Fam Bam! One Last Visit to Mom and Dad's

Fam Bam

One last visit to Mom and Dad’s

Some of my favorite memories of having the incredible opportunity to live abroad was being able to share it with our family. And luckily for us, this past year each of our girls were able to make time in their schedules to come see Mom and Dad in The Netherlands... one last time.

Spring break our littlest one Amy, came over with her best friend Peyton, plus our Marie and Daniel.

They only had one week and so we decided to go to all the great places close to home. Amy had a list of what she wanted to do. Even though she was raised in Europe, there were a lot of things right in The Netherlands that she didn’t get to do. How was that even possible? Well, she was either in school or just a bored teenager who didn’t want to go. But now she was ready! So off we went to the Kinderdijk, Delft, Amsterdam a hop across the borders to Germany and Belgium. Truly a very quick week but oh so much fun!

It ended with Amy and I taking Peyton to the airport then making the very quick trek to see the tulip fields that were just beginning to bloom.

Then in the fall, our little Sarah came by herself to spend a week with Mom and Dad. First Sarah and I spent the night in Amsterdam staying at the American Hotel, one of my favorites in Amsterdam.

It was fabulous... we took a private canal cruise on a cool crisp fall evening, we went to the Rijksmuseum.

Enjoyed lunch along a canal and went back to the Anne Frank House. Yes, we stood in line for 2 hours but it’s so worth it. Plus there is a brilliant man close by who has a coffee/hot cocoa shop. Then once back in Leende, we toured around Nuenen to see where van Gogh had walked and painted and the stories behind his famous paintings.

Finally it was time to leave for our big trip of the week to the heart of Europe...Switzerland. Famous for banking, watches, chocolate, snowcapped mountains, stunning views, we were headed to Zurich. Flying into the city and then taking a short cab ride to our hotel. We were right in the city and within walking distance to most sights.

We did take a small tour bus the first day just to get our bearings but it dropped us off at the furthest part of the city. This is where we picked up our boat cruise that would take us up and down Lake Zurich.

It was the perfect way to spend a fall afternoon. After our boat cruise, we just walked back to the hotel stopping to shop and dine along the way. We had so much fun!

The next day we walked back to the Central Station and took a train to Lucerne. We had heard how charming it was and truly we were not disappointed.

Again shopping, dining and enjoying a cup of hot cocoa along the ...... life was just perfect as we enjoyed the fall colors and cool breeze. Back to the hotel for an amazing Asian dinner.

Soon little Sarah would have to leave but Marie would be arriving in a few weeks. Cleaning sheets and a quick clean through the house, restock the fridge... we were ready.

Marie and Daniel had taken off 2 weeks from work, knowing this would be their last trip to Mom and Dad’s house in Europe but as everyone hoped, not our last trip ever. The Netherlands for all of us has become so very dear to us and our home away from home.

 In our house everyone teases Marie telling her she’s the idea girl and oh is this true. But it’s also a great thing. Where I like to just go with the flow and figure out things as we go, Marie has an agenda for everyone involved down to the hour and what we should be doing. It’s time here for me to hand the pen over to Marie, because she has decided to start her own blog. It’s called Traveling with the Clouds. I love it!!! So here she is talking about our time together first in Paris and then Berlin. Two amazing trips, planned by her.

Paris

http://travelingwiththeclouds.com/category/paris/

Berlin

http://travelingwiththeclouds.com/category/germany/

So grateful to be able to share this opportunity of seeing the world with my family.

Throwing it Back to Summer ~ My Summer Breeze

Throwing it Back to Summer

My Summer Breeze

As I sit here in Texas on a crystal clear blue sky kind of day, it’s hard to remember that it’s actually winter. I’m wearing a t-shirt and jeans and my daughter is here with shorts on. We’ve got 4 dogs romping around in the backyard playing and the door is open a tad just to let a little breeze come into the house. It feels like a lazy day in summer. Not quite the blazing hot days of summer here in Texas but the beautiful summer days in The Netherlands.

It’s funny, but as an expat you get an assignment for a certain amount of time. Some just a few months and some very long. Ours we were told would be about 3-5 years. It truly felt like we had all the time in the world. But as news of our departure finely came to be there were so many mixed emotions for me. The first few years really our time back to the States was once a year and only at Christmas as I wanted to be with my whole family for the Holidays. We were held to only certain times during the years as my daughter was finishing her high school in The Netherlands. After she graduated, yes it’s true… I went into the Empty Nest Syndrome. Not only had she left to go back to the United States for college, she was my friend, my buddy, my best friend who had gone through all the struggles and triumph of our adventure of living abroad.

Months passed and as she fell totally in love with her school, my anxiety of having her so far away eased. But then... White tulle, lace, flowers and cake took over our lives. With two of our daughters getting married within a few months of each other a lot of time was spent back in the States planning for the weddings. One of our daughters got married this past summer but we were still blessed to be able to have best friends visit us.

Having too much fun in London!

First our friends Chris and Kathy, from my husband’s high school days came for a visit. It was their first trip to Europe and London was their choice of cities to see. So we took a fabulous weekend visit across the pond.

The Guys

As stories from High School and just good ole’ life took over the conversations, it was such a joy to see the “boys” stride side by side as they have throughout their lives. Friends for life!

The Girls

After my daughter’s wedding, I headed back to The Netherlands as our best friends Scott, Dawn and their son Trevor, who were also at the wedding would be arriving in a few days. Dawn would be arriving a few days later as grandbaby #5 would be arriving any minute. My husband had to work, so the boys and I took off for Normandy, France. Scott had booked our stay with Airbnb.com and we truly had no idea what we were getting.

Our villa in Normandy!!

Wellllll.... ummmm yes! It was stunning. We had the run of an old stunning Normandy house set on about 5 acres of beauty.

Scott and Trev in front of the stunning

garden shed.

I absolutely love Normandy and the beauty that surrounds it.

Scott, Trev and I enjoying a little "Happy Hour" outside our Villa in Normandy.

But above all the beauty for me,

American Cemetery Normandy

is the love that was poured out over the beaches and countryside of this stunning region as our US boys stormed the beaches and air during World War II ready to save people in need of our help.

Omaha Beach Normandy

This reverent land will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Heading back to Amsterdam to pick up Dawn from the airport, I started to feel a little not well. I think throwing a wedding, traveling overseas, jet lag then driving to France and back was taking its toll.

Our apartment in Rome.

But... that wasn’t going to stop me going to Rome with my besties! I did take one day off while they went roaming around Rome,

Scott and Dawn on tour at the Vatican

but the next day I rallied for the Vatican and a few other fun stops. Again, we stayed in amazing Airbnb.com just a few blocks from the Vatican City. 

Rome is amazing to me, with all the history and artistic architecture everywhere you look. I will say it was a tad hot in Rome during the summer,

Trev and I enjoying Ribs at The Hard Rock Rome

but that was to be expected. It’s just an amazing city.

St. Peter's Basilica

After we dropped the boys off at the airport, Dawn and I were excited to have just a girl’s week to explore The Netherlands. I took her to all my favorite places... The Kinderdijk to enjoy the windmills, in and around my little village of Leende, off to Nuenen where

The van Gogh Windmill in Nuenen

van Gogh lived and painted and of course my love... Monschau, Germany. It was a great, low key girl’s week and I’m blessed to have shared it with

one of my best friends.

Dawn getting some puppy love.

It was a crazy busy summer... but the kind where a summer breeze... makes me feel fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC1K1AYvtAo

Enjoying the Texas Heat