On 31 May we drove to NL for a 1 week visit in honour of Henk's birthday. 

We didn't have many outings planned as last time we were rushing around a bit too much, trying to see people.  We did go to the Rotterdam Zoo, as we can get in for free with our Marwell Zoo annual passes. I had taken the boys last time we were in NL so Thomas was very keen to show Dad around this new zoo. Towards the end of the week I took Thomas and Alex to De Efteling, which is a fun park with a huge section aimed at younger children. I remember visiting as a child and loving it, and the boys loved it too. Alex was so excited he simply had no time to think about his usual lunch time nap.

While in NL we celebrated Henk's birthday. We had bought him an electronic keyboard so he can play some tunes. He's always been a great organ player although he can't read a single note. He just sits down and plays. The boys were impressed! With Henk's illness he is much more housebound, so we wanted to give him a new thing to keep himself entertained. He played on the keyboard every day that we were there and we hope that this will continue. My mum is planning on trying out the 3 Step Lesson feature if Dad will let her have a moment. My brother gave him some head phones so he can even play in the garden.

It was a good visit and it was especially good to see Henk doing so well. You would never guess that he was in a completely different place 9 months ago, nor that he is in the middle of quite intensive chemo therapy.

As always it was sad to have to go but we are now looking forward to Thomas's 4th birthday in July and him starting big school in September. We also have tickets to see a children's theatre show and to see the Farnborough International Air Show next month. Plenty to keep us entertained.