Today I visited the Imperial War Museum in London with Marco and Annette. It was quite impressive, spanning 5 floors. We spent several hours there and had seen about half of it. Definitely worth while visiting again.
Happy birthday !
Happy Birthday Benjamin. 3 years old today.
On my way to Benjamin
This weekend needed a quick turnaround of laundry and suitcases. Coming back from sunny Arizona, I needed to get the winter gear out for the London/Wapenveld trip. Mascha bought a new wardrobe for her entire town and Marco had ordered half a stainless steel barbecue on Amazon.com. All this took my total packed weight to over 64kgs. Luckily just within the allowance of my (quickly expiring) airline platinum status. I’m flying Air New Zealand this time and should be landing just in time for Benjamin’s birthday.
It’s been very hectic this weekend and I probably forgot a few things as I packed in between doing some work calls and getting the Roos and Alex to school. Looking forward to a break though.
Stargazing in SedonaÂ
We started Thanksgiving slow with a breakfast at the hotel and watched some tv afterwards. The main meal for the day started at 4pm. All the required ingredients where there : turkey, roast, mashed potatoes, Brussel sprouts, pumpkin pie etc.
Right after the dinner we left for Sedona. It was quite a drive ( about 90 minutes ) to get to where we would meet the astronomer. We were surprised that they were available on thanksgiving night but it was an almost moonless night and so it was a perfect night. It was cold too but luckily there were parkas to keep us warm. We sat in a big open field and the astronomer had set up a large telescope. He make it really interesting by talking about how stars are formed, how far they are away and what they consist of. We saw the andromeda galaxy, Orion Nebula, several of the constellations and the Milky Way. We got to ask the astronomer all kinds of questions and he was very knowledgeable.
After the tour was over we drove back to the hotel where we arrived just before midnight. Luckily the bar was still open and we got a hot chocolate before calling it a day.
Local to ScottsdaleÂ
Today the plan was to go visit Scottsdale. There’s an interesting art district as well as many little boutique stores. Roos decided to stay at the hotel and instead it was just Alex and me. We did some good shopping. We bought mom a birthday present (shhh… it is soon) and Lexi got the perfect pair of sunglasses. We also had ice cream and I almost bought thr wall decoration below. Lexi’s lukewarm reaction probably prevented me from buying something I would regret.
Day at the pool
The drive to Scottsdale, AZ took us the better part of Monday so we decided to stay the first day near the pool. It was a beautiful day, the temperature was just right and the poolside food was excellent.
In the evening the sunset here is beautiful. We’re planning on going to Sedona to watch the stars at night.
Awww..
Lately the van den Berg sisters have been arguing with each other a lot, driving both mom and dad a little desperate. Based on this picture from this morning however there is hope.
Arizona Trip
We are in Arizona, and at Whataburger for dinner, and almost at the hotel for a good nights rest
Brea waterpolo tournamentÂ
This Saturday Lexie is playing another waterpolo tournament. It’s in Brea this time. It is mixed tournament so Lexie is playing both girls, boys and mixed teams. Mom and dad both were here. 
