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Monday, October 31, 2016

Happy Halloween

I remember when we lived in Lagos that holidays just weren't the same when we were living outside the U.S.  Today is Halloween, and as I know my friends and family had fun Halloween parties this past weekend and are going trick or treating today, I really do miss that.  I have learned to make the best of the holidays no matter where we are.:)  Here, in The Netherlands, we carved jack- o- lanterns...

Don't ask me why Elizabeth cut the nose out to make one giant nose/mouth!


And toasted pumpkin seeds...

and went to a really fun food and wine festival on Friday night...

Jeremy was having no pictures taken:)



band playing on the stage under one of the tents:)
where I had some really delicious Dutch soup...

and there was even a tipi....
 with a fire to keep the kids warm...
Jeremy's soccer team won on Saturday!:)

Who wouldn't like a giant chocolate Euro coin for Halloween on Halloween morning??!!
To all of my friends and family back in the U.S. celebrating Halloween today, I wish you a Happy and safe Halloween and don't be too jealous when we are out collecting candy on Nov. 11 for Saint Martin's Day!!!!:)  Oh, and we turned our clocks back one hour this weekend....so nice to have anextra hour of sleep!!   Just sayin!:)

Doei!

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Equal and Opposite Reaction

I believe Sir Isaac Newton said in his third law of Physics that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  Well, for all the sleeping in and not having to be on a set schedule of our Fall holiday last week, we are having a completely different reaction this week.

This week has been getting up early for school, getting to soccer practice, piano lessons, chess club and ballet. Not to mention homework and packing lunches...

And speaking of equal and opposite reactions, this is a picture of the kids biking here in June...
Riding bikes at 9:30 p.m. this summer here in The Netherlands
 AT 9:30 P.M.!!!!!!!!!!!!

And this morning......
8 a.m. this morning with our bike lights on and ready to go.:)
at 8:00 A.M. with lights on our bikes to get to school!! (The flash on my camera made it even brighter than it really was.)

We are getting to be expert bikers with our bike lights in the mornings.  The days here are getting shorter and soon the daylight hours will be even shorter here in The Netherlands...

Yes, Mr. Newton...you might be on to something with your equal and opposite reaction law!;)

For now, Doei!:)

Friday, October 21, 2016

Home (For now):)

Today, we headed back to our home in The Netherlands...But not before I got a few quick pictures of the the gorgeous lobby area of the apartment we rented for the week...
Elizabeth told me the entry way reminded her of " The Sound of Music" and, the entry to the courtyard reminded her of "The Secret Garden".:)

Doesn't she look thrilled???!! 

Driving out of Berlin


 We made it home a few hours after we thought we would because there was so much traffic.  Guy did a great job navigating through the rain, and managed to drive about 140 MPH on the autobahn today.:)  We also managed to smuggle some German sausage safely back to our Dutch freezer...It is hardly an American Turkey (You can ask my friends about that!:)) but, we are proud to have gotten it safely to our own freezer.:)
German Sausage
The kids were so excited to get "home".  Elizabeth told us in the car that for a minute she forgot that we weren't going to our Houston house....just our "Netherlands" house.  But,  home is home, as long as we are together.:)  ( If you'd like to see our previous adventures in Germany (when the kids were little), click here and scroll down and click on "Germany" in the sidebar.):)
Until next time, Doei!:)
A few of the "treasures" the kids brought back from Berlin.:)

Auf Wiedersehen, Berlin

Our last day in Berlin started off with skeleton donuts....

And a ride on the underground....


A visit to the T.V. tower...


And, sadly, more reminders of the horrors of war...



Jeremy found a few cars he would like to add to his imaginary car collector's garage...

We had an amazing lunch at a great Thai Restaurant....yes...we had some great Thai food in Berlin!!!



photo courtesy of Jeremy.:)
 Did some more more great shopping and found a Lego Santa!
 Got to browse and shop through an open market...



 And had a great dinner and a quick family pic to celebrate our last night in Berlin.  Danke Sehr, Guy, for an amazing trip with the best trip planner ever!!!  I love you!:)
Poor Elizabeth, she was so tired from all the walking we did.:)
Unexpected development,,, J lost a tooth in Berlin..First person in our family to do so!  The German Tooth Fairy will have to make a visit!:)



Third Day in Berlin

Our third day in Berlin started off with a walk along the streets of the eastern side of Berlin, and we came across these reminders of the atrocities of WW2...

