Hoots, Doorwerth, The Netherlands

miapearl Posted Mar 9, 2010, 4:04 pm	It was a nice day and daddy wanted us to go on a walk in Snowdonia. We had lunch at Capel Curig before going onto Ogwen Cottage where we started our walk upto Llyn Idwal. Can you see Llyn Ogwen in the background? Look, there is still snow on the mountain, brr... This is Llyn Idwal. We didn't have time to walk/fly around this mountain lake, unlike two of my cousins in the crow family who were just sitting on a rock enjoying the afternoon. There were plenty of people there, some had presumably been up to the top of a mountain or two. Views are breathtaking, perhaps when I'm a bit older and have returned from my travels, mummy & daddy will take me up to the top of a mountain.
miapearl Posted Mar 9, 2010, 4:05 pm	Today was a beautiful sunny day. Mummy and big brother wanted to go to Colwyn Bay's Welsh Mountain Zoo. Because it was still cold, not all the creatures were out showing themselves off. Still, we saw lots of different animals. Look this is a mountain goat. We saw some yesterday but mummy wasn't able to get any good photos with me and the goat in. Mummy told me not to get too close or the goat might've eaten me. This macaw has some colourful gorgeous feathers. This Ostrich has a long neck. Look at those big eyes. Some rhea. There were seals too.
miapearl Posted Mar 10, 2010, 12:11 pm	Goodbye Mummy. I will be going to the USA. I will miss you Mummy, but I will come back one day. I will be alright. I am now at the Post Office waiting for Royal Mail to take me away.
Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted Mar 20, 2010, 8:43 pm	Whew, after a long travel in the mail I finally reached my destination in San Diego, California! My mum was so nice and sent a cut out of a recipe for afternoon tea scones to my host! Not only was my host happy, but so was I! I had something to read while traveling in my envelope! I can't wait to explore this new town and see what there is to see!
Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted Mar 21, 2010, 3:30 am	Today my host took me to a picnic at Kate Sessions park in Pacific Beach! The park was very pretty and full of trees where I could perch and watch all of the people having fun. I got to meet some other toys, the Pillar family. They are a group of almost identical caterpillars in many different colors. The yellow one is named Peter Pillar and he wants to be a toyvoyager someday too! The Pillar family loves hearing stories so we all gathered around and I told them all about my home across the ocean! Next we played on the playground and I went down a giant slide! What's not a trip to the park without playing hide and seek? My friend Peter was easy to spot! Can you find me? After all the tree flying, stories and hide and seek I was wore out! Thankfully they had a water fountain to dip my beak in and get a drink. Now time for a little nap...
Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted Mar 22, 2010, 12:45 am	Hi mum! My host woke me up this morning with a plate of snacks! Crackers, pepperoni, salami and some cheddar bacon cheese ball. Yum! After our yummy snack it was time to do some laundry! I had never done laundry, but my host said it was very easy. First one must get some blue liquid called "detergent". Next one must fill up this machine called a "washer" with water and the detergent. Then you are free to put soiled laundry inside. When it comes out, it's all clean, like magic! Next you put the clothing in the dryer. After trying to carry the pants and shirts to the dryer I found they were too heavy, so I tried the socks and they were just right! I put all the socks in the dryer and my host said I was a good helper. By the time lots of loads of laundry were done we were starving! My host decided we should have a BBQ! Steak and BBQ beans! Yum! What a tiring day! My host says that she must go to work tomorrow, so I will keep myself busy and play with my new toy friends.
Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted Mar 29, 2010, 4:57 am	Hi Mum, it's me again! Since my host has to work during the week, I have been keeping myself busy with exploring the house and playing with the other toys. First I explored one of the most important places...the refrigerator! My host shares this with her roommate. Pickles, apricot jam and eggs check! Look at all the soda the roommate has! Cheese for a sandwhich..check! Next, the game area.  It looks like my host likes to play video games, there are so many. I wonder if they have any flying games? Hmm, nothing of interest inside this lamp. After exploring the house a bit, the other toys and I decided we would color in a Raggedy Anne coloring book. Did you know Raggedy Anne was a toy too? I heard she had lots of adventures! After coloring a nice beach scene we couldn't decide what color the sand should be. The Pillar family thought it should be either purple, orange, yellow or green. I thought sand should be brown. A new turtle friend said he thought it should be brown too! When my host came home she said we would have to wait until the weekend to find out for sure! Since my host had been so busy she decided to take me out to the movies! We went and saw Alice in Wonderland at the Edwards IMAX Cinema! Unfortunately, they do not allow photography inside of the theater so these are the only pictures to show my movie trip. They have a very pretty fountain right outside. After the movie we were all pretty tired so we decided to go home and go to bed! Goodnight! Hoots
Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted Mar 29, 2010, 8:11 am	Today my host took me to Mission Beach to see the Pacific Ocean! It was a short drive although it took longer than expected due to slowed traffic because of a car accident on the interstate. Scary! But I am not surprised; these Americans drive on the wrong side of the road!  Luckily I was safely buckled in my seat belt in the back. We eventually reached Mission Beach and had a lovely lunch of sandwiches and soup from a restaurant called Panera Bread. It was pretty windy and several seagulls kept squawking at us to hurry up and eat so that we could feed them bread. How rude! Before our trip to the beach we stopped at a grocery store and bought several loaves of day old bread to bring along. We gave bread to the few seagulls and then moved down the shore to feed a group of ducks just hanging out. It wasn't long until a pack of about forty seagulls came by and stole all of the duck's bread! They were very aggressive seagulls and would not only beat each other up for the bread, but they would hover midair around my host and wait for her to throw up a piece and then they would catch it in their beaks. Look at how many gulls there were! This was only a quarter of them! After running through three loaves of bread we decided to sight see for awhile. There were several sailboats, jet skis and even a rowing competition going on. Look how pretty it is here! Here is a very large bridge that goes right over the beach we were at, which is actually called 'Vacation Isle'. After some sightseeing it was time to play in the sand. (Which was brown!) The Pillar family buried me in the sand all the way up to my head! After they buried me in the sand they ran away in quite a hurry! A giant one eyed crocodile appeared! It seems this crocodile lives at my host’s house and snuck into the car while we were loading up the car to come to the beach!  His name is Al and wanted to come to the beach too! Don’t worry; Al is a very friendly crocodile. Al and I combed the beach for seashells and then gave me a ride along the shore. Look at the neat shell I found! It was nearing sunset so we went home for the day. Goodbye beach! Hoots
Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted Mar 29, 2010, 9:18 am	Hi Mum! Today my host and I headed down to the San Diego harbor to have lunch and visit the Maritime Museum. First we ate some yummy fish and chips at a seaside restaurant called Anthony’s Seafood Grotto. After our lunch we began our sightseeing. On the way to the museum there were several metal sculptures lining the sidewalk.  This one has something to do with the elements. This one was the funniest. It was called “Popcorn Chicken” and was a giant popcorn box with popcorn and chickens attached on the top. Riding down the sidewalks are several bicycle cabs that will offer to take tired sightseers to any destination along the street in exchange for a tip. We saw another statue, but this one was kinda strange. Just as my host was thinking about walking over and getting a picture of me with the statue it moved! The statue was actually a man painted all in silver and would do robotic movements occasionally.  The man noticed my host taking a far away picture and then beckoned for her to come close and let me perch in his hand for a better picture! Very exciting! Soon we visited the Martime Museum and saw many ships including the Californian, the San Salvador, HMS Surprise, B39 Submarine, the America, Steam Ferry Berkley, Steam Yacht Medea, and the USS Dolphin Submarine. Here is the Star of India Me sitting in a comfortable (for the time) seat on the ship. Look a model of a British ship! A wax model of a man creating ships. Kinda scary if you ask me! Next we went on a ship called the Surprise. This was the ship used when filming some movie called Master and Commander. Next we visited a Russian submarine. They gave a warning before you got on that you have to be able to squeeze through several tunnels throughout the submarine. An engine room.  Look at all the gadgets! Down Periscope! Eek, missiles!  Luckily they were just fake ones. We viewed several other ships in the museum, but we also saw plenty of other neat ships in the harbor. This is the Celebrity Constellation, a cruise ship that goes to Mexico. This is the Hornblower. It is a dinner cruise ship and also a whale watching tour. The harbor was filled with yachts and all sorts of boats. We left just as it was getting dark. What a fun day! I can’t wait to see what we will do next weekend! Hoots
Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted Apr 13, 2010, 5:15 pm	Hi mum! I hope you are doing well back home! Things are going OK here. Unfortunately my host has been a bit busy with work deadlines so we have not been able to go out the last week. A funny thing happened since my last update...on Easter Sunday we had an earthquake. Very scary stuff!  Actually we have had several the last two weeks, lots that were in the 7.2 and 5.0 range. Luckily no real damage occurred near us. It was enough of a scare for my host to not want to use the gas stove incase there was a leak so we had to postpone our Easter celebration. Here is a link to a news site of the earthquake: http://cbs5.com/local/earthquake.california.mexico.2.1611132.html After we confirmed that there were no gas leaks and after some aftershocks came and went we were able to begin coloring some easter eggs! First we needed to boil the eggs! Next we got out a easter egg coloring kit that we purchased at the store.  All that was needed was to drop the coloring tabs into the buckets and add either water or vinegar! Easy! Next the Pillar family and I dunked the eggs in the colored water for a bit and set them out on a paper towel to dry. Look how beautiful they came out! It was pretty fun getting to color the eggs! Oh I sent you a postcard last week mum, did you get it in the mail yet? Keep your eyes open for it! Can't wait to see what adventures await this weekend!
Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted Apr 21, 2010, 10:11 pm	Hi Mum, Greetings from Sea World! This weekend my host took me down to Mission Bay to visit the Sea World aquatic theme park. We arrived later in the day and  the park was still full! Lots of people from around the world come to visit Sea World and you can hear many different accents spoken. While we were there we visited the shark exhibit which consisted of many large tanks with both large and small sharks inside. The inside of the exhibit was pretty dark so I'm afraid the pictures did not come out well enough to post.  We did get to go through a huge tunnel where the sharks swam over top of all of the visitors. Here's a picture of just how big a shark's mouth can be! I also got to see lots of cute seals.  One of the seals in the picture with his nose pointed upward was trying to go to sleep! Imagine sleeping like that. The Forbidden Reef Next we visited a large pool where we could put our hands in the water and pick up the sea snails, sea cucumbers and sea stars. Statue of the giant sea star right outside of the pool Here's a picture of the outside of Cirque Del Mar It is a show that is opening sometime in May that should be a cross between an aquatic zone and Cirque de Soilel. While here we also got to visit Shamu! Well, I don't think it's the original Shamu, maybe just a cousin or relative.  Underneath the Shamu stadium visitors are able to view the killer whale as he swam around the tank and up against the glass. Flamingos! Check out this weird cow statue that we found.  He is actually riding a surfboard, but you cannot see it well in the picture.  When people would come close to him he would say different phrases and tell jokes dealing with milk products! Nearing the end of our trip we visited the Anheiser Busch area of the park. Anheiser Busch actually owns the theme park, and has a fake brewery on sight, along with their famous Clydesdale horses.  I hear that you can usually visit the Clydesdales, however when we went they had the entrance to the horse stalls chained and locked. Flags outside of the brewery Both my host and I could not figure out what the flags were for and no signs around really said. *Shrug* Ending our trip, we all went on the sky lift and rode over Mission Bay. Very pretty. It seems there are two pictures missing while I am posting this travel log. I will have to find them and post them later this evening when my host and I get home from work.  Hope your doing well mum! Hoots
Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted May 3, 2010, 9:37 am	Hi Mum! Today my host took me around the town of Mira Mesa to view the electric box artwork.  All over town, most of the electric boxes along the main street are painted in different themes.  It is unknown how the artists that paint these boxes are chosen, but the art work seems to change every couple months. Whew, what a day filled with lots of walking!  After viewing the electric boxes we had some lunch at a Chinese place called "Panda Express".  Right next door to the restaurant was another restaurant named "Jollibees".  Jollibees is a fast foot place that serves chicken.  My host does not like Jollibees nor the horrid grease smell that it produces in the area, but she does like the statue, so we decided to take a picture! Well mum, my host has received your request for me to move on, so I shall be mailed off at the post office this week to Ireland! Yours, Hoots
Xadrian xadriankruez@hotmail.com Posted May 21, 2010, 5:51 am	Due to having to move unexpectantly during Hoot's visit, I have not been able to post his goodbye journal before he was sent off.  Hoots was mailed to Ireland two weeks ago. Hopefully he has a safe trip!  Hoots saying goodbye to his new friends and getting into his envelope to head overseas. Friend Drovius and Peter wish Hoots a safe journey!
