Dordogne, France

We made the decision to head southwest to the Dordogne. It is a stunning river valley filled with lush green valleys, castles and villages perched upon steep craggy cliffs. We have spent our first few days here on the east side walking, picnicking and playing in the river. We even got lucky enough to enjoy a little village party where every street corner had a different band playing music. It varied from something like a school marching band to a jazz band. After a few days, we headed on towards the west and the more spectacular side of the Dordogne. We went canoeing in the Dordogne River which was a great way to take in the views. We stopped along the way and the boys played in the river and skipped rocks. We even had the very special privilege of coming upon a swan’s nest filled with their young. It was as big as a king size bed.... amazingly huge, and filled comfortably with 6 or 7 young and their parents!





We have been very lucky with where we are staying and are able to relax a bit while we are here. We have a beautiful view from our room (the boys actually have their own room!) and we have enjoyed ‘dinner’ on our terrace in the evenings. The boys have spent a lot of time splashing around in the pool and we’ve had a nightly family ping pong competition. When we are able to drag the boys away from all the fun here, we have enjoyed walking around the gorgeous villages and sampling the local cusine. This area’s speciality is duck and foie gras (which I’m starting to think is the speciality everywhere in France!). Bart is loving it, as these are some of his favorite foods!

Route du Vins Alsace, France

We made our way to France driving from Holland via Belgium and then through Luxembourg. We’ve spent our first few days in France enjoying the Alsace region. Located close enough to Germany that it takes on a combination of the two cultures, sometimes it’s hard to remember where we are. Here, the menu’s have foie gras and sauerkraut side by side, and, seemingly, equally loved. The region is the stuff of fairy tales. Every village seems even brighter and lovelier than the next. Half timbered houses on cobblestone streets are draped in flowers and nestled in the base of green valleys. From the villages, grape vines cover the hillsides up to where ancient castles top the peaks. It’s a beautiful place to walk and take in the scenery. We’ve spent many hours walking through villages, vineyards, and hiking steep rocky crags to get to medieval castle ruins. The boys love exploring the old castle ruins and would spent hours climbing, jumping and playing, if we let them.








There are more than 400 pairs of storks living in Alsace today. That is a huge number, considering that, because of environmental changes, in the 1980’s there were only 2 pairs left. Alsace has set up breeding and research centers, which account for the increase in their population here. They spend their summers in Europe and winter in Africa living beside the elephants and lions. Storks are not only known for bringing babies, they are also believed to bring luck. It is a much beloved bird here and we spotted many nests on the tops of church steeples and rooftops. We were very excited when we spotted this family on top of the church steeple. We’ve read the book The Wheel On The School by Meindert De Jong which is a cute story about village school children in Holland trying to get storks to come back to their village to nest. That’s probably what made it so exciting for us!






There are paths for walking everywhere, which makes it easy... they just aren’t very well marked, which makes it interesting. On one our our walks through the vineyards, we found a pear tree with the most beautiful and sweet pears hanging high in it’s branches. The boys decided to conquer the challenge of picking pears for our snack. The challenge... wading through rotten pears, that had fallen on the ground and were now covered in yellow jackets. We’ll they succeeded and climbed the tree and managed to get a few pears for us to enjoy.

Nederland, continued...

We've had lots of fun and a very productive couple of weeks. We have visited Corrie ten Boom's house in Haarlem and Sint Bavo's church, where she attended services and played as a little girl. Mozart also played the organ there when he was just 10 years old. If you don't know the story of Corrie ten Boom's life, I highly recommend one of her books. 'The Hiding Place' tells the story of her life. She and her family hide Jews during WWII in their home and worked closely with the dutch underground. They were discovered by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. Her story is one of God's provision during this incredibily trying time of their lives and forgiveness. Corrie was the only one in her family to survive the concentration camps and after her release she began an international speaking ministry at the age of 54 that lasted for over 30 years. She was a remarkable woman. It was amazing to stand in her house where so many lives have been saved and touched by the ten Boom family. Below is a photo of us in the secret hiding place which was built behind a wall and accessible by a sliding door in the bottom left hand closet. It was a very tight fit but was to hold up to 8 people. There were 6 people hiding there when the ten Boom family was taken away. They were not found by the Nazis and escaped.



The Sint Bavo church was also having an exhibition while we were there with airplanes. It was a bit strange to see airplanes in the church... but the boys were allowed to make paper airplanes and flew them a bit. The photo is them with their planes in front of the organ that Mozart played.



Our days in Amsterdam were filled with school, markets, ice cream, and walking the streets. Here the boys are enjoying a warm stroop waffel from the market. It's a warm wafer thin butter cookie filled with something like carmel. A sticky and yummy treat we can't get at home!



