Winnie, Piglet and Tigger singing and moving toy and a Santa Claus that sings *Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer*  tonight we are making Enchiladas and Darcie showed us this really cool website!! It is called Santa Tracker!!  www.santanorad.org  please go look at it because it is sooooo much fun! We started tracking him last night when he took off from the North Pole.  He flew to Australia, then off to Russia and India.  He was last spotted flying around the Taj Mahal (see videos of all his stops)  we cant WAIT for him to arrive with all the presents!!!  Go Santa Go!!!  Darcies husband will be happy to see all the Motorcycle stuff for next race season!! boy is that stuff expensive!!!  well mom I am going to go eat some more candy and play Xbox!!!  Merry Christmas!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 28, 2009, 11:43 pm	Hi Mom! Christmas was a lot of fun!!! we started the day with snuggling up on the couch before our host woke up.  We wanted to look at all the gifts that Santa had brought! Here we are under the nice warm blanket at 5:30 am!! We go over to the fireplace and see the presents that santa has left as stocking stuffers.  In America everyone hangs a stocking and it gets filled with small gifts and candy.  Looks like Santa also leaves things for dogs! He left all kinds of treats and toys for the two host dogs   Of course he also left us some nice candy! Here we are with a gift card to Starbucks Coffee house, a gift card to Red Robin hamburger shop, Skittles, orange flavored chocolate and Reeses peanut butter cups!! Y U M!! Next we help Darcie open some presents.  Here are just a few of her favorites! she loves old 1950-1960s TV shows.  Here is season one of *Bewitched* it is a show about a woman who is a witch and is married to a regular man.  It is VERY funny!! Here we are with four more shows from the 1950s-1960s.  They are called *I married Joan* *Father knows best* *Petticoat Junction* and *The Donna Reed show* Next we open really nice smelling bath products!! Here is stuff from the Bath and Body works store! Nutcracker bubble bath,  Candy apple body spray,  Ed Hardy perfume and Pear Glaze body lotion! it all smells so good! Next is a wonderful gift! a *Twilight* duffle bag and the *New Moon* soundtrack!! We have a wonderful day watching movies and eating candy and talking about Christmas!! I had a great time and will never forget it!! I hope you had a Merry Christmas and hope you have a Happy New Year!!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Jan 4, 2010, 10:37 pm	Happy New Years Mom!!! I hope you had fun on New Years!! we stayed home and made a bunch of drinks and watched movies all night long!!  Here we are with all of our alchohol LOL Here we are with very expensive Tequila.  This is called Patron and it is very smooth! we all drank a few shots and then licked some salt then ate a small piece of lemon Here we are with our shot glasses from around the world.  There are two in the photo.  One is from Kaiserslautern, Germany.  The other is from Holland. We follow the Television all day.  We watch Time Square in New York City.  People start arriving at 6am to secure a spot.  Then they have to wait ALL DAY till midnight comes.  Darcie has done it one time and says the crowds are HUGE. The reporter checks in a few hours later and it is SNOWING!!! the police work hard to barracade off the roads and set up everything for the big ball drop. Here it is later in the evening.....we are waiting and waiting!!! Now it is 9:00 pm so I know that overseas has just struck 12am!! Here is a beautiful shot of places around the world that were celebrating the New Year. We took a bunch of photos at Midnight, but the flash went off on the TV and messed everything up! we still had a great time and wished each other a Happy Traveling 2010!!!  I am now packed up and leaving on January 4th for my next host!!!  I had a fantastic time here in North Carolina and want to return again someday to visit my new friends!!
smaug Posted Jan 20, 2010, 9:15 pm	Hi Mum! I am in Canada ! Today I spent a lot of time squeezed in a very narrow place (smaug’s mailbox I guess) but eventually a hand took my envelope out and put it somewhere softer. I immediately felt a lot of voices around me and paws touching my envelope . I was a bit concerned about who might be around so before jumping out of the envelope I had a quick look and realized that there were many TV-eyes staring at me. So I met all the local guests: Mortimer_ comes from Greece, Hedgie from Australia, Lucy K and Michel are German and sammino is a stay-at-home TV. They are very nice and we chatted the whole evening. Hope to start exploring around soon .