Irish Wanderer Posted Jun 13, 2010, 10:07 pm	Hello!!!!!!!!! Yes I am alive Oh Mum. I arrived safely in Ireland after my previous host sent me on my way. I was out shopping with my new host and when my host's back was turned I was kidnapped........Yes KIDNAPPED!!!!!!! They took me home and tied me to a tree in their back garden  My new host was loking for me everywhere! Then the police found me but I couldn't go home as my travelling papers had been stolen.  I missed out on  trip to Mallorca. Drat!!! Finally I got new papers and my host picked me up at the  police station........so finally I got back to my hosts home and am ready to continue on my adventure  My New papers
Irish Wanderer Posted Jun 22, 2010, 3:11 am	Hi Mum.My host has been fairly busy but today I got my first chance to take a quick trip  into Dublin City on the bus! I got to sit upstairs on the bus and the views of the city were great. I was very excited  From the top of the bus I saw  this very well known  bridge called "The H'a Penny Bridge" I also got to see this very famous building called "The Fourt Courts". It was Ireland's Central Criminal Court  House up until  a few months ago when it moved to a brand new modern building nearby! I like all these pretty red building which line the River Liffey in Dublin  Hey Mum! Look at me on this new bridge over The River Liffey. Dublin scrubs up real well in the Summer Sunshine!  My host loves books and postcards so we found a nice bookshop. Look at all these great travel books!!! I hope to visit many of these places. Potential hosts take note!!!  We took a walk through Temple Bar. ...................and ended up in my hosts favourite cafe for tea and berry cake. Yummy!
Irish Wanderer Posted Aug 5, 2010, 11:09 pm	Hi Mum! Greetings from Galway..........a really cool city on the West coast of Ireland! It has really cute streets with pretty old traditional shopfronts and lots of pubs  Here is me taken in front of one of Galway's oldest shops. Powell's Traditional Music shop! We took  a walk down the main street called shop St. I was so tempted by all those lovely little shops! My host told me this pubfront is on a postcard and she has some in her postcrossing collection so to prove I saw the pub I had my photo taken in front of it. Mum I plan to send you a postcard of it! We went into  a nice bookshop where I had a browse through some  books of local interest! Look! I thought it was  a real shop  Apparently  a giant lives in this house. looks like he spotted me! I took  a walk along the River Corrib. It's famous for it's salmon fishing and I spotted  a fisherman in the water. There are lots of swans on the River and I really liked this part of the city! In this picture you can see the famous Spanish Arch! Behind me you can see some traditional West of Ireland boats. There was lots of nice bridges in galway. This is a very popular pub with students. I liked this image on the gable end. See what rockstars you can spot? We finished the day with a visit to Kentucky Fried Chicken.YUMMY!!!
Irish Wanderer Posted Sep 21, 2010, 11:53 pm	Hi Mum. Sorry for the delay in updating my blog. Back in July I went to a car vintage rally in a beautiful old historic town called Trim. I had lost the photos but they turned up over the weekend so now I can share my photos with you  Sadly the day was really wet . My hosts friend had planned to bring his Porshe and we were looking forward to seeing it but due to the weather conditions he decided to leave it at home. I was so looking forward to sitting in a Porshe I liked this big blue car! and this old tractor! Look at this great hot air balloon. I wished I could have taken a spin in it! I saw lots of stands selling many things. Here I am in front of the Irish Vintage Magazine Stand. This is where the dog show was taking place. My host brought me down for a walk along the River Boyne. From there I could see the famous Trim Castle across the way. "Braveheart" was filmed at Trim Castle  This is one of the old castle gates! Even though this was one of the wettest days of my stay in Ireland, I had a fun day
Irish Wanderer Posted Sep 22, 2010, 11:24 pm	We took  a train to the port of Dún Laoghaire (pronounced Dun-leery). Don't know why they have to spell it in such a strage way but my host says it's the Irish spelling  Here I am in the train station waiting for  a train! Dún Laoghaire is connected to wales by ferry. here I am in front of the ferry terminal! I was feeling a little homesick and wanted to jump aboard but my host said that if I went home I wouldn't have anymore adventures so I decided to stay I took  a walk down along the pier where many locals were out walking and enjoying the lovely sunshine. I spotted this mini train! The sea looked just beautiful. I would love to have gone for  a swim! There was a big festival on called "The festival of World Cultures" and there were lots of people  milling around. I saw this great big ferris wheel. It looked so big. there was big queue so I didn't  bother hanging around to try it out. Look at this lovely flowers I spotted! ....and this nice old building! as the day  moved on we got hungary so we headed off to get some food. Molly and I decided to  have a Malaysian curry. It was scrummy!!!!  Soon it was time to get the DART train back to Dublin City. I had  a fun day
Irish Wanderer Posted Sep 24, 2010, 12:07 am	Hi Mum. here I am in County Clare on the wild West coast of Ireland. It was areally wet day as we  drove through the county so I didn't get out of the car to take photos...........so all the shots are mostly from through the window! The hills were so pretty and green....I guess that is the work of all the rain they get over here  I saw loads of old cottages like this one! This area is called Doolin and is famous for it's traditional music and The Cliffs of Moher. Thats the Atlantic Ocean that you can see in this picture! We stopped in Doolin Village and I got to visit a traditional music shop  We continued on through  a famous limestone region called The Burren. Just look at these rocks! Driving along the coast road was fun and very scenic  Nice Lighthouse! I finished my trip with a visit to this colourful holy well and castle!
