Germany

We went to Germany for a couple of days last week. We finally broke down and purchased a GPS system, which pretty much made our trip possible. We were on several "unnamed roads" and it would have been a little difficult with a Yahoo map. :) The countryside was beautiful. Everything was green and there were lots of wildflowers on the side of the road. Our first stop was Burg Eltz, a castle in the Mosel Valley. The castle is still owned by the family and they still reside in a portion of it. We were able to take a tour of the castle and see many of the original furnishings and paintings dating back to the 12th century. Pictures were not allowed on the tour, but here are some pictures of us outside:

After our tour of Burg Eltz we decided to go find Burg Pyrmont (another castle nearby). We took a look of it from a distance, but decided not to take the hike up to it. Rachel did enjoy playing by the waterfall that was near Burg Pyrmont.After that little stop we drove through the Mosel River Valley. It was a beautiful drive and we enjoyed the scenery. We drove through a little town called Cochem. As we drove along the Mosel River the mountains on either side were covered with vineyards. The next day we spent some more time along the Mosel River. We went to a town called Bernkastel-Kues. It was a cute little German town. We found a park for Rachel to get some wiggles out. Rachel and I also enjoyed an ice cream cone at 11 in the morning! :) As we drove through the Mosel River Valley there were several more castles along the way. We then headed to our final destination, Heidelberg. We got there, checked into our hotel, and then headed out to the Heidelberg castle. It was 3:30 and the last English tour was at 4:15. So, we took off and hoped for the best. After climbing up roughly 300 stairs we made it just in time for the tour. And it was worth it! We really enjoyed the tour of the Heidelberg castle. We learned a lot of history and found it very interesting. Rachel was a good sport through the tour. We could take pictures inside this castle, so here are a few:

Rachel thought the ceiling was pretty cool!This one is for my brothers - Ruprechta? Who knew I was royalty?The many views from the castle. Heidelberg was a beautiful city.

I believe the highlight of the trip for Rachel was that evening when we went swimming. She absolutely loved it! Of course we didn't take our camera down to the pool, but she had a blast. She kept on saying "all by self" and would push herself away from us. So, finally we let her swim all by herself. Let's just say, it didn't go to well. Once she recovered though, she asked again "all by self". Before heading home the next day we decided to do something just for Rachel. She had been a trooper on castle tours and long car rides. So, we took a train ride up the mountain to Konigstuhl. There was a fairytale amusement park for Rachel to play in. It was up above the castle and the view was absolutely beautiful. Rachel's favorite discovery was the bouncer(?). I'm not sure what it's official name is, but she loved jumping. It was hard to get her away from it. After a couple of hours at the park, we started our 5-hour trek home.

Yes, I'm a big cheese in this video. I thought Andy was trying to take a picture of us. I didn't realize he was taking video. :)

It's a miracle that Rachel lasted so long without colliding with anybody.

Keukenhof Gardens

We headed to Keukenhof Gardens last Wednesday. There were a few sprinkles of rain off and on, but overall it was a pretty nice day. We were amazed at the amount of flowers (around 7 million). On our way to Keukenhof we passed a lot of flower fields (like the one pictured below). At one point, we pointed out a field of yellow tulips to Rachel, and she quickly informed us that there were also brown flowers. We had to explain to her that it was just dirt! :) We enjoyed our morning exploring the gardens. Here are a few pictures of our adventure:

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Rachel enjoyed two of her favorites on Friday night - her daddy and ice cream. After a busy week at work, Rachel was happy to see her daddy home on Friday night. Andy and Rachel went on a walk after dinner. She can be quite bossy on walks and she kept on telling Andy "this way" and pointing where she wanted to go. Andy quickly realized that it was going to be tricky to get her back home. So, he asked her if she wanted some ice cream. Rachel quickly said yes and starting running for home. Andy's intention was to share an ice cream bar with Rachel. I believe Andy got the first bite and then after that it became Rachel's ice cream. She wanted to "hold it" and every once in awhile she'd let Daddy have a turn to take a bite. Rachel certainly enjoyed her "i seam". She definitely proved that when it's something she's interested in eating she can be quite efficient and even feed herself! :)

No Personal Trainer Needed

Any exercise routine for me is pretty much nonexistent. Back in Texas, I was really good about going to the Y to work out. They have a great child care center that Rachel loved to go to. So, almost every morning, we would head to the gym. I was able to get some exercise in and Rachel had fun playing with other little ones. We had a good routine going! It is definitely one of the things I miss. Since moving to Holland I've been really bad about exercising. I justify it by the fact that we walk pretty much wherever we go. :) Every now and then I do get somewhat motivated and put in my balance ball DVD... And sometimes in the morning I will even do some sit-ups. Have you ever tried to do sit-ups with a toddler helping out? At first Rachel thought it was absolutely hilarious. It was play time! She'd straddle my stomach and laugh her head off. Rachel then got so she would coach me and once I stopped, she'd say "more". It was pretty funny! Well, now Rachel joins in and does sit-ups right alongside me. It makes it a bit easier. I guess I could have taken a video of me doing sit-ups, but here's a much cuter subject:

