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/