Irish Wanderer Posted Sep 25, 2010, 11:10 pm	Mum I am so excited to tell you what I did this weekend. My hosts got tickets for the All-Ireland Hurling Semi-final in Croke Park Stadium and brought Molly and I  to see the match! Here I am on O'Connell St in Dublin City on my way to Croke Park  We made our way up through Summerhill and once we reached the bridge over The Royal Canal, I got my first glimpse of Croke Park!!!! There were lots of supporters milling around and the craic was very good. Craic (pronounced crack) means fun in Irish! Here I am outside a pub with some Tipperary supporters in the background. Getting ready to go through the turnstiles! Here I go....up to the top tier!!!!!! Here I am up in the stand  watching Clare v Dublin in the warm up U18 game. Well the team we were shouting for Tipperary beat Waterford and I had  a great day. Before I left the ground I got  this snap with Dublin City and The Royal Canal behind me
Irish Wanderer Posted Sep 27, 2010, 12:20 am	Today I got to visit  a pitch & Putt club where my host's husband  was practising on the driving range. Molly came too and we had lots of fun playing with the golf balls and the golf clubs  Here I am outside the club. Check my host's new golf clubs out  Molly reckons I'd make  a good golfer!  Here I am with my host taking a shot behind. All the balls being lined up! Get outta the way........quick!!!!!!! Here we are checking out all those golf balls  A little Rest and relaxation!!!
Irish Wanderer Posted Sep 28, 2010, 9:58 am	Hi Mum today I visited the Botanic Garden's in Glasnevin,Dublin. Every September they have an exhibition of art in the gardens so I had a lot of fun discovering where all the pieces were  Look at all these guys on their mobile phones!!! I loved these colourful butterfly's. and this installation inspired by spider's webs  I'm glad this fellow was made out of stone and not real  Snip! Snip! Snip! I tried to catch this deer but I couldn't keep up!  I found some nice fruit and vegetables in the grdens too. I took a nice rest on this pumpkin! This beautiful sunflower remined me that Summer is over and my trip to ireland is coming to an end too  Before I left i saw some more art pieces inside the visitor centre. I really enjoyed my visit to The Botanic Gardens.
Irish Wanderer Posted Sep 28, 2010, 10:44 pm	After my visit to The Botanic Gardens we drove around the corner and visited Ireland's most famous cemetery "Glasnevin cemetery". There is a museum and visitor centre there and  Ireland's most famous people are all buried in the place  One of Ireland's most famous president's Eammon De Velara is buried there with his wife who was a famous Irish  children's  writer. There were many beautiful celtic crosses and I really liked this one! Here is a grave erected to the memory of some guys who started a mutiny whilst serving in India with The Connaught Rangers. The most famous and best loved grave in the place that I saw was that of Michael Collins. My host told me that he was a  revolutionary leader and also a wonderful politician. He was most famous for negotiating a peaceful treaty with Britain. The Treaty was accepted by the people of Ireland after a vote but many of his opposing colleagues refused to accept the deal and started a civil war. My host told me her grand-father fought in the free state army on the pro-treaty side . Sadly Micheal Collins was  killed in an ambush in his home county of Cork in 1922. His state funeral was the biggest Ireand has ever seen and even Winston Chrchill attended the funeral. People put fresh flowers on his grave every day! After seeing all those famous people I had enough and went for tea and cake in the visitor centre
Irish Wanderer Posted Sep 29, 2010, 11:43 pm	Hi Mum. Wow thse guys sure love their classic  and vintage car shows. I was asked if I wanted to tag along for another one so thought yeah why not! The day was much drier then the first show I was at and I saw some great stuff ! here is  a selection of what I saw  Look at this little cutie....and it wasn't even in the show! A real Dublin Fire Engine! Look at all that Guinnesss!!!  I liked this car! Look at these fab old machines! Tractor Heaven  I came across all these little lorries. I spotted all these dream catchers and wanted to bring them all home with me! They were just so colourful! We ended the day by having a bite to eat and listening to some music
Irish Wanderer Posted Oct 5, 2010, 11:14 pm	Hi Mum. Today I went to Visit Malahide Castle which is about 5/6 miles from Dublin City. It was a lovely sunny day and I had fun walking around the park seeing all the beautiful trees about to change colour  Here is the castle! I'd love to live here! After our visit to the castle we visted the Fry Model Railway. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the model railway but got to see the small museum instead which had lots of model trains! I liked this collection of dinky cars ....and this old railwaysign of Holyhead! After the Fry Model railway I popped into the little Malahide Historic Museum nextdoor. After an enjoyable day,I bought a big bar of Beanie Chocolate. Yummy!!!!!