The Dutch Language

I've had several people ask me if I'm going to learn Dutch while living in the Netherlands. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea... Last fall, Andy claims that I laughed at him when he wanted to purchase a computer program to help you learn Dutch. :) I probably am guilty as charged! I wasn't really planning on learning Dutch while living over here. And I had an experience back in December that sealed the deal. I met a nice lady at church one day and she is a native resident of the Netherlands. She basically told me that Dutch was a useless language and that I shouldn't bother learning it. I was quite surprised! She went on to say that the Netherlands is such a small country, where else would I use it? So, I'm not planning on actively studying to learn Dutch. We are also spoiled, because most, if not all, native adult Dutch residents can speak English. I've never had anyone upset that they had to speak to me in English. The Dutch are generally very kind people who are willing to help. Who knows what they say behind my back, but face to face, they seem okay with it. :) I do feel guilty when someone is just trying to strike up a conversation with me or Rachel and I have to tell them I speak English. I usually quickly inform them that we've only lived here a few months! I don't know what I'm going to do when that's not true anymore. :) I have learned quite a few Dutch words here and there though. I certainly wouldn't be able to speak a complete sentence or carry on a conversation, but I do know some words. Andy is much better than I am about saying good bye and thank you in Dutch. I still revert back to English. I guess it's what I'm comfortable with! I have also found that some Dutch words are very similar to English. Here are a few examples:

hello = hallo

thank you = dank u

bus = bus

train = trein

car = auto

bread = brood

butter = boter

milk = melk

fish = vis

apple = appel

Okay, so I could go on for awhile, but you get the idea. There are plenty of words out there that aren't as similar to one another. I think a lot of the nouns are very similar, but verbs are a bit different. Please don't quote me on this, because I am no expert! I do get a kick out of some of their words. They can be super long, like 20 letters. It's crazy! I guess they like to do compound words. I do frequent http://www.freetranslation.com/ - it has been a nice resource. I have definitely learned to be grateful for being where we are. As we have traveled to other countries, people either can't or are less willing to communicate in English. I am definitely glad that we are in a country that teaches English in their schools. It has made our move here easier. I couldn't imagine what life would be like otherwise! :)

We Love Our Weekends

As most everybody does, we love the weekend. We don't have to do anything spectacular to have a nice weekend. As a matter of fact, the lazy weekends are usually my favorite. We are pretty lazy on Saturday mornings. It's our only morning for all of us to be lazy, so we enjoy it. I usually try to make something for breakfast. Growing up, my mom was amazing. She always made a homemade breakfast for us on school days. One day I hope to carry on the tradition when I have school-age kids, but right now I only cook on the weekends. :) I'm hoping one of these days Andy will have the desire to replicate his father's french toast. Then Andy can be the chef on the weekends and I can cook breakfast during the week. Anyhow, this Saturday I made breakfast burritos. Pretty fancy, huh? :) Rachel has never been that big of a fan of eggs, so I made her oatmeal. Well, I was only able to get halfway through my breakfast burrito when Rachel decided she wanted to finish it off for me:

Rachel seemed to enjoy her first breakfast burrito, so maybe I'll have to make them more often! :) Andy and Rachel also did some yard work this weekend. Rachel has turned into quite a Daddy's girl. She loves to have her daddy around. They spent a good hour in the backyard playing and doing some work as well. Rachel has always loved being outside. And she's more than willing to help with any outdoor chores. She loved helping her Grandpa Michaelson this past fall with his many outdoor projects! It was fun to see Rachel helping out her daddy this weekend. Saturday evening we were actually able to have some fun web cam conversations. Both ends cooperated and we were able to see and talk to both sets of grandparents. Rachel was really cute and enjoyed seeing her grandparents. Here's Rachel playing peek-a-boo with Papa and Grandma Smith:

We were able to talk to both sets of grandparents for a good 30 minutes each! :) Hopefully our web cam luck continues. We purchased Rachel some shoes this past weekend. They are her first pair of Dutch shoes. She loves them because they are sparkly and she can easily take them on and off. Here's Rachel looking so cute in her Sunday best, thanks to Grandma Michaelson: Rachel insisted on wearing her yellow sunglasses, so before we headed out the door to church she grabbed them. Too cute! Rachel absolutely loves church. She loves going to nursery and playing with all her friends. We have the sweetest Nursery leader who does such a wonderful job with the little ones. We all love nursery, but not necessarily the germs that go with it. So, here's a picture of Rachel washing up after we got home from church. She loves to get up on the counter and wash her hands! :)
We had such a nice weekend! It's nice to have Andy home and to spend time together as a family. I love the help and Rachel loves the entertainment! :)

