Touring the Dutch way

Zaanse Schans on a cold winter day.

Thanksgiving is no longer a holiday on our school calendar being at an international school. It does make me a little sad because Thanksgiving is one of the more family friendly and thankful holidays that Americans celebrate with less commercialism going on. Most years overseas we haven't had the traditional meal with turkey and trimmings because we are usually traveling so I guess in the end, not having the day off doesn't change much for our family.

Because of it being a school day, we actually stuck around and were able to celebrate with our chapel family at a very nice thanksgiving feast. Chaplain Hubbs shared a well thought-out mini-sermon that evening and the food was yummy.

The next morning we left for a trip to Volendam. We had been invited to join our good friends, the
Beardens, who are still stationed in Germany and were touring in that area for the holiday weekend. It was so fun to see them again! We had lived in the same village near Schweinfurt for a couple years and always rode together to Wednesday morning women's Bible study (PWOC).

Friday we drove up to Utrecht on the way to Volendam (about 2.5 hours total away) and stopped at a fantastic train museum that was perfect for kids. We spent most of the day there before finishing our drive to the hotel in Volendam. The lights and canals in Volendam were beautiful as we drove into the city after dark. Saturday morning we met up with the Beardens and toured for the whole day.

It was so cold out (about 40 degrees F) but we still walked around Volendam and then visited Zaanse Schans where we saw Dutch clogs being made, bought some for Loralynn and Tana, and did some yummy cheese tasting. Loralynn was right by our side and wanted to try each cheese except the green pesto flavor. Our lunch was super yummy eating Dutch pancakes with cheese and bacon. We watched them make it on a giant lazy-susan grill. After eating, we continued our walk around the windmills and just had a nice time being with friends in the freezing cold all afternoon.

We went back to the Bearden's rented farmhouse briefly to check it out and then headed to a local restaurant. Loralynn sat with the older Bearden girls, but Tana wanted to be at the adult table. It was sad to say goodbye after a fun day.

Sunday morning we woke up and drove into Amsterdam to visit a fabulous science museum called Nemo. The tickets were pricey but we spent the entire day there and the girls loved it. If we go again, we'll have to remember to bring a picnic lunch because the food for sale was limited, not great, and pricey.

Our Schweinfurt friends minus their oldest daughter.

It was cold but beautifully sunny!

I love the windmills in the Zaanse Schans area.

At the clog making shop, we saw many other uses for clogs.

The wedding clogs were my favorite.

I wondered how a violin clog would sound...?

This was the most expensive clog in the shop!

The clog wood was so green and wet that it dripped water when blown into.

Wall of clogs to buy. Most pairs were 20 euro or higher.

The giant clogs outside were fun to pose in.

The girls could actually fit down into the toe of this clog.

This is the restaurant where we bought our Dutch pancakes.

Dutch pancakes are often savory and super yummy!

You can go up inside the windmills to see how they work.

We all toured together for the day.

Most of the windmills are fully functioning still but are used now as tourist attractions.

The Beardens shared some of their licorice bark.

The licorice bark was literally a stick of wood.

Licorice sticks were used to freshen breath in the 1800s, I believe.

I just love the rows of Dutch houses.

Egging our bushes & Alicia visiting

Loralynn and Daddy hang colored plastic eggs on our trees and bushes at the start of the Lenten season.

I think we may have hung our eggs a little too early this year (March 8, the weekend after Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday which is when I thought it was supposed to be done). I didn't see most of our fellow villagers putting them up until this week. So now it is fitting to post our pictures of the little family affair in our yard.

Tana hung all her eggs as low as possible.

Loralynn really enjoys decorating. Our bushes are very weedy and pokey to get to so Tana was a little iffy about the egg hanging. It was also difficult for Tana to get the ribbons around the branches. Perhaps next year in our new home we can hang them again, but more concentrated on a better bush so that they show up more.

We also had our niece, Alicia, visiting for the weekend as her YWAM discipleship training school in Herrnhut finished the Thursday before and she was flying back to her parents' home in California Monday. She must have made quite an impact on the girls during her first visit in August/September because they adored her company and wanted as much attention as they could get from her.