smaug Posted Jan 26, 2010, 3:36 am	Hi Mum! The “warm” spell that we enjoyed over the last few weeks is gone. We are back to cold weather and snow...perfect weather for chatting in the warmth of the house . So when today smaug told us that it was time to go for a walk we all wished him a nice day and recommended that he brought back some sweets  . Alas, he meant that it was time for us to go for a walk, so he dragged us along the river path  . The river is covered with ice. Somewhere the pressure lifted the ice and created some strange  ice-ridges in the middle of the river. Maybe you can see one in the background. Eventually we came back home where we spent the evening surfing the net...it was much nicer inside .
smaug Posted Feb 9, 2010, 4:31 am	Hi Mum! Today a new TV arrived here . Smaug mentioned that someone was on his way but without giving us any detail, so we got really excited when the parcel arrived. And it turn out that that our new friend is Dean, a horse from the USA . He brought us some lovely sweets and a nice card from North Carolina . Apparently he is just back from China, so we are very curious to hear about his trip, plenty to chat about .
smaug Posted Feb 27, 2010, 9:34 pm	Hi Mum! Today we watched a bit of Winter Olympics on TV. First we followed the men downhill, the biggest event of the games . I wanted to cheer on the Dutch team but I'm afraid that they are not really good at skiing , so I just enjoyed the show . Later we watched some cross country skiing. In the afternoon the weather was quite nice so smaug took us out for a walk . First we went to see the Saddledome. The arena is the home of the Calgary Flames hockey team, but it also hosts other sports, concerts and, during the stampede, you can find games with cattle and horses in there . On the other side we could see downtown Calgary with the Calgary Tower. Then it started getting darker and we went home where we watched some more Olympics on TV .
smaug Posted Feb 27, 2010, 10:01 pm	Hi Mum! Tomorrow Lucy K will travel to her next host, she is going to Lithuania . So tonight we gathered together to wish her a safe trip .
smaug Posted Mar 8, 2010, 4:19 am	Hi Mum! Today it was Mortimer_'s birthday, so this morning we all sang happy birthday for him . Later smaug and sammino arranged some special cheese meal for him. It was hard work, but, with some little help , he somehow managed to finish it . Later we decided to watch a movie . Smaug recently got his new zone-free DVD player so we tried to set it up....without much success . After the failure with the DVD  we sat down to chat a bit. Michel received last week a postcard from his mum and took a chance to tell us something about his hometown, Hamburg. It must be a nice place, I hope I’ll go there one day .
smaug Posted Mar 12, 2010, 6:12 pm	Hi Mum! Today smaug had to drive through Banff National Park and we went with him . He was a bit in hurry, but the day was so nice that he wanted to take some pictures of us and so stopped briefly around Banff. Here you can see the Bow Valley behind me… …while this is Cascade Mountain . Hopefully next time we pass here we’ll be able to take a few more photos .
smaug Posted Mar 14, 2010, 3:35 am	Hi Mum! A new guest arrived today . We were very curious when we saw that smaug came back home with a parcel. And, after opening the envelope, we found out that our new friend is Etwas, a ghost from Germany. He arrived directly from Russia and brought over a nice card and some lovely Russian chocolate, how nice . We wanted to know everything about his travels, but he is a bit tired after such a long trip, I guess we’d better let him get some rest .
smaug Posted Mar 19, 2010, 2:47 am	Hi Mum, Today we said goodbye to Michel who is travelling to his next host in China, how exciting ! We all wished him a safe journey, hopefully it won’t take too long for him to get there .
smaug Posted Mar 26, 2010, 5:45 pm	Hi  Mum, smaug told us that today we are going on holiday , so this morning we helped him in preparing the luggage. We don’t really know where we are going yet , but we are very happy that, despite the main bag being fairly empty, we haven’t been put inside it to fill it up: we are travelling in the carry-on bag instead . See you soon .