Irish Wanderer Posted Oct 11, 2010, 10:46 am	Well Mum this is the last place I got to visit in Ireland. Last wekend my host was travelling to County Mayo on the west coast and asked me if I would like to take one final trip with her so I said what the heck and tagged along! I got to visit "The National Museum of CountryLife" outside castlebar in County Mayo. I got to see many interesting items on display about olden times in Ireland........like this old spinning wheel! Fishing was very important on the West Coast of Ireland and people made their own rowing boats called "Curraghs". I liked these old handmade lobsterpots. Pretty Cool!!!  Look at this sweet old Irish Postbox! There were lots of old pictures ike these one on the walls of the museum. before i left I had my picture taken beside this old thatched cottage.
Irish Wanderer Posted Oct 11, 2010, 10:50 am	Well finally I am ready to leave Ireland. My host has told me I am going to Germany. I am really excited and have been doing some reading about Germany. I hope my trip goes well and I don't get kidnapped  like before  Will update my blog when I get to Germany. Byeeee!!!!!!!!
RikeH Posted Oct 31, 2010, 5:48 pm	Hello Mum, It is me - Hoots. Are you surprised to see me like that? It is Halloween!!! I saw some TVs dressed like this standing in front of my new hosts home, and tried it out. Here we are. It seems to be winter? A funny snowman. Can you see me in my costume? The door opened and we sang a song - and recited a poem. Good luck for us - we got sweets. Well - it was a rainy day - so we decided to go back onto our armchair. The others put away their costumes - well - not everybody did it. I didn't do it - and all were very curious. They were very surprised, because they didn't know that I would come. They expected me more than 6 weeks ago...What happened Mum? Dicker Kumpel gave me a warm welcome. RikeH told us that we should eat something normal, before eating all the candys, so we had some burgers. I shared mine with Krystal, a nice girl from Canada. It was yummy. We will spend the rest of the day looking out of the window - and watching the ghosts outside. love Hoots
RikeH Posted Nov 10, 2010, 7:19 pm	Happy Birthday Rike! We celebrated this day with RikeH, of course! I played with the balloons. Wonderful flowers! I heart music with RikeH's new MP3-Player - it sounds great. Bye Hoots
RikeH Posted Nov 12, 2010, 9:24 pm	Hi Mum, The weather was awful here the last days.So we were not able to go outside. We decided to play Pool. Dicker Kumpel showed us how to play. These are the balls I had to put into the edges. I tried it. Very successful - I won the game! After it we played in the room. It seems that horses lived here. Then I tried to call you, but you were not at home. I will visit another guy now - so I had to say goodbye to Dicker Kumpel. He is such a nice host - I will miss him. Dicker Kumpel told me that my next host is a funny crazy guy. And maybe I can come back to Dicker Kumpel later this year. The others gave me a big hug. I will travel with Frankie_Blue, so I will have someone to talk to on the trip. love Hoots
RikeH Posted Nov 18, 2010, 3:14 am	Hello Mum I arrived at my new home. The trip was short and not boring, because Frankie_Blue was with me. But of course I was happy when the envelope was opened. A small blue guy released me. His name is Murph – and he looks funny. I am sure we will have a lot of fun together. He gave me a friendly welcome. I was thirsty and he offered me a delicious orange-juice. Then we sat together on Murph's haunt. We read the letter from Dicker Kumpel. We talked a lot – and ate many sweets! I will write more soon. Today it was to late to go outside. Love Hoots
RikeH Posted Nov 25, 2010, 2:10 pm	Hallo Mum, today Murph showed us Bad Salzdetfurth. It is an old mining town, where they mined potash and salt. First we visited Hotze. It is a monument for all the miners. Hotze is really big. Can you see me on the photo? I wanted my own photo with Hotze. There are many old and beautiful houses in the town. Then Murph showed us the Salines. In the past people get salt out of the salines. We wanted to see it of course. What a shame – we were too late! They were closed for the winter time. What should we do? We were so curious. Well, no problem for little ToyVoyagers, we ignored the closure! Normally there is water in the salines – and the air is really healthy then. Many people come and sit on chairs then. Unfortunately there is no water anymore and no chairs. Later Murph showed us the 'Summstein'. We wanted to try it – altogether into the Summstein – and start bumbling... Cool -  it prickled! There is another great thing in the town – a street of the planets. All planets are shown in the right relation, height and distance all over the town. Here I am under the sun! She is big, isn't she? Then we searched for the Earth – and found it. Can you see? She is so small. It is the small ball on the right in the photo. We found this nice lorry on our way. Now you know the age of Bad Salzdetfurth. Some more mining-equipment: Something to load items on the lorry – we played hide and seek on it. And a coach that brought the miners into the mining – carried by horses. A pit wheel – it was soooo big! This was a great and exciting day! Many greetings Hoots
