Papa's Birthday

Sunday was Papa's birthday. In our house, you get to decide on the menu for the day. We had pancakes for breakfast and pork chops, macaroni and cheese, green beans, and roasted pumpkin for dinner. We also baked two cakes for Papa to take to work on Monday, a German cheesecake and a marbled poundcake. My special helper cleaned the mixer for me.

Dinner was a huge success. Apparently, I need to make a lot more macaroni and cheese in the future. Peanut sat at the table until the dishes were done, eating beans and pumpkin in exchange for macaroni – both of which he would eat anyway. Macaroni just so delicious he wanted heaps.

The pumpkin and green beans came from the weekly market in Nijmegen. It's around the corner, so we've been going every Saturday. We buy fruit and vegetables, eggs, and cheese. We've also picked up lunch the past couple weeks – herring and lekkerbek, which is breaded, fried, seasoned fish. Also known as the “brown fish.” Didn't get enough this time around – who would have thought a three year old would like herring, with onions?

The birthday, the market, it's all part of building our family traditions. They are events and moments that I look forward to a little bit more every time. And how nice is life if you get to look forward to every Saturday – the mandatory grocery shopping part? It's exciting to watch our rhythm evolve as we settle into life here.