Right there on the corner of this street...
Since yesterday, was a very somber day full of learning about history and the horrors of what war and hate can do to people, we thought the kids deserved a day to have some fun.  A friend of mine in Groningen had told me about the Game Science Center in Berlin, and I knew it was right up Jeremy and Elizabeth's alley!:)  If there is anything that Guy and I have learned in our years traveling with kids, is that you can visit all the historic places, but you need to remember your littles and that they need to have some fun, too:) And, did they ever have some fun...


The animation picks up J's facial reactions.

Listening to a virtual haircut

Making your own story, as you go along with the Chooseatron.

Ping pong video game

Turning your voice into a kaleidoscope on the television screen...so cool!
And those pictures were just a few of the things offered at the science center.  Then, after lunch it was time to do some swanky shopping at KaDeWe.  I got to stroll through the department store where I could have dropped the equivalent of $1000 on a Stella McCartney sweater coat....oh..to have that kind of money to drop!!:) It was very interesting to see how "the other side" lives.:) But instead, we headed up to the gourmet food floor and the kids discovered anything and everything that could be made into chocolate.  Jeremy discovered chocolate cars!:) And, I discovered a very extensive selection of wines from around the world...no picture of that, though, I was too busy exploring!:)

And they both ended up with a few KaDeWe treasures!!:)
Another great end to a great day in Berlin!:)

Second Full Day in Berlin

Tuesday was our second full day in Berlin, and Jeremy and Elizabeth found some more bears!!!:)


The kids found a statue of the cool pre war walking signal.:)
We visited Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church today.  It was bombed during a raid in 1943 during WWII.   The city of Berlin decided to leave it that way as a reminder and memorial to the war.  The windows in the front are still blown out and have not been replaced...


Cracks still in the ceiling in the entry way from the bombing.
Then, we were off on a walk through Berlin...and we found many of those Buddy Bears.:)



The kids were really excited to take the Berlin Underground.  They love the subway system.:) And, there was even a subway Buddy Bear hiding out down there,:)


You have to try Currywurst when you are in Berlin...so good!!:)


Picture of the kids in front of the Berlin Zoo.:)
We went to the Check Point Charlie museum today.  Check Point Charlie was one of the check points set up to pass from East Berlin to West Berlin and visaversa during the time the Berlin Wall was built.  I highly recommend visiting this museum to get perspective on how many people risked their own lives (and freedom) to escape and help others to escape to West Berlin...


Picture of the kids outside the actual Check Point Charlie post.

Inside the museum there are several exhibits showing how people hid in hollowed out compartments of cars and in suitcases to get past the border patrols.  This is a mannequin..not a real person.

After we visited Check Point Charlie and learned about the Cold War, we were off to the sight of where the Berlin wall once stood.  Throughout Berlin you can see the scar from the wall and it is marked on the ground as you walk through the city...
Elizabeth pointing to the marker near Brandenburg Gate of where the Berlin Wall once stood.  These markers are all throughout the city.

In a few parts of the city, there are still parts of the Berlin Wall standing. We went to the part near Check Point Charlie.  Here are a few pictures of the wall from the Western side...

The picture below shows the various sectors set up throughout the city during the Cold War...


Guy and the kids looking at the wall from the Eastern side. Jeremy and Elizabeth really could not believe that a wall was built through a city to keep people from escaping to freedom on the Western side.  It is almost unbelievable to me as well...




Below the wall, dug into the ground is the remains of an old military building used by the Nazis in WWII...




Picture of the kids with the Berlin Wall and the old military building in he background.
There is an exhibit set up in the same area called The Topography of Terror...

I have learned about WWII and cannot even begin to imagine the horrors of the people and family members who witnessed it.  If you are in Berlin, it is a free exhibit which gives the information along with pictures and a time line to show how Adolph Hitler came to power and the National Socialists gained their popularity...

If you enlarge the picture below, it answers the question I had about how could something like this ever happen...


Picture during the rise of the National Socialist (Nazi Party)
Timelines of how things developed in Europe during WWII...




It was a very well done exhibit, and I cannot even be able to due justice to the horrors of that war.  Jeremy and Elizabeth were able to follow along also, and there were head phone stations set up where they were able to listen to speeches made by both sides of the war which brought history to life for them.  Jeremy was completely blown away by the fact that people with handicaps and were too sick were murdered during that time (which was only the beginning of the horrors to come).  It was not the most uplifting exhibit, but it did give all four of us a deeper understanding of the timeline and events of the war in the same place where the war happened.

Which leads me to the last picture of the day.:)  When we got back to our apartment, it was time to relax and have some fun. Elizabeth decided to give Guy a new hairstyle...


See you tomorrow!:)