The Netherlands

Oh Netherlands, you may just be my favorite so far.  This little side trip was divine.  We had lovely hosts, Robert's sister and her family.  This was our first trip in which we rented a car.  What a difference! This let us explore so much more than what a train limits us to.  

Our first stop was Delft...

Our visit to the Royal Delft Factory...

Sunday we attended Church...

... and swung by The Hague Temple on our way to the town.

The Hague had a pair of fun museums: The Escher Museum, with tons of famous art, and The Louwman Museum, containing over 250 antique and rare cars. 

Scavenger hunting...

 

  Local cheese shop in Wassenaar...

A visit to Zaanse Schans was delightful :)  We learned how to make chocolate, wooden clogs, and cheese.   We toured a working wood cutting windmill that let us get really close.  Like right next to the moving blades.  Like stepping over the logs being hauled into the blades.  Like walking down the ramp where the logs are floated in to. Gotta love the excitement with the lack of OSHA!

 

  

 My Shot...

 

...and Robert's...

Our trip into Amsterdam included a visit to the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, and a canal boat tour.

We did our usual thing; upon entering a room, the kids were free to look at whatever they'd like.  I would call them over to see anything super significant that I wanted to make sure they saw.

Tyler: "Mom, Jack could paint that."
Trey: "Seriously, it's awful!"
-standing in front of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers".  Like, THE Sunflowers.  That Van Gogh painted.  Van Gogh!  Ugh!  Twits.

I tried to prep the kids as none of them have read the diary.  It was lost on them, until we visited.  The Anne Frank house was humbling.  Hopefully they remember this.

East India Trade Company came through this way :)