smaug Posted Mar 27, 2010, 1:45 pm	Hi Mum, Guess what? I found out my destination: after a long, very long, and mostly uneventful trip I arrived between the mountains of Northern Italy . Yesterday we had some excitement when, at the security controls in Calgary, they decided to have a closer look at smaug’s carry-on bag and we excitedly popped out of it earning him plenty of odd looks . One of the officers even decided that Dean was in desperate need of some grooming and brushed him with some sort of dust sweeper . The flight only highlight  is that while we were crossing over Greenland we enjoyed a wonderful northern lights show . It was so cool: just like curtains of light moving in the night sky. Pity the photos we tried to take didn’t really come out any better that some dark blur . Anyway, here in Trento we had a quick look out of the window: there’s plenty of green around and even a small river right here next to the house . Well, I am sure I will have a chance to explore around soon, now we are all a bit jet lagged so we are going to sleep .
smaug Posted Mar 27, 2010, 5:27 pm	Hi Mum, Today we started exploring around here. First we got a good breakfast of cookies and hot chocolate to get the necessary strength . smaug took us to a to a little village near Trento. The village lies in a sort of balcony on the side of the mountain and on one side sits at the top of a 200m high rock wall overlooking the town . From here you have a wonderful view of downtown Trento. You can also see the valley heading south. Later we went a bit higher up the mountain to a stretch of road nicknamed “7 tornanti”, that in English would sound like “7 hairpins”. It’s called like that because there are 7 hairpins in a very short stretch of road that, as you can guess, looks very “curvy” . From one of the hairpins you can see the valley again, heading north this time.
smaug Posted Apr 10, 2010, 6:48 pm	Hi Mum, Today was a gorgeous sunny day and we took a walk along the river. From here you could see the place where we were yesterday, the top of that rock wall in the background. At one point we managed to scramble down the bank and took a picture from the middle of the river . Before going back home we visited the front yard of a little church built on a hill near home. The church itself is not anything interesting, but the view over the valley is really beautiful .
smaug Posted Apr 10, 2010, 7:56 pm	Hi Mum, Who ever said that Italy is a sunny country? It’s been raining for the last two days ! Since we were getting a bit bored, today we explored a bit the house where we are staying. First sammino introduced us to some of his friends here. There is a big bald eagle... ...and two equally big owls. They were a bit upset that we woke them up in the middle of the day , but they let us take a picture with them. Later we met this interesting frog: apparently his job is to sit on the floor and croak whenever someone enters the door. Then we found this old atlas. It must be old indeed, it still says that this part of Italy is part of the Austrian Empire . At the end of our exploration we found this clock: sammino told us that it’s been broken for ages and there is no plan as yet to fix it: pity, it must be creepy hearing it at midnight .
smaug Posted Apr 11, 2010, 3:35 am	Hi Mum, The weather did not even slightly improve over the last couple of days so we are still stuck at home . So, today we decided to entertain ourselves with a bit of gambling by playing the roulette . That was good fun. Later we wanted to engage in something more challenging and we organized a checkers tournament. It was a real battle of minds and, of course, I was the best . After so much playing we needed some food , so we had a typical Easter cake. It’s called colomba: that means “dove”, I guess due to a supposed to be bird-like shape...maybe with a lot of imagination . Anyway, it was delicious .
smaug Posted Apr 12, 2010, 3:23 am	Hi Mum, Happy Easter from a very rainy Italy! Although we are still waiting for news about the sun , today we had good reason to celebrate: there was a special  Easter egg just for us TVs . Reaching the chocolate was a bit of a challenge: we laboured our way past the wrapping just to find another layer of it . But, eventually, me managed to get the egg open . It was delicious !
smaug Posted Apr 18, 2010, 11:10 pm	Hi Mum, Today the sun reappeared in the sky after almost a week of rain , so we decided to go out for a tour around town. First we started up the slopes on the side of the valley. Here you can see  “Trento’s mountain”: it’s called Monte Bondone, and the ski slopes lying on the other side of it can be reached from town in about 20 minutes drive. While here we were looking north up the valley. As we drove by we saw some secondary valleys and more mountains in the background. At one point there were only steep forested slopes and rocky peaks above our heads . By some kind of magic  we emerged back in the main valley a few km south of Trento. Here we could take a look at this nice castle (it doesn’t look like, but it is actually very big). Before heading back home, smaug took us up a little road on the opposite side of the valley from which we could have a look at the vineyards on the valley floor....I wonder if we’ll have a chance to taste some of the wine .
