Day 6

June 17, 2010, Thursday - Sara loaded up David on the front of her bike (this is normal for Netherlands - everyone bikes everywhere) and we followed her on a 30 minute trip to Delft. We enjoyed the Thursday Market right in the city center. Sara treated us to a fresh warm stroopwaffel. Yummy! We walked around and looked at the vendors and antique booths. Then Sara and David headed back and we toured Nieuwe Kerk (New Church ) and Oude Kerk (Old Church). The New Church was built in 1351 & has beautiful stain glass windows. Very informative church. Chad and I learned a lot about the history of Princes in Netherlands. So amazing...they had a family tree dating back to 1533 Prince William of Orange & it goes until today....little girl just born in 2009....amazing history. Inside the church is a mausoleum of Prince William of Orange built between 1614 & 1623.
The Old Church was built in 1246 & has about 400 people buried within the church walls. The famous dutch painter Johannes Vermeer is buried here.
We bought fresh salmon at the market and made dinner for our lovely hosts.

Day 5

June 16, 2010, Wednesday - We all loaded in the mini van & took a road trip to near by Belgium. Cory & Sara dropped us off in the middle of Brussels. Sara and the kids went to visit an American friend that is now stationed here & Cory went to do some commissary shopping. Chad & I purchased tickets on the CitySightseeing double decker bus & enjoyed seeing the city & getting off on stops and exploring. We really enjoyed seeing Notre-Dame de Victoires Church & Notre-Dame de la Chapelle Church. Beautiful stain glass & such amazing architecture and history.
The Arch of Half Centenary

Chad in front of the Stock Exchange Building.Manneken Pis

Grand Place (town hall and guildhalls)
Chad with part of the town (Brussels) in the background. Brussels is very big especially on foot.
Christy in Justice Palace

Enjoying fresh made Belgium waffles in The Grand Place

Thank you Belgium - we had a awesome day!

Day 4

June 15, 2010, Tuesday - We took the girls to preschool by ourselves today. David came with for the walk. Then Sara and David drove us to The Hague, Netherlands & we got on the tram system to Madurodam (tourist attraction - all of Holland in miniature). We got a bird's eye view of all of Holland precisely 25 times smaller than in reality. We really enjoyed this place.
Then we visited Binnenhof - the Dutch Parliament building. We got to see some new government representatives coming to work for their first day.Here is a picture of the American Coot bird & 3 babies. So cute...well..maybe ugly.A park that we finally found & walked through. We enjoyed seeing some pretty flowers, people playing & pigeons.

Day 3

June 14, 2010, Monday - Chad and I helped walk the girls to preschool & experienced the chaos of all the kids piling in the school & they were all wearing orange to celebrate Netherlands going to the World Cup. Then we figured out the train system & rode to Amsterdam for the day. We purchased tickets for the "Hop on, hop off" Canal Cruise. We were able to explore the city & get to rest while riding on the boat & then get off when we wanted to. The first thing we did was go to the Anne Frank house. We were not allowed to take pictures inside. Wow - what an amazing story of fear and courage and strength...I just can't describe what emotions Chad and I felt going through the house, seeing videos and artifacts. We were very glad that we could visit this place.
Then we went to the Van Gogh Museum & enjoyed seeing the wonderful works of art. Then the Flower Market and saw some beautiful tulips.

The Netherlands Adventure - Day 2

June 13, 2010, Sunday - Chad and I are very blessed to be able to travel to the Netherlands and visit my brother, Cory and his family. We arrived on Saturday. Sunday we attended church with Sara, Cory, Kala (5), Hannah (5) and David (2). It was a very nice service all spoken in English. Then we headed to Zaanse Schans and enjoyed looking at the beautiful working windmills, going in a wooden shoe factory, and a cheese and chocolate shop. Sara stayed with the kids outside and Chad, Cory and I paid $3 euros each to go into a windmill. It was very interesting inside. Lots of gears. The windmill we went in ground up chalk for making pastels, for football & baseball fields & other uses. Then we walked along the canal & there were outside games for the kids. We enjoyed some Dutch french fries too.