Keukenhof

A couple weeks ago we took a day trip to Keukenhof in Holland to see all the Tulip Fields. We had been wanting to go for several weeks, but it always seemed to be raining the day we wanted to go. I think it took us about 3 hours to get out of the house and on our way. We've been pretty good and getting out and going places with the 3 kids, it just seems to take a lot longer. About 5 minutes after we left our house and were already in the Netherlands (we live a mile away from the border), we realized we did not have enough gas to get there and back and can only fill up at certain gas stations in Germany. SO, we had to turn around a make that little detour. We eventually made it there. Instead of going into Keukenhof, which is famous for the flower arrangements, we decided to rent bikes and bike to the different flower fields in the area. Adeline was dying to ride her bike and was awesome for the handful of miles that we rode. At one point I decided to go off the path to get up closer to a gorgeous flower field. The girls were over by me and Abe rode his bike over to meet me. As Abe pulled up on the bike I noticed the bike trailer was missing, in which Meika was in. When I asked Abe where it was a panic came across his face and he turned around towards the road. The bike trailer was sitting by itself facing down towards a canal. I about had a mini heart attack and Abe starting sprinting towards it. I could just picture it in my head starting to roll and falling only about a foot away into the canal. Luckily he made it there and recovered the bike trailer. It really was our fault because we forgot to bring an attachment to hook it to the bike correctly. Abe rigged it to make it work, but apparently it wasn't 100% safe. Whew. Glad that didn't turn into a tragedy. After that, we decided that we had enough fun and headed back to the car.

cold and tired Norah

Just to end our day on a good note, we were only about 10 minutes away from home (still in the Netherlands) and I was thinking Abe was all of a sudden driving a little fast. Right as I was thinking that, a huge flash went off. Dumb Netherlands. I swear they have speed traps set up EVERYWHERE. Not as worried in Germany because the tickets don't cost too much. But in the Netherlands it is a different story. I guess soon we will find out how much that one will cost us!

Luxembourg City

After we went to Trier a couple weeks ago, we headed to Luxembourg City since it was only about 30 minutes away. Abe spent the majority of his mission serving in Luxembourg City and really wanted to be able to go back and spend some time there. A couple of years ago when Abe and I went on a European vacation, we stopped in Luxembourg but were only able to spend about an hour at the most there. I think Luxembourg City is so pretty and it is really clean. There is also really great shopping... however it is not very doable with three tired kids. We first visited the American Cemetery and the girls had to bring along their cool windmills they got from Trier.

After the Cemetery, we drove into the city, parked and started walking around. The girls were SO ornery! They had slept hardly at all the night before and were really hard to be around. Let me just say it is not ideal to have 3 little kids and two adults in the same small hotel room. Norah is usually the easiest little kid and she was a pill. We still managed to enjoy the beautiful scenery. How could you not!

After we walked the city, we were planning on doing a tour of the casemates (the tunnels through the rock in the side of the valley), however all the kids were falling apart. Norah was in the stroller bawling and whining, Adeline was whining and Meika was screaming because she needed to be fed. We walked back to the car to grab our jackets since it would be cold in the caves and also to feed Meika. As soon as we got to the car Abe said, " I am making a command decision. We are leaving!" It was a really good call. I thought I was going to go CRAZY and was in need of an adult only vacation. We just started driving and ended up going about an hour into a little town called Vianden. Luckily all 3 girls slept in the car. The silence was heaven. Vianden was such a cute little village in the Country side of Luxembourg. The best part about it was the huge castle on the hill. The girls LOVED it. Adeline was trying to figure out the entire time which princess she thought the castle must have belonged to. She ended up saying Rapunzel due to a little tower on part of the castle that looked like hers.

While we were walking through the castle, Adeline seemed a little scared at one point and so Abe pretended to be a little scared. In the cutest little voice possible, Norah said very slowly, "Don't worry daddy, I WILL protect you", as she was holding his hand. She continued to say this over and over while walking through the castle. Ever since then, she continues to tell Abe that she will protect him. She kills me.

The best part of the trip for the kids(besides the awesome castle) was the pool at the hotel. The girls were in Heaven and never wanted to get out!