smaug Posted Apr 19, 2010, 12:17 am	Hi Mum, My (wet ) Italian holiday is coming to an end. Today we helped smaug preparing his luggage and tomorrow early in the morning (very, very, very early in the morning ) we will start heading back to Calgary. See you soon .
smaug Posted May 3, 2010, 2:59 am	Hi Mum! It was like Christmas this week ! Yesterday Pepita (one of smaug’s TVs) arrived back home to rest for a few days....and she brought a lot of lovely sweets with her . And today a new guest arrived: Spooky, a nice dog from Japan ! I guess we’ll have plenty to chat about for a few days .
smaug Posted May 3, 2010, 4:13 am	Hi Mum! Today the weather was quite nice (after the blizzards of earlier this week ) so smaug took us out for a short walk in the woods . We spent most of the time under the trees encouraging smaug while he was labouring his way in the fresh snow . But when he stopped to rest we played a bit in the snow by ourselves . At one point we found a place with a good view over the valley. But those clouds in the distance were a bit concerning, so we decided that it was enough for the day and went back to the car.
smaug Posted May 11, 2010, 2:20 am	Hi Mum! Guess what? It’s been snowing again for most of the week, and we are in May ! But today the weather was a bit better, so we went out for another short walk in the woods . Some sections had plenty of fresh snow. On the way we found a couple of nice spots where we could take a photo.
smaug Posted May 11, 2010, 3:04 am	Hi Mum! Today we said goodbye to Pepita who is travelling to her next host, so we wished her a safe journey .
smaug Posted May 15, 2010, 5:18 am	Hi Mum! Today smaug came back home and told us that Hedgie has been invited to a trip to Fiji and will leave tomorrow to make sure he catches his flight. So tonight we all gathered together to wish him a safe trip .
smaug Posted May 20, 2010, 4:08 am	Hi Mum, Today it was very warm...for Canadian standards, of course ...so we went for a nice walk to a place called Prairie Mountain. Soon after leaving the car park we could see the Elbow River meandering in the valley below . Once we reached the top it wasn’t that warm anymore, the wind was bone chilling , but the view was great . We had lots of mountains in the West and South... ...and Moose Mountain in the North. smaug said that it might be possible to go there in a few weeks when the snow melts. In the East we could see the prairies...and with a very good zoom you could even see Calgary in the distance...but not in this photo .
smaug Posted May 25, 2010, 3:34 am	Hi Mum! Today the weather wasn’t too bad, a bit windy actually , so we went visiting a new place between the mountains. We left the car at Barrier Lake and after a bit of walking we had a wonderful view over the lake... ...and of Kananaskis Valley . Moving up towards the lookout the view opened on the foothills rolling down into the prairies in the East. From the lookout we could see the Bow Valley carving its way into the Rockies. On the way back we followed a trail that was always in a very thick forest, so I just spent the time chatting with the other TVs .
smaug Posted May 31, 2010, 5:12 am	Hi Mum, Today I picked up my passport, checked my travelling quarters (mmm they seem a bit uncomfortable ) and said goodbye to all my friends here . smaug told me I’m coming home for some time . sammino gave me a big goodbye hug and wished me a safe trip . See you soon !
