Lichtjesroute

To celebrate and to remember the liberation of Eindhoven, each year the city hosts the Lichtjesroute (literally translated as "light route). What began as families putting candles and lightbulbs in the front windows of homes to welcome the troops has grown to a 22km route through the city that is lined with lights that form pictures. There are several streets that have different animals, a neighborhood of musical instruments and even the Smurfs village!

Hungry baby birds getting breakfast from the mama bird.

All aboard!

This one is quite blurry, but it shows how they hang the smaller ornaments along the roadside pretty well.

The Lichtjesroute starts on 18 September (the day Eindhoven was liberated in 1944) and usually runs for around three weeks afterwards. It's not the worlds most amazing light show, but I love the history behind it and it's a great tour of the city to do on your bike. You can also drive the route but it usually takes FOREVER because of traffic. It's completely run by volunteers and I find that quite impressive! I know I'm telling you a little late for this year, but it runs every year so now you have plenty of time to prepare!

Since I'm not the worlds best night photographer, I'll leave you with a link to the website that has much better pictures than the ones I snapped!

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This week L is for Lichtjesroute! Make sure to go check out the other participants by clicking on the picture below!

K is for Klompen

When most people think of the Netherlands a few things come to mind. Windmills, tulips, cheese... and klompen (wooden shoes). Most modern Dutchies don't have wooden shoes in their closet, but many keep a pair in the garage to garden in.

Most of these from the klompenmuseum at Zaanse Schans are a little snazzy for gardening in, and some completely impractical for daily use, but they're fun to look at!

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This week K is for Klompen! Make sure to go check out the other participants by clicking on the picture below!

Jokes by Joey

Joey the Monkey has some very entertaining jokes for us today!

Q: What's brown and sticky?

A: A STICK!

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Q: Where does a king hide his armies?

A: In his sleevies!

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Q: What did the traffic light say to the car?

A: Don't look, I'm changing!

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Q: Who makes suits and eats spinach?

A: Popeye the Tailorman

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Q: How many ears does Mr. Spock have?

A: 3. A Left Ear, a Right Ear, and a Final Front Ear!

Knee slappers, all of 'em!!!

Not convinced?

Neither is Mr Jummy...

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This week J is for Joey's Juvenille Jokes! Make sure to go check out the other participants by clicking on the picture below!

I is for... Ice

Today for AlphabeThursday I'm going to choose the easiest I word I can think of (besides "I" itself)... because I'm exhausted... and I might be lightheaded from blood loss after stabbing my fingers a thousand and fifty times with pins, my needle, and eventually my scissors (don't do that, by the way, it hurts like the dickens).

I is for... ICE! I took this in January of last year and I just think it's a rather nifty photo.

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This week I is for my Ice! Make sure to go check out the other participants by clicking on the picture below!

Sundays in My City- Alkmaar

Just a few shots from Alkmaar, a city in the north of The Netherlands, this week.

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Be sure to visit Unknown Mami for more Sundays in My City.

Who wears short shorts?

I thought since everyone got to see how adorable Martijn was as a kid, I'd share a picture of me too!

I don't even know where to start... the sunglasses or the shorts... or the awesome velcro shoes!

Friday Fragments- November 12, 2010

• The monkey project continues. We're going to the store tomorrow to purchase eyes. Five are done and waiting for the eyes and I'll just pick up some that I think will work for the others!
  
  
• On Wednesday we went out for dinner and had pannekoeken, which translates as pancakes... however, they're REALLY not like thick fluffy American pancakes. They're flat and more crepe-like and you sortof choose toppings like you do a pizza. I had ham and pineapple pannekoek, and Martijn had salami and peppers. You can also get the sweet ones, but since I was dinner we went for something a little more savory. It was a nice treat.



• At my volunteer job today we decided to do an "art" project. I drew a tree trunk on a piece of posterboard and gathered up some of the fallen leaves from outside. Then we helped the residents stick the leaves on to make a tree. It actually turned out pretty cute, though it did reaffirm my belief that I'm not meant to be a master artist in the field of drawing.



• I've been pretty uninspired in the cooking department lately. I think maybe I need to join up in some sort of challenge like when I did the Food Network Chefs Cooking Challenge. I had fun with that and it made me try new things! I might need to poke around the internets and see if anyone is doing something like that.



• I got a letter from the IND saying that they were processing my application for citizenship. They say they hope they'll have an answer for me by the end of July. JULY?! Really?! I hope I'll have it on my birthday in June cause that would be an awesome present.



• As usual, I FORGOT my 5 o'clock Friday picture. I'm so ashamed. But go check out my pal Lori's blog and visit the people who DID remember!

Enjoy your weekend and make sure to swing by Half Past Kissin' Time and tell our wonderful Mrs 4444 how awesome she is, because she IS! I'm going to carry on monkeying around...