Mother's Day

 I want to take this opportunity to wish a belated mother's day on my blog to all of my family and friends back home who are mothers.  And,  a very special wish for a Happy Mother's day to my own mom who is fighting her battle with cancer with such courage and laughter.:)  She has been my number one teacher in what a mother should be.:)

Another Mother's Day came and went and this time, I was lucky enough to spend it in Holland.:)  I am blessed to have a husband who cooked not only breakfast, but lunch and dinner, but  he was thoughtful enough to give me a gift to always remember our time in Holland.:)  He bought traditional wooden Dutch shoes and strung them together to make a flower planter.:)  When the wooden shoes start to wear out, it is a typical Dutch thing to hang them on the wall and use them for flowers.:)

 Jeremy made a birdhouse for me at school and Elizabeth made me a small jewelry box.:)

The rain held off a bit in the morning and we went out to Paterswoldemeer

 You know we had to walk by the windmill.:)

 All in all a very nice and relaxing Dutch Mother's Day.:)

I hope all of my friends and loved ones back in the US had a wonderful mother's day!  It truly is one of the hardest jobs a woman can have, but one that I truly love.:)

Tot zeins!

The Weekend (and Windmills)

 This past weekend brought with it some typical Dutch weather (on again and off again showers).  That didn't stop us from venturing out to the small town of Kloosterburen for Jeremy's soccer game.  I think I have mentioned before how much I love windmills. And, along the journey to Kloosterburen, we drove through several small Dutch towns, and I was able to spot ALOT of windmills. There is something about them that I love to look at when they are standing alone in an open field...they are just so pretty.:)

Pretty Dutch house we passed by along the way.:)

Canal with houseboats..Very Dutch:)

 We also passed by several farms along the way and many farm houses.  Farm houses here are different from the ones in the U.S.  The Dutch farmers actually have their barns attached to their homes...

You can see the barn attached to the house in this picture.

Another farm house

Horses on a farm.

Yet another house with the barn attached to it.:)

Arriving in Kloosterburen

 When we got back to Groningen after the soccer game, there was a festival going on in de Vismarkt for Ascension Day, the day observed by Catholics as the day jesus ascended into Heaven body and spirit.  It is a national holiday here and you can read more about the celebration here.  (The kids are actually getting a week and half off from school starting the end of next week beginning on Ascension Day.  We will be heading off to the south of France at that time so stay tuned for some French blog posts!:))  I don't think Jeremy and Elizabeth really cared what the festival was for as long as they got to climb into some giant bouncy balls and spin around on them in water!:)

 And of course a day at the fair wouldn't be complete without a ride on the Ferris wheel overlooking the City Center.:)

It did rain on and off that day, but I think that even I am becoming Dutch...I was soaking wet, but it didn't bother me at all!:)

Tot zeins!:)

Back to Groningen

Monday brought us back to another train to make our way from Den Haag to Groningen.  It was a wonderful weekend and it is always sad when a holiday comes to an end...but I had some beautiful scenery along the way.  Did I mention how much I LOVE windmills??:)

 It was a beautiful sunny day and it was even still sunny outside when we got home to our front door and it was actually hailing while the sun was out!!  You gotta love this Dutch weather!!:)

Hail on our welcome mat

Doei!:)

Easter Weekend - Day 2

 Saturday morning brought us back to the Tram Station in Den Haag to head to the main train station...

Heading back on the train!:)

 
 And this time, our destination was Amsterdam!:)  Along the way, I had my camera out to capture some pictures of the Dutch countryside rolling past us ...

These little sheds dot all over the countryside.  They are garden sheds and people rent plots of land to grow their own gardens.:)

Lots of cows..for all that Dutch Cheese!

And lots of sheep!

And what train ride wouldn't be complete without a game of Simon Says?!

Love , Love Love all the windmills!:)

 And the best surprise of all was getting to see all of the beautful flowers blooming!!!!

Houseboats along the canals....

 And then we arrived in Amsterdam:)

Pic in front of the station.:)

Saint Nicholas Basilica

Dam Square

Love all the Canal houses:)

stopped to do a bit of shopping ( and snacking ) at an open market:)

 Then, it was a stop at a great Moroccan restaurant..... with a surprise for the kids after lunch...

Then, to the Rijksmuseum...

 Guy found an app called "Family quest" for the Rijksmuseum and downloaded it to all of our electronic devices.  It was a really neat way for the kids to also explore the museum and for all of us to learn a bit of trivia as well!:)

Heading off to see Rembrandt's "The Night Watch"...

 Did you know that there is a trap door that the painting can fall into in case of an emergency so it will not be damaged??!!! We learned that on our quest!:)

 We also learned about a gun that doubled as a sword incase you ran out of gun powder!:)

Elizabeth posing in a remake of vermeer's "The Milkmaid"

 Loved seeing many of vermeer's paintings here.  He was from Delft.  We were able to visit that small town back in November..

One of my favorite paintings done by Vermeer

 Love this picture of Jeremy learning about the real use of what we all thought was a gravy boat!!!:)

 Turns out it is really a chamber pot!!!!!

 Lots of fun pictures at the I Am Amsterdam sign!:)

 Pretty pictures from around Amsterdam...

 Then, a stop off at the Anne Frank House.  The kids were actually here when they were much smaller...you can see them if you click here.  It is such a humbling experience to go there and see where this brave girl lived two years of her life in hiding..

 And then, we were back on the train with some lovely views on our way back to Den Haag...

A wonderful day planned by my very favorite trip planner in the world...my hubby!:)