inkie1010 Posted Jul 18, 2010, 7:28 pm	Hello everyone!! After a great trip I came home a few weeks ago! Yesterday we visited one of the most famous places in the Netherlands, the Windmills of Kinderdijk! It's a Unesco World Heritage site. The weather was very nice. Here are the pictures: And of course there was icecream!! And a lot of souvenirs: Hugs, Nijntje
inkie1010 Posted Jul 25, 2010, 11:34 am	Hello everyone, Last weekend we also went cycling 50 km in the region of Eindhoven. We took some pictures of the cycling paths and nature. The pictures are taken near the city Valkenswaard. Bye Bye!! Nijntje
inkie1010 Posted Aug 1, 2010, 9:01 pm	Hello everyone!! Yesterday we visited a real medieval castle, the "Muiderslot". It's not very far from Amsterdam, and you often see it from the airplane when you land at Schiphol airport. The castle was built around 1280. Here are the pictures: me in a medieval costume castle gardens Beautiful castle isn't it? After we visited the castle we also went to the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam! Photo's in the next update! Nijntje
inkie1010 Posted Aug 1, 2010, 9:02 pm	After the castle we went to Amsterdam! We had a bit bad luck, because they are renovating the Royal Palace... so we could not see it in it's full glory. Here are the pictures from Amsterdam: first some pictures of the "Dam" the royal[php] palace Pictures of the canals Shops, coffee shops and more: hihi look at the man behind us Nijntje
inkie1010 Posted Aug 1, 2010, 9:03 pm	Last week we went to Leiden, on our way we stopped at Schiphol Airport to watch the airplanes from the Panorama Terrace.
inkie1010 Posted Aug 1, 2010, 9:04 pm	After Schiphol we went to Leiden. Leiden is a nice old city in the west of the Netherlands. Here are the pictures:
inkie1010 Posted Aug 1, 2010, 9:06 pm	On friday we went to Enkhuizen, the city which is a harbor city at the IJsselmeer. Before the dyke (Afsluitdijk) came, the IJsselmeer was a sea with salt water, it was called "Zuiderzee". In Enkhuizen we went to the Zuiderzee-museum which is an open air museum which shows how life was at the Zuiderzee coast/harbors. First some pictures of the city Enkhuizen: And now the Zuiderzee Museum: old cheesefarm more cheese! and more cheese ByeBye!! Nijntje
Pixiedustlady Posted Sep 20, 2010, 12:08 am	Hi Mom!!! I have arrived back in North Carolina!!! last time I was here was last winter at Christmas time!!  now I am back again!! I traveled with Lucan!  He has visited us twice and he told me to come home with him as we are going to Las Vegas next month!! On our long flight over the Atlantic ocean, he tells me all about Vegas and how much fun we are going to have!  When we arrrive in North Carolina we have a small crowd of visiting TVs waiting to greet us.  This is Beaver from Russia, Landroval from Canada and Frankie Blue from Germany. My host LOVED the postcard that you sent and she says thank you!! I waste no time unpacking while the other TVs tell me that we are going to a motorcycle race next weekend at Virginia International Raceway!! My hosts husband races bikes and this is the last race of the year!! I am excited to go to such a big event!!  I am also told that my host is selling his motorcycle because he has a brand new one that we are picking up on Tuesday!!  I work hard with the other TVs to get the bike that is for sale all nice and tuned up and then I help load the trailer for next weekend. I heard we are going to go to the Marine base where my host works soon!! The other TVs told me they went a few weeks ago and it was great fun!! I heard I might even get to fly a helicopter!!! I cant wait!!  Love Nijntje
Pixiedustlady Posted Oct 2, 2010, 10:33 pm	Hi Mom!! My host took us to the Marine Corps Air Station where he works and we got to sneak out on to the flight line!  Here I am with the CH53 Helicopter... Do you see me sitting on the front? Here I am taking a sneak peek out on to the flight line.  I liked looking at all the helicopters and how big they are!! Do you know where we are?? We waited till no one was around and got inside the helicopter!! Here we are at the controls!! Here we are in the Co Pilots seat ready for take off!! Here we all are inside my hosts hat looking out the back of the helicopter. This is us outside the V22 *Osprey* helicopter.  This is the ONLY place in the world that they are kept!! Here we are sitting on one of the V22 Rotar blades.  