Whitney & Rachel

One of the hardest things about our move out to Holland was saying good-bye to all of our friends. Back in Texas, Rachel had a ton of little friends her age. So, we were sad to have to leave them. However, we are so lucky to have Whitney right around the corner. Whitney and Rachel have so much fun together! They get so excited whenever they see each other. It's so cute to watch! Last week we had the opportunity to watch Whitney for three days. The girls had so much fun! Saturday morning and this morning Rachel has asked me if "Whitney's coming?". Rachel certainly loved having a playmate all day long. The weather was beautiful so we walked down to the neighborhood park every morning. The girls had a blast. I was even able to teach them how to kick a ball back and forth to each other. They are definitely reaching an age where friends are lots of fun! :)
The girls also had a lot of fun indoors. They loved being silly and laughing at each other. Whitney's favorite thing to do was run into the kitchen, hop in Rachel's stroller in the corner, and call out for "Raa-chel". Rachel loved going and finding her, even though it was always the same spot! :) Here are a few videos of the girls having fun:

Don't you love the crazy hair?

I love how Whitney was so concerned about Rachel's barrette that was about to fall out.

This time they were able to fall down!

The girls love to give hugs! Rachel was so excited when Whitney was over here that she was quite accident prone. I think she hurt herself a couple of times each day. On Friday morning, after Rachel had experienced two "ouchies", she asked me through her tears "Whitney ouchie?". She figured it was Whitney's turn to get hurt! Luckily Whitney never took Rachel up on that offer! We had a lot of fun with Whitney. We'll take her anytime - Rachel is so much happier when she has a playmate around! :)

Rachel the Chef

In the past couple of weeks Rachel has been insisting on helping Mommy cook. Any time I head to the kitchen to start cooking, Rachel quickly follows saying, "Rachel cook". Usually she's pretty satisfied by opening, closing, and pushing the buttons on the microwave. Recently though she has wanted to become more involved. So, here are a few pictures we caught. It's too bad I forgot to put her apron on while she was cooking. She loves her little apron! You can definitely tell that she takes cooking seriously. She wouldn't look at the camera - she needed to stay focused! :)

Dutch-Style

The weather is not warming up anytime soon here in the Netherlands, so I've had to do some shopping. Rachel's pants are starting to look like she's waiting for a flood! :) I didn't want to spend a lot of money, since I'm hoping the weather will be warmer by June. I figured I would just buy a pair or two of jeans to get her by. So, after searching around quite a bit, I finally found a pair that wasn't too expensive and had an adjustable waist. The only thing about the pair of jeans is they are so baggy! Rachel looks like a little gangster. She could probably fit both of her legs in one pant hole. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but here's Rachel sporting her first pair of Dutch jeans:It took forever to get a picture of her. Finally I just put her on top of our bed and she was somewhat cooperative! As I was looking for jeans I did find a cute pair with slimmer legs, but they were by Esprit. So, they cost around 30 euros ($45). I don't even spend that much money on a pair of jeans for myself, let alone my toddler who is going to grow out of them in 6 months or less! :)

Rough morning...

Is it possible for a toddler to wake up on the wrong side of her crib? If so, that certainly happened this morning. Rachel slept in this morning and wasn't all that thrilled that I was the one greeting her. She wanted her daddy. Can't blame her though, her daddy is definitely a lot of fun. Once we got over the trauma of Daddy not being there, she then was quite reluctant about giving up her binky. I was finally able to coax it away from her, but she still wasn't a very happy camper. So, I just walked out of her room and allowed her to wallow while I got some laundry started. After the laundry was started I asked her if she wanted pancakes for breakfast (she's still crying) and I told her that she could eat them wherever she wanted to. So, here are Rachel's two dining choices this morning:Rachel ate about half of the pancakes on the kitchen floor and the rest in the family room. I guess a girl has to have options! :)
Luckily Rachel's grumpiness wore off, especially once I pulled out a new pair of shoes for her to wear today. We headed to the grocery store and she was so good about being in her stroller. By lunchtime she was much more willing to eat in her chair at the kitchen table. The life of a toddler... :) Mornings like this morning make me grateful for the opportunity to get out once in awhile. Andy was home from work last night in time for me to head down to Enrichment at church. It was a nice night out. I'm sure Rachel had fun with her daddy last night and wanted the fun to continue this morning! Mom isn't nearly as fun... :)