Three weeks ago I reported about the arrival of Sinterklaas and shared photos of the parade. This Saturday (December 6) we celebrated his nameday with the family. Lots of candy, lots of presents, accompanied by poems. Some of the gifts from Sinterklaas were hidden in special surprise packages*, as is the tradition:) We had loads of fun, here are some pictures:)


Ruben and his grandma wait in anticipation after the reveal of the pile of presents, while Gayleen is fixing food.


Benthe listening to Jaap reading a poem, while others are a little distracted;)


Gayleen is reading a poem; judging by the laughter it's a bit of a naughty one:-D


Legs for grandma Ina because she had vein stripping surgery....


In the poem Sint says he wants to see her own cutting skills, since she put cuttingboards on her wishlist;)


Lots of jokes were made when she put the legs over her knees; what kind of doctor did she see? *gigglesnort*


In the end she managed to find the clue hidden in the legs, telling her to look for another present inside the operatingtable; a calender from Oxfam.


A surprise package and poem for me!


An old fashioned phone, I guess because I still don't have a cellphone;) Poem mentioned fanfiction and spending a lot of time on the computer. Present was a white mouse to go with my Macbook White \o/


Sint made a tropical Island for Jaap, because of the family-trip to Bali; in the palmtree he found earplugs to use on the plane (although other suggestions were made;)


Grandma reading a poem for Ruben, who's making faces at his dad because of the funny text (a childfriendly naughty word was used, indicating the headphones inside)


The Chinese surprise package for Hans refers to the long trip he made with Benthe.


Disappointed response from Ruben when he's told the book inside does not have pictures "Dat is niet voor mij!" - "That's not for me!", but it actually is; take a look at this video on how his mom and dad will have to read it to him :-D


Fortunately he got another present he could play with right away. We went for a walk in the woods to test his new car. Fun!

After dinner and more hanging out together, we said our goodbyes. It was a great day:)

Last but not least, have a look at my loot:
From left to right: chocolate letter J, a card-holder on a chain, the white mouse, a bookmark sheep, marsipan candy figures, Tony's Chocolonely caramel/seasalt, a skull with loose teeth, a telephone "earphone" so I can use my still not existing cellphone like a regular homephone, a thriller (chosen for the skull cover;), skull door knobs (did you discover the theme yet?) and a CD from Lily Allen: Sheezus. \o/ Thank you, Sinterklaas!

* Want to know how the legs and some other surprises were made? There's a post about that in my LiveJournal! (It also includes a closer look at the marsipan candy:)