The blade is made out of Carbon Fiber and costs one million dollars a piece!! You can see the V22 sitting in the background waiting for us to go on a ride!! Dont tell anyone but I snuck inside the V22!!! Here I am at the controls ready for my flight mission!! I ask all the other TVs if they are ready to go on a flight!! I go up to the navigation system and start pressing buttons and hope I am doing it right LOL I take everyone on a flight up and over the Atlantic Ocean.  Two nice Marine Pilots gave us a special ride!! For security reasons we were not allowed to photograph our flight but I can tell you I will NEVER forget it!!! I hope you are having a great week!!  I will post photos from the very last motorcyle race of the year that I just got back from when I get some more free time   Guess where I am going on Monday??  ~LAS VEGAS!!!!~  I am sooo excited!!!!! I will take tons of photos!! My host tells me that it is against the Casino rules to take photos of the actual games but I will try to sneak some in without getting caught!!  Love, Nijntje
Pixiedustlady Posted Oct 11, 2010, 1:13 am	Hi Mom!!! I have uploaded the photos from the last motorcycle race of the year.  We had a fantastic time!  The race was at Virginia International raceway.  This is our hosts favorite track and it is located in a very beautiful part of Virginia.  Here are my photos!! Here we are on the scooter getting ready to go for a ride!! We were parked right next to a very good friend of my hosts.  His name is Jim and he races two bikes.  Here we are sitting on the bikes and checking them out!! They are both Yamaha R6s. We set up our pit area and got the computer out so we could check the weather and surf the internet. We make chicken burritos for dinner!!! they are soo good!! Parked on the other side of us is our friends from New York, Danny and Gian.  Here we are on Gians motorcycle.  He went on to win lots of trophies on Saturday and Sunday. Here we are on the winners podium!! we get on the first place box and pose for a photo. Here we are with our friends dog.  He wanted to pick us up and chew on us but my host made sure that did not happen!! hahaha! Here we are on on the track waiting to see the start of the race.  You can see our host on the red bike on the front row.  We love watching how fast the bikes go!! We had a wonderful time watching everyone and we were sad to see the racing season come to a end.  The fun part is our host and his friends took us out on the track during one of the races!!! you could not see us because we were tucked inside the leathers!!  My next update will be my photos from Las Vegas!! we just got back and I had the BEST time!!!  Be on the lookout for a postcard I got you from Vegas!! Love Nijntje
Pixiedustlady Posted Oct 17, 2010, 4:04 am	Hi Mom!! Today a new TV named Regit Brown arrived from Chile.  We welcomed him and told him all about North Carolina.  We now are making some big plans for Halloween!! I am going to post my Vegas trip VERY soon!!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Oct 26, 2010, 8:23 pm	*Luck be a Nijntje Tonight*...... (sung to Dean Martins *Luck be a lady tonight*)..... I went to Las Vegas!!! I had soooo much fun!!  My host got me ready to go to Vegas by watching the Movies *Casino*  *The Hangover* *Oceans Eleven*  and *Vegas Vacation*.  Beaver was my traveling partner and we got wild and crazy on the strip!! We drank Vodka and Redbulls at 9am, played Craps, Roulette and Black Jack till late in the evening and saw a bunch of really good shows.  Here are the photos of our trip!! Here we are at 4:30 AM!!! Our plane was leaving at 5:50 am!!! Luckily my host lives five minutes from the airport so we didnt have to get up any earlier!  We flew from Jacksonville to Atlanta, Georgia then to Las Vegas. You can see we have our suitcase packed and we are sitting on our Hotel Reservation!! We stayed at *Gold Coast Casino* We get on the plane and fly to Atlanta.  This is in Georgia and only a 50 minute flight.  The airport is HUGE!!!! WOW They even have a underground train to take you to all the stations instead of walking for miles and miles!! Here we are with our boarding card!! Once we get on the plane my host gets out the Delta airlines magazine to show us how far we are going to fly.  Beaver is  sitting on the Atlanta Airport and I am is sitting on Las Vegas!! we are flying all the way over to the other side of the United States.  We eat and watch movies and listen to the IPOD. WE ARE HERE!!!!! WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS!!!! Now that we are in Nevada, we are on Pacific time.... we actually GAIN three hours of time!! So it is still morning since Pacific time is three hours behind Eastern time!! we go check in our room and then go to the buffet for some lunch. Here we are sitting at the restaurant PLAYING KENO!!! Yep!! You can gamble 24 hours a day!! The Keno runner will come right to your table so you never have to stop gambling!! haha! We select our lucky numbers and then place our bet and hope to win big!! Due to the high security, we could not take any photos playing Craps or Blackjack.  