Alligators @ Brazos Bend

Last Sunday we went to Brazos Bend State Park. It is somewhere South West of Houston in the Swamp lads and known for its large population of American Alligators.

Rick was never afraid and assumed Opa Kees would keep him safe.

The Aligators where pretty large! The smallest we saw where about 1m and the largest some 2.5m. Most where only a couple of meters away from us.

The park has lots of other wildlife which is kind of dwarfed by the presence of the exciting alligators. We saw copious amounts of Turtles sunbathing everywhere.

Rick felt right at home and decided to climb a tree.

Some of the alligators appeared quite friendly and where busy socialising with one another and getting a tan.

Just like us really - good company and amazing weather!

But some alligators where rather busy. The below one was quite large and directly next to the path, busy eating its prey. It is trying to eat a Nutria which is a furry animal somewhere between a Rat and a Beaver. As large as a small house cat or one of the larger rabbits I used to own.

It swung the dead animal round to tear off some bite size portions. I found it hard to watch and moved Rick a little out of the way. Kees and Eelco though where all pumped up with excitement.

There where also loads of pretty bird species in the park - much more peaceful -;)

And the whole park was also filled with trees like the below - very pretty and with lots of 'cotton' like rags hanging of the Branches.

I am very glad we bought a state park pass as we will no doubt be back for more!

Opa Kees' Rick Pics

Opa Kees of course also made quite some pictures whilst here. Below some of his pictures. Stay put as we have some exciting shots from our Alligator adventure to share next time.

At the Zoo the goat was the only animal we could get close enough to get Rick interested.

Rick is less interested in grocery shopping and often uses the time to do a quick beauty sleep

At Nasa in the sight seeing tram - even Rick needed an OK stamp for security purposes.

Being happily pushed around in the stroller by Opa at Brazos Bend State park.

Opa Kees in Houston

Opa Kees came to visit us in Houston for the past week. We all loved having him over and had a very exciting few days together (see also a post on Alligators to follow soon).

We started the weekend with a tour through the Heights & a trip too the Zoo (above).

Then we went to NASA

And so Eelco has now decided Rick will become an Astronaut

Rick was very happy about having his Opa around as you can tell.

The men (Eelco, Rick & Kees) spoiled me for my Birthday on Monday. Rick also helped me unwrap my presents.

Janko & Rebecca also cooked a Birthday meal for me on Sunday night and we watched the American Football game at their place - well at least parts of it. The Saints from Louisiana (Rebecca's home team) made it into the Superbowl. Rick stayed close to Opa Kees following it all.

And of course Opa Kees is still Opa Kees so Rick was challenged in multiple ways to expedite his development. As you can tell Rick did not mind one bit.

1/2 Marathon - Running/Finish Pics

Both in pain some 2/3 into the race course.

Please ignore the clock - the time is as for the Marathon race runners - for all of us 'pleps' the time starts to count from when we cross the start line. For Eelco this was less then 1 min after the Marathon but I was in an entirely different start 'wave' all together and started well over 10 min later.

Even too tired to lift my arms, but still running. To the right of the picture the full marathon runners where finishing at the same time. Effectively the guy with the red vest top is more then 2x as fast as I am; guess he did not have a baby 6 months ago -;)

1/2 Marathon

On January 17th both Eelco and I ran 1/2 a marathon. I wanted to await the running pictures but those take forever..... My reason was to have a target to get fit after Rick was born and Eelco had an 8 year Personal Best to conquer (from Glasgow). I regretted having registered before we reached January but as I had also convinced my Friend Sietske to take part who had a baby a month before me I could not bail out.....

So below is the 'before' picture at 5.30 am.....Eelco and Sietske where super excited, I was super nervous and had not slept more then 2 hours. Ready to get it over with!

The weather was cooperating, the event was very well organised and despite the fact that there where 26,500 participants in the Marathon & 1/2 Marathon everything worked very well. The atmosphere was good with plenty audience even at the early hour and the weater cooperated very well too and was optimal.

So after 1:41:59 - at a new personal record - Eelco finished in 518th place (out of 13,000+ finishers in the 1/2 Marathon). Sietske followed at around 2:30 and I managed to finish as well in 2:54:01 very relieved and in one piece. Below the after picture around 1 hr after my finish.

In the meantime Dirk (Sietske's Husband) was babysitting. We had borrowed a double stroller from the neighbors who have twins so he could come and cheer us on from the sideline. As you can see Rick was not impressed at all by any of it.....

It took 4 days to get over the muscle ache for me and although I am proud of myself it is definitely never again. Sietske and Eelco though,....they are hooked. They plan to run anther one in less then a month in Austin. This time I will be painting banners with Dirk & the babies -:) and hence looking forward to it too!

PS Running & finishing pics will follow later.

16 January - International Vest Day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BERNADETTE!!! 

Especially for you we have decided to celebrate international vest day on your Birthday. Mr 2-teeth below is the prime ambassador of this new movement as you can see. We are hoping for many followers  all to please you !

16 January - Internationale Spencer Dag (NL)

16 January - International Vest Day (UK)

Superwoman

Today I baby-sat Rick & his girlfriend whilst Eelco and her parents went of to the movies. It has been freezing all day here in Houston (yes you are reading this correctly), but since the easiest way to keep babies quiet is taking them for a walk I still went. Felt like superwoman -;)

Last bits Cozumel

Rick looking tanned, happy & healthy on the last evening of the holiday.

We made some more dives, also to the more spectacular Punta Sur (35m dive depth - our deepest ever), and saw some beautiful spotted eagle rays, the local species called 'splendid toadfish' (looks like a toad in a yellow tutu -;), some amazing coral formations and many swim throughs (like canyoning under water or black water rafting in scuba gear). The picture below is me (Maartje).

Whilst we where out Scuba diving Rick spend his mornings with Miss Margarita - he Loooooved it and her and the whole hotel staff got involved and loved Rick. No shortage of attention. He was very popular and well looked after and is now used to being cuddled 24x7.

Rick understood more and more about swimming & the pool each day as you can see below.

As you can tell it was a happy family holiday.

Happy New Year !

We celebrated the start of the new year with a meal at a steak house in town

This is the state Rick was in by Midnight

We made it outside with a glass to toast to the new year but only after we had a little kip before midnight and we where back in bed with Rick by 12.15 -:)

On January 1st we started the year with some more diving whilst Rick spend a few hours with his new best friend Margarita. After that I won a bottle of Tequila in the pool-side-Bingo. Not sure whether I should be Happy or Embarrassed about that. I figured I am happy with the winners luck on day 1 of 2010 and if anyone is into Tequila, you are welcome to come over and have some.