Amstelveen, Netherlands

We had the awesome priviledge of staying with some friends while we were in The Netherlands. The Beltman family is living in Amstelveen (which is right outside of Amsterdam) for 9 months. To make a long story short - Doyle and Susie lived in a little house next to Kimber's parents back during their college days at Dordt. Doyle and Susie remember Kimber as a little jr. high girl! A lot has changed since then - however it was great to see them again, catch up, and meet their family - Jonathan and Hannah are 11, and Joshua is 6. Their kids and our kids got along GREAT. The accomodations were EXCELLENT - it was definately the way to travel for us! Too bad we don't have long lost friends in other cities throughout Europe! Thank you again to the Beltman's for a wonderful weekend! You were AWESOME hosts!


Snuggled up for a bedtime story - Do you think the girls took to Hannah??

Susie and Silas - enjoying a traditional "Dutch" meal - All of us at the tram station.

We used Public Transportation to go into Amsterdam. Sydney was especially excited to ride on the tram! This was a first for Kimber and the kids (except Shane - as he has rode on a tram several times for school field trips).

The tram - Sydney, Mommy, Silas, Joshua, and Shane - Hannah and Shaylee.

Delft, Netherlands

February 7-10 we took an extra long weekend to enjoy a visit to the Netherlands. We left early Thursday morning and drove just under 5 hours to our first stop - Delft.

Delft of course is famous for its blue and white pottery - but it also was the home to painter Johannes Vermeer, and Prince William of Orange.


Along the canals - and the town's only windmill

The square with the Town Hall.


The New Church and the Old Church. Shane with his picture by John Calvin!

On our way to Amsterdam - the typical Netherland's countryside.

Fasching Parade in Malsch

We attended the famous Fasching Parade in Malsch on Sunday afternoon. Malsch is a little town not far from us that goes from a population of around 3,000 to 30,000 for their Fasching Parade. The parade was great - these Germans go ALL OUT in their costumes and floats!

Along the parade route - getting ready to get some CANDY! And boy did they!!!


Kermit the Frog - and more than one Miss Piggy. I also liked this Beehive with Bumble Bees...



Parking Meters, Pillows, a band with great costumes...


Skiing on bedpans! This one was hilarious! The Eifel Tower... and this clown just happens to be one of our friends' landlords! She made all the costumes for their group.

More great costumes, the Romans, Royalty....


I also really liked these Horse Flies - they did a dance routine! And the Red Hot Chili Peppers...

A M&M machine, another interesting float, and a Chinese Dragon....

There were several others, more bands and such too - it was just a very interesting parade. Hope you got a glimpse through these pictures!

Fasching

Germany celebrated Fasching this week....the girls got their faces painted one day, and on Thursday and Friday they got to dress up in costumes. The girls were both princesses, along with almost all of the other girls in their class....what else would little girls want to be right?? On Friday their Kindergarten had a Fasching party with the parents. Shaylee went as a butterfly this time, but Syd still wanted to be a princess. At the party we enjoyed food and dancing! Most of the songs we danced to were in German, however we did do the Hokey Pokey -of which was in English!


Shaylee with her face painted - and pretending to flutter her wings like a butterfly.

Sydney had a very detailed painted face - it was a beach scene, including a setting sun, ocean, palm tree, and birds! WOW - what an artist her teacher is!


Standing in a circle - getting ready to DANCE!

Unicorns in the bathtub!

The girls were having fun in the tub the other night. Do any of you ever remember making soap statues, unicorn horns, or the like, with soapy wet hair when you were a kid?? I did -and therefore ended up with unicorns swimming in my bathtub! We got quite the laughs - and just had to take pictures!

Saturday building project!

Jer and Shane decided to pull out Jer's old Erector Set that he got when he was a kid. They spent around 7 hours putting together a crane. It took awhile -but they got it working for the most part...it had an electric motor that still worked (sort of) after 25 years of being in a box.

I'm not sure who was having more fun - Shane or Jer!