Security guards and camaras are always watching for people that try to take photos.  They think if you take a photo you will try to study the photo and cheat some how! That is really stupid if you ask me! My host sneaks us to a slot machine area and when the coast is clear she takes our photo of us playing slot machines!! That night we go down to a really good restaurant called *The Noodle exchange* Here we are with our dinner and it was sooo good!! It is night and we are headed for the *Rio* hotel and casino to see *Penn and Teller magic show* it was FANTASTIC!!! Here we are with the Rio on the left hand side and you can see my hosts favorite hotel *The Bellagio* in the background right behind us. We stay up late playing craps and loose about $400   we have sooo much fun rolling the dice and jumping up and down and making all kinds of fun bets.  We sleep in and wake up around lunch time and head for the Mexican buffet for some good food! Tonight is very special as we are going to *Paris* hotel and casino...look are we in the REAL Paris?? Here we are outside the Eiffel tower!! There is a elevator that goes all the way to the top!! Here we are on Las Vegas Boulevard partying like MOVIE STARS!! We go to Paris to see Anthony Cools Hypnotist show!! my host gets up on stage and gets hypnotised with 12 other people and it is soooooooooo funny!! Here we are in front of my hosts favorite hotel... The Bellagio...it has all Italian stores inside of it like Gucci/Prada/Dolce Gabbana...shoppers paradise.  In the back is the water show.  It is done to music and the water *dances* it can be seen towards the end of the movie of *Oceans Eleven*. Here we are walking back up the strip towards our hotel.  We have fun watching all the different kinds of people that are here on vacation.  They are wondering what a Beaver and a Bunny are doing on the strip! The next night we go see Terry Fator at *The Mirage* it was the neatest show I have ever seen!! The next day we go to Planet Hollywood casino to meet our hosts friend to have lunch at the hotel.  After lunch we go to Ceasars Palace and then we take a photo in front of this beautiful hotel, The Wynn. We spend four days having the best time ever!! we see all the fancy hotels and casinos and hope to come back again someday!! on our final day we leave at 7:00 am....very tired......but will never forget our trip to Vegas!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Nov 27, 2010, 10:26 pm	Hi Mom!!! I am sorry I have not done a update in a few weeks! There are a lot of TVs here and it is very hectic!  My host says she is going to cut back so only two TVs at a time can be in the home!!  LOL Yesterday was Thanksgiving and all we did was cook and eat, and eat and eat and eat!! haha! I took some photos but will load those on my next update.  Right now I am going to show you the Christmas Parade that I went to last Saturday!!! I had a lot of fun watching all the floats/marching bands and animals in the parade!! Here are my photos!! Here is the Marine Corps Color Guard as they marched by with the flags. Here is the 2nd Division Marine Corps Marching Band.  They were playing Christmas music and it was really neat to see them!! Here is the Sheriff Mr. Ed Brown driving in his Sheriff Department Humvee!! I thought it was really cool looking!! Here is the Camp Lejeune Fire Department and the fire truck. My host took a bunch of other photos but even though I was clear, the background turned out all blurry so I am not going to post them as they do not look very good   Here is my last photo.... it is Santa Claus on back of another Fire Engine!!! I loved listening to the Marching bands and watching all the horses in the parade!! I had a great day at the parade and I am glad I got to see all the neat floats.  Thanksgiving was a blast and I will post photos from it very soon!! Kisses, Nijntje
Pixiedustlady Posted Jan 15, 2011, 3:39 pm	Guess what?? I am going back home and Lucan is coming with me AGAIN!!! I had soooo much fun here (again!) and had a wonderful Christmas!!! my host apologizes for the delay in photos and lack of for December.....I had fun decorating the tree, shopping, baking and singing Christma carols!!! I am invited back whenever I want!!! I totally want to do the race track and Las Vegas again!!! Ok Lucan here we go back to Eindhaven!!!!!!
