EASTER

This was a fun adventure for our family. To rule our appendicitis we took Brecon to the same hospital were Brielle was born after he had been having severe abdominal pain. It wasn't a big deal or anything, but just to be sure the hospital staff admitted him and we stayed there for 3 days. I think Brecon actually liked being there in the hospital, it was like going on one of our trips and the "HOTEL" was actually bringing in food to our room! Plus, when Ben was the parent there he let Brecon play as much video games as he wanted. This wasn't so great for me when I actually read him a story, we brushed our teeth, and went to bed... He got real emotional and said "I want Dad to be here." That's what I get for being the MOM!

 

In the end, all the results from the labs came back normal, and our weekend was spent between our house and the hospital when Ben didn't have to work on Friday or Monday!! GRRRR!!

 

*also funny to note: One of our adult friends went in that following weekend after some severe pain and she actually had her appendix removed !!

 

Our poor Brecon hooked up to an IV with his sister crawling all over him. The rest of the crew sat nearby eating our picnic.

EASTER EGG HUNT

Our Family Readiness Group for the medical clinic hosted an Easter Egg hunt, face painting, and balloon rocket/animal fun! Ben volunteered to help out with the balloons and the kids went crazy blasting them off into the sky. It was fun to watch Ben work his magic around the kids and there was a good line to get their rockets pumped up with air. He roped in a couple of assistants to handle the crowd and the kids all got way too much candy from the hunt.

 

APRIL FOOLS

Here are a few highlights from the month of APRIL:

 

CRAZY NAP HEAD and FACE (my sick kids)

We had some wicked bug fly through the three young ones. Connor and Brielle handled it the best, but poor Brecon honestly didn't leave the bathroom floor for two days! We brought in a small bed for him, so between the "out both ends" violence and sickness he could rest. I felt like I was on full-time comforter mode, snuggling was nice, but  there was nothing else I could do until it was all over. I felt so horrible for them all. It was a relief for them all to be healthy again.

 

 

BEAUTIFUL WINGS on an ANGEL

Connor's hair had been growing out for most of the winter and it was so beautiful and curly, here is the blown-dry version before we took him over to our neighbors house who just LOVED when he came strutting over to play.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!

To celebrate our amazing man, Ben took us all to the store and bought everyone in the family a present! The boys were thrilled and excited to get a gift on their Daddy's birthday. They even were heard saying "I want to do this for my birthday". They spent the rest of the evening building their guys and playing with them together.

 

I got out a little art activity for the boys one afternoon. Paint and goo  and little hands all over the place. By the end our entire table had their creations spread out to dry.

Brecon got a little bunny basket from kindergarten with a few pieces of chocolate and a real brown egg inside as well. He has also had some big changes going on in his mouth with different teeth falling out or being extracted from the dentist (poor guy) and lately I have been calling him the "Toothless Wonder".  To top it all off-- he also no longer has his two front teeth! It makes me giggle to hear him talk and watch his little tongue work around all the gaps in his mouth.

 

FAIRY WARRIORS

Ben has this amazing talent with making balloon animals and swords. Little did me know he is also great at making the neighborhood into fairy warriors with balloon wings. The kids all loved running around with their wings on, only popping them on the wall a few times!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIELLE!!!



A first birthday just isn't complete without a shower to wash off the birthday cake mess. Actually this is a pretty normal occurrence after any messy meal, but we can still pretend that this is the traditional birthday bath!

To celebrate this special day I made angel food cake for the first time from scratch and it  took forever!!! Add some flour, gently fold in the flour, separate 12 egg white (WHAT?!?!) Beat for 20 minutes until stiff peaks form.... you get the idea. SO just in case my cake from scratch didn't turn out I made a Betty Crocker back-up--- YES, now this was more like it. There didn't seem to be a preference for either one and Brielle seemed to enjoy the strawberry shortcake and whipped cream. She is such a sweet little girl and growing up so fast! We all love her!

 

RED HOT READER

Cael worked really hard to be a gold medalist for the Red Hot Reader month at school. This included reading for an hour on school nights and 2 hours on the weekend. I was impressed to see him dedicate that time to reading, even if he really wanted to do something else. He is competitive that way and he really does love to read!

Spring Break pt 2

      

 The rest of the day at Keukenhof we visited the greenhouses full of beautiful tulips, so many different varieties, colors, shapes, and sizes. The aroma was dreamy and sweet. I never felt overwhelmed by the smell and the entire place was a feast visually.

 

My most favorite display house was full of orchids. I was surprised at how large and how small the orchid flowers could be. I couldn't get enough of this place (especially with how cold and chilly it was outside). But our time soon ran out and we left ( a little sad we were too early in the season to see the amazing display and flower fields ). Ben and Ben Campbell flew kites with the kids out in the grassy parking lot and the wind was strong enough to let everyone who wanted to have a turn.

AMSTERDAM

 This photo was taken right in front of the Anne Frank house, or where the Frank family hid from the Nazi's during WWII. I was completely touched walking in the home and up into the quarters where this family (along with others) had to keep silent, move very little, and yearn so badly to be outside in the fresh air and away from the hatred that had consumed so many. For Anne her only therapy was to write stories and the latest news in her journals. So much emotion, despair, and worry that at any moment they would be discovered and taken away. Some who have visited this museum have felt underwhelmed or not as impressed with the set up, but I think you can get out as much as you want.

SIDE NOTE: We visited the museum after Justin Bieber. If you don't know he made a comment in the guest book about how "Anne was a great girl... and being a BeLIEBER" I looked into the book and saw references to him and I didn't understand until after we had got back home what the big deal was all about.
....I was somewhere famous....