We've spent this last week at Bart's parent's second home on the island of Texel in the north. It's a beautiful spot of unspoiled country that we always look forward to visiting. Time seems to stand still there. It's full of green grass, cozy villages, and farms... sheep, cows, cheese, fruit, vegetables, tulip bulbs... everything you can imagine. There are little stands dotted around the island filled with fresh produce and boxes for customers to just drop their money in. Everything is on the honor system. We get our daily excerise by biking everywhere while we are there. We spent one day biking around the entire island, which was 28 miles. We made a day of it and stopped at the baker for fresh bread, had a snack in the dunes, walked around one of the villages, had a fresh fish lunch at the harbor, and ended it in 'our' village walking around the market. We've biked everyday, but because of the weather, that was our only 'big' day of biking. The weather turned quite cold (a couple of days in the 50's), spotty rain and very windy for the rest of our stay. It doesn't prevent us from enjoying ourselves though, we just throw on more clothes and keep on going! All the following photos are from Texel...

Here the boys are relaxing after a biking adventure...

Typical Texel...




There are wild horses and Scottish Highland Cows in the dunes on Texel. Here the boys are trying to sneak up on them... they didn't realize that Mommy was not being as sneaky as them while taking their picture!

We are now on our way to France and Italy for our last 2 weeks.... more to come...

The Netherlands

We've stayed busy since arriving in Holland. We've caught up on two full weeks of school and have even found a little bit of time for some fun! The house we've been staying in is in a little village and has a canal in the backyard. The boys have spent a lot of time in the rowboat. They even found some blackberry bushes that they could only get to with the boat. They perfected their teamwork skills and their balancing act and picked us enough for dessert a couple of nights! They've also eaten smoked eel and raw herring on the market. Yuck. They are braver then me! We've enjoyed our time here so far and are looking forward to spending the next two weeks in Amsterdam. It's been wonderful to spend time with family and friends and it always feels like home. For the rest, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy.

Video Highlights of England

England

After an entire day's delay, we finally made it to England! After having our original flight cancelled, we were lucky to experience an easy flight the next day. This is the first time that we have traveled to Europe and the boys did not sleep on the plane. Unlike their parents, they do not suffer from a lack of leg room, so for them, it's a first class experience all the way! They watched movies, played video games, drank juice and ate the entire trip... all the things that they aren't usually allowed to do! Bart and I are happy that it's still such an exciting experience for them... we feel just a bit differently about it though! After making it to our destination in Finchhampstead, we immediately went to bed for a 3 hour nap. We then enjoyed lunch and a cup of tea with our friends, Fred, Janice, their lovely daughter Layla and her sweet twin baby girls, Eva and Elana. Afterwards, we forced our bodies outside for a walk through the countryside to get everything moving... and to help keep ourselves awake. We all felt a bit sluggish and weary, but we made it! As you can see, the boys all stopped for a quick nap while climbing over a fence!

We've spent our days in England relaxing, visiting with our friends, playing, walking, and exploring villages. There are so many beautiful paths to walk here that we don't have to go far! Bart and I have enjoyed some time alone walking in the mornings while the boys play with their favorite playmate, Fred. It is truly an unique experience for us. To have so many paths to explore that wind their way all over the beautiful landscape. Through gorgeous countryside and quaint villages with thatched roofed cottages and window boxes spilling over with colorful flowers. Something else we are incredibly excited about... NO ticks, chiggers, snakes, AND the temperature has been between 65 and 70 degrees everyday! It has felt like paradise!

The first two days were a bit uncertain for us, as Bart seems to have torn his rotator cuff. It happened already a week before we left, but with time and then handling luggage it has gotten much worse. He ended up in the ER and has been given a sling to wear so that his arm won't be strained anymore and will have a chance to mend. Surgery will have to wait, as it's a last resort here. After a few sleepless nights, he has finally seen much improvement in the last day or so.

We've loved our walks here; it has been such a treat. The boys are so sweet, and like to try to outdo each other by seeing who can tactfully fill my hands with the most wildflowers.. I've even had the very unusual gift of a rolly polly bug.
One day we explored old castle ruins with amazing views, and from there, took a long walk through meadows, forests, and villages, and then enjoyed a much deserved picnic on the hillside.

Our longest walk has been over 10 miles along the River Thames. It took 4 hours, and the boys did great! We stopped only once at a pub for a drink and had some healthy snacks along the way to keep our energy up. It was a beautiful walk and afterwards, we enjoyed dinner in the village and then took the red double decker bus back to the town where our car was parked. The bus ride was an eye opener for the boys, as they felt quite proud of themselves when they realized how long they had walked! And actually, if we include the village walking, it was much closer to 11 miles!

One day, we stopped at a little farm and shop and picked raspberries, blackberries, and red currants. The vines were so full of fruit, that tons of it was wasting away on the vines. As we picked, we tried helping out as much as we could by eating our fill, so it wouldn't go to waste. A man was there showing off his birds of prey, and the boys even got to hold an owl!


Fred has always taken up a lot of time with the boys and this trip has been no exception. He has always been one of their favorite people. He is great at making up games to play with them and somehow makes everything seem so fun. They made paper airplanes together and then had contests to see who could fly them the furthest, most accurate and highest. They set up buckets and threw balls at them. They made teams and played billards, with Morgan and Fred winning the much sought after East Court Trophy. They helped play and entertain the twins. Got bombarded with water bombs when they least expected it. The boys even had private piano lessons each day and each picked out and learned their own song... giving us a concert the last night we were there. It was a wonderful time spent with friends and enjoying their generous hospitality. As the boys learned to say in England... We had a 'spiffing wheeze'!