It was a fun weekend with great weather and we took advantage of it with our egging and going to the park downtown for a picnic.

Our final Hambach home egg decorating is complete. Will we have a place to hang eggs in our new home next spring? 

Photo op with Oma and Opa Wilson

We've been going almost non-stop since my last blog post. I have hundreds of photos to go through of our vacations in the last month, but we are about to embark on our last trip this week so some updates will have to wait.

In the meantime, I thought I'd start with the most recent batch of photos-- the girls with Oma and Opa Wilson the day before they left. We took them to the same location we used when our friend John R. took our family photos a few months after Tana was born in the fall of 2011. I love the hilly backgrounds it affords in all seasons. In the autumn it was gorgeous turning leaves and in the summer (despite the heat), it is lush green and usually well-groomed.

I thought adding the baby dolls and strollers would be a fun way for the girls to take the "long" walk to the middle of the park. They seemed to enjoy the boundless sidewalk while pushing them, but after numerous stops to adjust the babies, it started to get a little old for me and I was wondering if we’d ever reach our goal.

Nonetheless, we got some pretty good shots.

All visits come to an end

Loralynn and Oma walk quickly in the wind toward the Basilika.

We enjoyed Oma and Opa Gosnell until April 16. The weather was cool and rainy the whole time they were here except the day before they flew back to California.

Dan and Tana pose in front of the Veste Coburg.

FRIDAY: We visited Basilika Vierzehnheiligen which was super windy in cold-- just like when we went a couple years ago with Dan's family. Afterwards, we drove to Coburg Fortress, strolled the grounds and then played in the lovely waiting area while my parents went through the great museum.

SATURDAY: My parents chose their last destination to be the open air museum Frankisches Freilandmuseum Bad Windsheim so that they could see how the Germans lived several hundred years ago. It may have been the most memorable part of their visit with us because my dad mentioned it many times afterwards.

I really hope they come again soon! Perhaps our next home will be another fun place to visit!

The girls had a great time in the Veste Coburg waiting area.

Oma and Opa Gosnell FINALLY come to visit

Loralynn, Oma and Opa Gosnell enjoy ice cream on a stick on our sunny visit to the Baggersee.

Loralynn and Tana's first experience of Oma and Opa Gosnell in Germany brought overwhelming excitement. I drove to my sister's new house in Stuttgart with the girls and we spent the night with lots of family. Seven cousins, an aunt and uncle, and Oma and Opa Gosnell all at once had Loralynn hiding behind me in a ball on the couch. Tana wouldn't leave my lap for an instant either.
 
After about an hour of shyness, the girls started to branch out and explore the cool new toys with my encouraging participation. By the end of our visit the next day, they were comfortable without me nearby. Loralynn (3.5 years old) and Oliver (6 years old) acted like best buddies running from a giant and hiding away for safety.


Saturday we brought Oma and Opa Gosnell back to our house in Schweinfurt. We ate some yummy lasagna and settled for the evening. Our itinerary has flexed a little because Dan has been super sick for several days. Oma and Opa seem to be enjoying it all anyhow.

Rothenburg remains one of my favorite places to visit.

SUNDAY: Attended post chapel, switched Ford Escape for van, bought food at commissary, enjoyed the sun at Baggersee while Tana and Dan rested at home


MONDAY: Visited Rothenburg; window shopped, scaled tower to overlook city, girls marveled in Kathe Wolfart store, viewed a church, bought schneeball to eat. 

The room of mirrors in the Wurzberg Residence is famous.

TUESDAY: Participated in morning at Loralynn’s kindergarten (morgen kreis, free play, birthday party); visited two quilt shops downtown and popped into many other stores; walked to our old apartment, Rathaus, and marktplatz farmer’s market, only found two pig statues, took Tana to the doctor for her persistent cough; Tana and Dan rested at home all day


WEDNESDAY: Toured Wuerzburg Residence with an English guide and walked two cathedrals

They’ve got five more full days.