RikeH Posted Dec 2, 2010, 1:19 pm	Hi Mum, it snowed! Of course we wanted to go out in the snow. Bine and Holgi went with us into the forest, so we were able to play in the snow. The sun was shining – everything looked so beautiful! Have you ever seen something like this? It was inside the forest. It is a hotel for insects – the humans build it, and the insects can put their eggs into it. But there is no one in during the winter time. What a shame. Murph and Frankie had to climb onto the tree trunks. This was not easy. Fortunately I am a bird and I can fly! Imagine – what we found in the Forest – the Easter Bunny! Even though – the Easter bunny in the winter? Bine told us about the 1. advent – hm... Well – we found a cratch for the deer. But it was empty – the deers don't need the human help at the moment. After it we drove to a big park in Lammspringe. Holgi and Bine showed us the Lammequelle (the spring of the River Lamme). The Lamme flows through Bad Salzdetfurth. Maybe I can show it later during my holidays. And here is the start of the Lamme. In the Park there are many beautiful lakes. And we found this big steamroller – of course we wanted to play on it. The Steamroller was on a big playground. We played not for a long time, because it went dark – and really cold. Maybe another time? We will bother Bine and Holgi – I am sure! At home Bine put us into a warm towel, so we became dry and warm again! This was cuddly and we went warm soon. Today is the 1. advent – and it was time to light a candle. As always we were hungry – and happy us – we got stollen – really yummy! When we were full – we looked at the Advent calendar. Where is the 28? It is advent time... But Bine told us that the calender always starts on the first of december. So we have to wait some more days. Love Hoots
RikeH Posted Dec 8, 2010, 2:27 pm	Hi Mum, yesterday I was allowed to open one door of the Advent Calendar. Murph and Frankie were great friends – and helped me. Let's see, what is behind the door. Yummy  - of course I ate the chocolate at that moment. Today is Nikolaus Day : the humans put their cleaned shoes in front of the door the night before – and on the 6th of December the Nikolaus came and put sweets into the shoes – if the humas were well-behaved. Unfortunately I don't have shoes – but we searched big ones from Bine and Holgi. These shoes are too small. But these were great ! They were big enough. Bad luck for us – the boots were dirty. And the Nikolaus only fills clean boots with sweets. So we searched something to clean them. And we  cleaned one boot. It looked great... Ready – now we put the boot in front of the door. This was exciting – we all sat behind the door and wanted to surprise the Nikolaus. We waited all night long – this was my time to hear what happens! Well – I heart something! It worked – the whole boot is full! But what now? How can we get the sweets? We are so small – and the boot is so big! We all pushed together – maybe he will fall? We made it – and so many sweets for all of us! We must have been very nice over the year. Happy Nikolaus Hoots
RikeH Posted Dec 19, 2010, 8:07 pm	Hi Mum, The weather is horrible here. So Bine took us to her work today – and we played there. This was my slide. Oups, where am I? What is the right direction? Fortunately it didn't hurt. The pillow was soft! Then it was time for the swing. Look – what I found here! A DIY-marble-run. Let's try it out! Ready – hopefully it works. I tried it! It worked, all marbles reached the goal. This was fun – and imagine this : Bine promised to take us to this great place again – and we will so swimming then. Many greetings Hoots
RikeH Posted Dec 23, 2010, 6:02 pm	Hi Mum, as promised, Bine took us to her work again. She had a big surprise for us! We were allowed to use the Sauna! I started the oven. It was really hot in the sauna! After it we went outside – it is normal to go into cold water or into the snow after using the sauna. It was very cold!!! So we went back into the swimming pool and onto the heating. Look, what a wonderful swmming pool. I wanted to feel the temperature of the water. It was warm enough. Frankie and I were allowed to swim on a mattress on the water! We were safe, because Murph took good care of us! After the sport I had to dry all my feathers, of course. Many greetings Hoots
RikeH Posted Dec 31, 2010, 2:50 pm	Hi Mum, great news - I am in Sülfeld again. We arrived here at the 26th of December. It was a little late for Christmas, but RikeH had a big surprise for us. Rudi - the famous reindeer came along. We got some nice presents. I found some sweets and some mice, because I love them. We had some presents for Dicker Kumpel and his guests. They were really happy about it. I loved the Christmas Tree - can you see me? We talked a lot - then Murph told us that he will leave us, to spend some more time with Bine and Holgi. We gave him a big hug. He was such a great host over the last weeks - I will miss him. Today we heart someone knocking at the door. It is Archer. He came all the way from Shanghai and starts his life as a ToyVoyager here in Germany. We told him a lot about our adventures. Mum - I wish you a good start in the Year 2011. Love Hoots
RikeH Posted Jan 11, 2011, 8:12 pm	Hi Mum, it is time to leave Germany now. I said good-bye to Dicker Kumpel. The others gave me a big hug. Now I am on my way to the Netherlands! Love Hoots
Colinde Posted Jan 29, 2011, 1:49 pm	Hello! Today I arrived in the Netherlands! It's rainy and sad weather, but I feel great! I've met my new host Colinde, who lives together with her mother, her cat and her dog. Talk to ya soon! Hugs!