inkie1010 Posted Feb 27, 2011, 11:35 am	Hello! I'm back home in the Netherlands and my best friend Lucan traveled with me! The first few weeks we have been relaxing because my host was very busy. But last weekend we went walking in a nature reserve nearby called Kampina. It was pretty cold though! We hope spring will arrive soon Here are some pictures: This little stream is called "Beerze" We walked 7km, it was very nice! I hope we will visit another place next weekend! Hugs, Nijntje
inkie1010 Posted Apr 3, 2011, 10:34 am	Hello! Yesterday we went to the city Den Bosch, which is only 20 minutes by train from Eindhoven. Here are some pictures of the city! Me and Lucan in front of St Jan's Cathedral The square in front of St Jan's Cathedral: In Den Bosch you can eat "Bossche Bollen" everywhere! It's the local speciality. It's a choclate boll filled with cream. There was a big market on the market square in Den Bosch: Of course there is Kaas (Cheese!) This is the river Dieze which runs through Den Bosch. In the centre it's a party covered network of canals The weather was very nice! It almost felt like summer But today it's raining again.... Hugs, Nijntje
inkie1010 Posted Aug 4, 2011, 6:20 am	Last saturday I went to the Belgian capital, Brussels! It was very nice. Here are some pics: And of course with famous "Manneken Pis": In my next post I post some pictures of a day at the beach Hugs, Nijntje
inkie1010 Posted Aug 4, 2011, 6:23 am	And tuesday I went to the province Zeeland here in the Netherlands, to enjoy a nice day at the beach. It has been raining a lot this summer, so when the sun was finally there, we immediately hopped in the car and went to the beach! You see it was low tide, the beach is HUGE. It was a long walk to the sea. Next week I think I will have some more adventures! Hugs, Nijntje
inkie1010 Posted Nov 21, 2011, 6:05 am	Hello! I am sorry the update is a bit late, but a few weeks ago we made a quick visit to the United Kingdom and I went to the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and the Brighton pier! Here are the pictures! I am very excited as I will go to the USA soon to visit the home of my best friend Lucan! Hugs, Nijntje
Pixiedustlady Posted Dec 22, 2011, 7:16 pm	Hi Mom!! I am back in North Carolina with my best friend Lucan!!! We had a nice flight from The Netherlands and now we are back in the USA!!! Just wanted to let you know we have arrived!!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Feb 4, 2012, 7:52 pm	Hey Mom!! My host has been super busy BUT I finally got my Christmas pictures up and loaded!! I have already been here for Christmas time and I really enjoyed coming back for another holiday season!! Here I am with my best friend Lucan!! I hope you enjoyed my photos!! It is almost Valentines Day and we have been eating lots of Valentines candy!!  yum yum!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Apr 8, 2012, 12:50 pm	Happy Easter Mom!! This morning I wake up early to go find all the chocolate eggs the easter bunny has left!!  I also find a huge basket filled with Hersheys easter kisses, Peeps,M&Ms, Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs and a TON of Cadbury eggs!! I am going to eat candy all day and watch Jersey Shore Marathon LOL  Tonight is special easter dinner of Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Deviled Eggs and Cheese Cake!! I hope you are doing well mom!!!
Pixiedustlady Posted May 14, 2012, 12:01 am	Hi Mom! My host had surgery on her foot so we have been taking good care of her! We have been watching lots of movies and making sure her foot is propped up on a pillow to reduce the swelling! I am sorry that we have not had a lot of exciting updates.  Lucan wants me to tell you that he loves that I am visiting again and as long as we are together it does not matter where we go or what we do!! Anyways here I am with Pepita taking care of my host!!  Hope you are doing well!! Love you!!
Pixiedustlady Posted Jun 13, 2012, 11:54 am	Hi Mom! How is your summer going so far?  We have been taking care of my host with her two operations she has had.  Last weekend my other host was out riding his dirt bike and he crashed and broke his leg! He has to have really serious surgery on Monday and they will have to put a big metal plate in his ankle with two large screws to hold it in place for four months   Here we are trying to take care of him and cheer him up!!

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