 Walking through the city was neat. Bikes, canals, and the architecture. A great combination. We kept our map close by, we didn't want to walk anywhere we shouldn't :)

 In front of the Rijksmuseum are the famous letters I Amsterdam. Just like everyone else we couldn't help but climb all over the letters and get the kiddos in there for a M shot. Brecon wasn't quite so happy his tummy hurt, but we got them all together.

CRAZY!

 We knew we wanted to explore the beach and the sand after our time in the city and we all had a great time. Really- our kids could be at a sandy spot all day. Running around and letting go of all inhibitions, digging around for treasure, and the wind constantly in our faces. A perfect (not sunny nor hot) day at the beach!

This kid wants to jump higher, be faster, and go further than anyone else. A small competition issue, but he is still a great kid. He kept saying- "Mom, you want me to do that higher?"... How could I deny him that joy of jumping and landing in the sand? AIR JORDAN!

MAUDORADAM- the Hague

 This neat "little" display of all the big buildings places around the Netherlands in miniature forms. Educational "little" videos, interesting facts, and a "little" bit of fun. Our favorite was to watch a miniature candy truck drive over and deliver a piece of chocolate to our boys. They went wild over that. It really was a "small" world! A little sprinkling didn't slow us down.

 

GOUDA

 Adorable little town, charming city center, and yummy GOUDA cheese in all their varieties. We got the baby GOUDA and shared it with friends. It was so ... cheesy... and perfect with crackers. Even if the weather wasn't warm enough for ice cream, the boys got a scoop each to tide them over until dinner.

 

KINDERDIJK

 To get over to this great spot for the famous windmills we drove through these back road villages that were surrounded by water, a bridge driveway and a house surrounded by water, fields with canals running along on each side by water... EVERYWHERE. As we followed the GPS we got to a spot where there was no road at all. It went right into the water and there was a ferry on the other side. We took it for the adventure and later found a different way home, but still... it was pretty crazy how many cars and motorcycles they crammed onto that thing.

TERRA COTTA WARRIORS

We saw the Hague had a visiting display of the famous Terra Cotta warriors. The video that tries to explain how each warrior was made by coiling the clay was pretty amazing. The scientist now use a mold and it still takes months to make. The effort required from the Emperor of his citizens to build this army to protect him in the afterlife was incredible. Each warrior was brightly painted and covered with lacquer from the lacquer tree which is a powerful irritant, but also a sealant, and it took a weeks to harvest only a small cup. Glad we saw it and learned more about this amazing discovery. Something to look up: CHINESE PURPLE. The color is extinct, but was found on these warriors.

SPRING BREAK pt 1

I had this whole trip planned out exactly how I wanted it to happen. But my plans never do seem to go just the way I would like them to go. The first and most obvious setback had to do with something I have absolutely no control over... the LATE SPRING! Winter was holding on with its icy cold grip which trickled over into the spring flowers which were technically supposed to be in full bloom when we were in The Netherlands, but they were not. Regardless of this somewhat disappointing visit to Keukenhof ( I have seen this place in ALL it's glory) our family was together, we made some great memories and got to visit with some wonderful friends. Let the photos begin:

 

BURG ELTZ

If you read up on Rick Steve's travel books you won't miss him mentioning that Burg Eltz is his most favorite castle to tour through. I had taken the boys a few years ago so this was actually Ben's very first time. We had our own private tour, just Ben, Cael, and I to wander, ask questions and really take in all there is inside and out.

TRIER

Me and my Honey!

We love stopping and staying with our very good friends- The Atwoods. And just because we are cool like that Sabrina and I wore matching shirts on one of our outings and made the coolest four-armed monster. It is a good thing we are so close- this could have been weird with anyone else!

COCHEM CASTLE - renovated by some rich Frenchman a long time ago. Nice little hike and beautiful views of the Mosel River and valley.

OPEN AIR MUSEUM- The Netherlands

We strolled along the countryside and went through many old buildings that were transported here in one location. A fun little trolley car can take you all around and you can get off when ever you want. I really loved the old thatched-roof barn/home, the tiniest little house that was made out of peat, and the school house that was used only in the winter when the children weren't helping their families on the farm with all that needs to be done there. We bought some tiny pancakes and scarfed them down in a minute and also some interesting old fashioned black licorice candy. The boys were excited until they took a bite of the gummy stuff. Connor was seen hunched over and trying as forcefully as he could to get the taste out of his mouth.

So we got this huge suckers that the kids thought were pretty great. Brielle loved them too. Until we took it away from her. Poor little thing had a rough trip and by weeks end was banged up and bruised all over her forehead, nose, and face. Something about flipping out of the stroller, walking into an opened kitchen drawer, uneven surface stumble-- you get the idea.

This is what "taking candy from a baby" looks like.

 

KEUKENHOF GARDENS

Like I said the gardens were beautiful, just not TULIP beautiful. The crocuses and daffodils were blooming and bright, the weather was breezy and chilly too. They even had consolation boxes of tulips along side the benches on the path so you didn't feel too bad ( I still did)  So after we walked into the information display our children drew some amazing pictures so we could all warm up. We were given bulbs to plant in our gardens someday-- there was no way I was going to put them in the ground yet (the timing is wrong and we are moving!)

We packed a picnic and shivered when the wind really started to blow our way. The kids had a great time at the animal petting area, a quick hedge maze, and then we hustled over to the green house where there were pretty - pretty tulips all over the place.

 

Brecon could not contain himself! He loved this place- can't you tell? He was sulking and sad when Ben wasn't holding his hand for some reason. We kept walking and he stayed put... it's a good thing we could spot that frowning face anywhere!