Some of these things are not the same...

Mailbox down the street...

Not to be confused with cigarette vending machine across the street....

Charming front door key....

Our house...

And the infamous multi-purpose bathroom...

(Do you think she will mind this photo when she is 13?)

Sights in the Netherlands

We were very torn about how to best spend our few days in the Netherlands.  Chill and vacation and play in the park?  Do some sightseeing?  I think we ended up finding the right balance.
On Monday the kids went on another go-cart adventure.  All the stores were closed Sunday and Monday in observance of Easter.  We had planned ahead but forgot toilet paper- and we were out! Thankfully the park store was open so we pedaled down the street to make a quick purchase.
That afternoon we drove back over to Deventer where Opa and Oma live.  We walked down to the river and took a ferry ride across to the windmill.  These kiddos were a little uncertain? 

But not so for this tiny girl managing her bike! 

This particular windmill or "windmolen" is still a functioning part of a sawmill.  The thing that is magical about windmills, and they are truly such an amazing thing to see in real life, is that I think even the nationals know they are special. 

Our blatant photo op was not too embarrassing. 

The kids really loved the ferry ride back to the city.

There we walked through town to the market center.  And the best cheese ever.

(Ok, wait, this pic was actually Saturday) and almost got run over by some sheep.  Sheep? Yes.  Following their sheepherder right through the market center of this beautiful city! 

I LOVE IT!
And finally, a stop for Italian ice.  Delicious.

The kids ended their day with an hour of swimming.  So basically, they completed a triathlon!

On Tuesday, Emma and I toured the Royal Palace in Apeldoorn. Het Loo is beautiful and the history of the many queens is rich.

I took Emma's picture in the bedroom of Queen Emma.

Meanwhile, JB took the three younger kids on a tour that was much more appropriate for them.

Another activity packed 5 days.  Time to go back to Germany.  I will say, there were 6 rather sad people to be leaving the Netherlands.  Next time JB does a study abroad it is the Netherlands or bust.

Easter

With 5 days off for the Easter Holiday we traveled to the Netherlands to get the kids on the soil of their heritage.  And buy peanut butter.  :) Yes, we are addicted.  Except for me who may be allergic.  Extreme sadness. 
We were only there for a short while but packed our standard amount of crazy activity into every moment!

First order of business was a quick visit to Oma and Opa's apartment.  While it is not set up for these rowdy kids, we wanted to get some photo op's and let the kids see where Opa and Oma are when they are skyping with them from.

Plus Panda was hungry and Oma has bamboo.

We stayed in one of the many vacation parks in the Netherlands.  These are individual guest houses in a park with playgrounds, restaurants and swimming pools.  We were able to pack all these activities in plus fun rides on the go-carts (called "Skelters" here).

Easter is one of my favorite holidays.  If not my top.

And this year we got to share the fun tradition of dying eggs with Oma and Opa! 

Sunday brought the celebration of the resurrection and my phone began buzzing happily with texts of, "He is risen!" and replies of, "He is risen indeed!"
The kids got Easter baskets with the best things ever, Kindereggs!

And who knows what movie these egg cups are from but they are the cutest! 

First order of business, adding stickers to the dyed eggs.

I think the kids most enjoyed subjecting Opa and Oom Martijn to multiple egg hunts.

Well, except for one who didnt seem to be feeling the egg hunt that day!

Oom Martijn thought he had the advantage.....

 but Anneke talked him into getting it down for her!

We were soon joined by Astrid and Simone and the whole family of Huub and Gerty van Hecke met for dinner at a Pannekoeken restaurant!  Yum.  Pancakes are diverse at these places, savory ones filled with meat and vegetables or topped with Stroganoff or pizza style.  Sweet ones filled with apples or pears or chocolate... to name a few.  But what was most special was having Huub's two sons and Gerty's two daughters together. 

Anneke was especially taken with Tante Simone and wanted to "give that girl her coffee".

Emma and Tante Astrid had a sweet talk. 

We had to part ways too soon but are always hopeful that our next visit wont be as long in coming as the one prior....