16th month

 This week (January 4th - 10th) it was a very tough week with the kids unfortunately. I got crazy and I was so busy planning stuff for my travel month again... Luckily the parents helped me out too and I was able to be off at 5/6 every day. On Thursday I was off early because I had to get ready for my weekend trip to Miami!! I was sooooo excited to go here! I know it is definitely not the best idea because of covid, but it was y last chance to go there and also because my friend Mariame and I wanted to go here together but it never worked out earlier and she has her flight back home on January 11th. I left to the airport at 3:30 AM because my flight left at 6:30 AM. Unfortunately the bus didn't come so I walked to center city in the dark which was a little scary... I still ended up in the bus that finally took me to the airport.  I always have trouble getting at the airport since covid.. It is so stressful... At 9 I arrived in Fort Lauderdale and there I had trouble again to figure out how to get to Miami.. Luckily it all worked out and all the buses in Miami are free because of covid. Of course it takes longer, but I didn't really care as my friend wouldn't arrive at the airport before 12 because she was flying from New York. I went to Downtown and to Bayside which was really nice. I tried some empanadas and I loved them! Then I met with my friend at our AirBnb. When we unpacked our stuff we took the bus to the Wynwood Walls and then we went to Little Havana. This was a very cute town with a Cuban history. We had dinner at a really nice Cuban restaurant and I loved the food! I never had Cuban food before but it's great! A girl I am going to travel with in my travel month joined us because she lives close from there. It was very nice to meet her in person (we met on facebook in Au Pair groups). Saturday was the best and most beautiful part of our trip. We went on a bus tour to Key West. We left very early in the morning and we got there at 11:00 AM. It is such a beautiful Island! We had lunch at a nice bar with live music and we walked around and took nice pictures. Then we walked to the beach which was amazing! We even got to see a wedding there! On Sunday we went to Everglades and we did an airboat tour which was very cool. We saw a big alligator which came very close! After this we tried tacos with alligator bites... OMG! It literally just tastes like chicken! I never thought I was gonna try it but my friend really wanted to try it... I did it though!! It doesn't taste bad, but it's definitely not something I would like to eat again. Then we went to South Beach and the weather was great and then we had to go back to the airport... What an amazing trip again! But unfortunately I had to say goodbye to a very nice friend! It was a little hard... I gave her a mug with pictures on it and she loved it! It was not a good bye though! It was a 'see you soon'!

Left my heart in Miami 'Bitch'!

This week (Jan 11th - 17th) was a very, very tough week with the kids. I was literally 'done' with it. I couldn't handle it anymore. The youngest one freaked out literally every single day, cried for 2 hours whereas the oldest one does great for school and tries to pay attention. It makes me so sad that all my energy actually goes to the youngest girl because the oldest one deserves definitely as much attention as her sister! I took her on a walk and bought her a donut to make her a little happy. But it also makes me sad how sad the youngest one is every day about doing schoolwork. They are both such sweet girls and I love them with all my heart! But these small things make everyone's day worse at home. There are more frustrations and everyone gets tired of dealing with it. I really appreciate the help my hostparents offer me though! Without them I wouldn't have been able to handle it these past weeks... But, now something very exciting: I booked my trip to HAWAII!!! So now, Alaska, Vegas & the national parks, Seattle & Portland AND HAWAII are booked for my travel month!!! The only missing part is California and maybe Texas. But omg! I am so excited!! And something else I would like to share is: MY FLIGHT BACK HOME IS BOOKED!!! I received a message from my agency (whereas you usually get this only 3 weeks before departure) that my flight back home will be on the 27th of March! I am so excited to see all my friends and family again, but at the same time I am very emotional and sad to leave my second home here.. My second family, and all the other amazing people I've met and the places I've been to... I don't know how it will be to be back home. I am not the same Lieke who left to the US on September 3rd 2019... On Friday the girls were done with school early and we went ice skating at Penn's Landing which was fun! I haven't gone ice skating in years! But luckily I only fell 2 times! I loved to do it together with the girls! On Saturday I met with two other Dutch girls (Aaliyah and Renee) and Renee was also from Limburg (South of the Netherlands) which was really funny. On Sunday I went to King of Prussia Mall to get some winter gear for Alaska!.

Ice skating with my host family at Penn's Landing!

This week (Jan 18th - 24th) was a nice week finally! The kids both behaved pretty well and especially the youngest one did a really good job this week with her school work! I am literally so proud of her!! Even though it was very cold outside, we still had fun at the playgrounds and the youngest one got to play with her friend as usually. Unfortunately the oldest one never sees her friends at the playgrounds anymore or whenever she sees them, they are leaving 5 mins later. I feel so sad for her! I always bring games so we can do something at least and I play with her which she likes, but of course it is different than playing with friends...

On Friday the girls finally hat the night they've always asked me about- a girls night with sleepover! We all slept at my host dad's apartment in the living room with mattresses on the ground! It was so much fun! We watched the movie 'Annie' together and we made popcorn and danced on the mattresses which was so fun! I went to bed the same time as the because I was so tired! The youngest one said I had to sleep in the middle and then she fell asleep with her arm over me which was so cute! Unfortunately the oldest one kept me awake till 11:30 PM, but then she also fell asleep. The next morning I made pancakes with sprinkles for them and then I went to the gym. Later I met with a girl from my cluster and we walked for a bit. On Sunday I went for a long run and called my grandma and then I met with Hendry. I hadn't seen him since November last year which is crazy! It was very nice to see him again finally! Can't believe the last weeks as an Au Pair are here... Don't want to think about going home too much yet cause it will be so hard.. The kids are sad about it already since a few weeks / months... Also everything is lock down at home so nothing I could do there now.. Hope it will change by the time I am home! 

Girlsnight!!

This week was a long exhausting week again with the kids. The youngest one had a lot of therapist meetings this week (all for different things) but she liked it luckily because she got to play with her toys and that's basically all she wants! I got a little crazy of her attitude again unfortunately and the girls fought quite a lot this week... We still had fun though! We played all together sometimes and we met with their friends! On Friday I organized a little girlsnight for the oldest one and her friends and her sister ended up joining too for a bit which she didn't like of course.. I did their hair and they got some face masks and we had spaghetti for dinner (their favorite!). On Saturday I had to work and I took the kids to their dad's because I organized a craft project for them with 2 of their friends in the loungeroom and we made flower headbands. Then we watched the movie 'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory' and that was fun too! Later I watched 'The Adams Family' with the girls and we had a sleepover in my room which they loved! It was fun! I was totally exhausted on Saturday when their mom came back from her little trip... 

What a weekend!