Colinde Posted Jan 29, 2011, 1:55 pm	Hi there Here are some pictures of me with Micky the pug and Dixi the cat:
Colinde Posted Jan 29, 2011, 2:24 pm	Hello! Unfortunately the grandmother of my host was very ill and she had to go to hospital, so that's why it took a long time before we made pictures again. Today we've been outside together, the weather was very beautiful. Cold, but sunny. Today was a special day, because PinkyHH arrived also here. Pinky is from Germany and she brought some good Norwegian chocolates. She liked to share them with me. Here are the pictures! My host Colinde lives here, on a kind of industrial area: This is Colinde's car: Till next time
Colinde Posted Feb 3, 2011, 8:50 am	Hey mommy, today Colinde took me with her to her work. She works as a secretary at an office in Ede, where she also lives. Here are some pictures: Colinde and me together: Her officedesk: Her view from the window (you see the library in Ede): And here's the last picture of today, with the mill in Ede. It's called the 'Concordia molen' (molen = mill). It's builed in 1865 but in 2008 it's completely restaurated. The mill is close to my host's work, she can see it from a window too Till next time! Big hug
Colinde Posted Feb 5, 2011, 3:42 pm	Good afternoon mommy! Today, my host, PinkyHH and I went to Rotterdam, to the International Film Festival. We had fun, check out the pics! Here we had a good cup of coffee in a cosy restaurant. The festival was very interesting. Bye!
Colinde Posted Feb 13, 2011, 1:32 pm	Hi! Today we went to the postoffice to send out some mail. These are the mailboxes over here, and the postoffice in Ede. Till next time! Hugs!
Colinde Posted Feb 28, 2011, 5:21 pm	Hi mom! We went to the heath land today! It was very nice, Pinky also went with us. Ede has a lot of heath land around, and it was worth some pictures! We saw a lot of sheeps too! This sheep was very very cute: This is the World War II Memorial: Look, I'm in a tree! And I also met another Owl, but this was a wooden one Bye for now! Hugs!
Colinde Posted Mar 6, 2011, 5:17 pm	Hi mom! We went to Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands. Ofcourse we made some nice pictures again! This is the trainstation in Ede: This is near the trainstation: Some graffiti in Ede: The parking place near the train station: Here you see 'De Bijenkorf', a big warehouse on Dam Square: This is the National Monument on Dam Square, a white stone pillar to memorialize the victims of World War II: And this is the famous Krasnapolsky hotel on Dam Square: This is the worldfamous Museum Madame Tussauds, which is also on Dam Square: A museum on the Kalverstraat (that's a big shoppingstreet): The floating flower market and nice buildings: Amsterdam is famous because of the many coffeeshops. Here's a picture of one of the biggest coffeeshops on Rembrandt square: This is one of the many canals in Amsterdam: On this picture you see the Tuschinski theater, also well known in Amsterdam: This is the Munttoren: I hope you like the pictures, we defenitely had a nice day! Hugs, Hoots.
Colinde Posted Mar 12, 2011, 6:25 pm	Dear mom, today we went to the woods for a nice walk. It was a beautiful day, not too much wind, sunshine and a good temperature. "Parkeerplaats" means "Parking lot". On these 2 pictures you see a part of the Castle Doorwerth: And here you see the river de Rijn, that comes from Switzerland: We had a nice day, and now we're watching tv! Love for you! Hoots.

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