Remember how I mentioned that I had big plans for the summer? That's right, we went to Europe! Rubin's dad works in Amsterdam, so we went to visit him there and also saw many other places. You might be thinking that we were crazy to take three small children on long plane rides to the crowded cities of Europe. Well, you might be right, but we still did it! And all those nightmares about losing one of the children (usually Uriah) in a foreign country proved not to be prophetic!
I decided to do this post as a photo essay instead of a boring travel log. You're welcome.
GETTING READY
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| The boys were crazy excited about the trip! |
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| Uriah was tuckered out by the preparations. |
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| On our way! |
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| This is where the boys discovered they had their own tvs! |
ADJUSTING
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| Traveling wears you out! |
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| At first we all pretty much felt like we could fall asleep anywhere. |
We saw lots of COOL THINGS
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| The canals of Amsterdam |
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| Tower Bridge in London |
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| Stonehenge |
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| Grandpa keeping Uriah in the boat during a canal ride. |
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| Eiffel Tower |
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| Omaha Beach - it was so beautiful and peaceful that it was hard to imagine that such a hard-fought battle took place here. |
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| Omaha Beach |
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| Holland's windmills |
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| In case you're wondering, Uriah was dead set on wearing his Mickey pajamas this day! |
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| Luxembourg City |
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| A market in the city of Gouda, Holland. |
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| That's a lot of cheese! (Gouda) |
And we saw some WEIRD THINGS
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| This really needs no caption! |
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| Might I ask where the collar of torment for husbands is?! |
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| "Honey, did you just hear that strange growling?" |
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| Coolest Burger King ever! |
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| I don't know if that netting will hold him for long... |
We saw a few CASTLES
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| Our French favorite - Chateau de Chenonceau |
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| Mont St. Michel (also in France, but technically an abbey) |
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| Castle #5 of the "Valley of the 7 Castles" in Luxembourg |
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| Schloss Lichtenstein (in Germany) |
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| Neuschwanstein (German favorite) |
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| Sleeping Beauty Castle in Euro Disneyland. Okay, maybe this wasn't a real castle, but I think it still counts. |
We did some EXPLORING
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| Ramparts of Schloss Lichtenstein |
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| Schloss Lichtenstein again |
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| Chenonceau garden maze |
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| A maze in the "Valley of the 7 Castles" |
We had a lot of LAUGHS
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| Rubin and Uriah at the park in Amsterdam. |
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| Platform 9 3/4 in London (you won't believe how long the line was to get into Hogwarts!) |
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| Tower Bridge looks pretty good on Rubin! |
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| The beach in Holland |
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| Graham's sand angel |
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| Uriah on a car ride at Euro Disneyland. |
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| RJ and Graham on the Small World ride. |
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| Uriah and I in the Alice in Wonderland maze. |
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| First Graham tried his strength with the Sword in the Stone. |
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| RJ really wanted to get that sword out! |
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| Last Uriah pulled at it. (Graham is busy making sure the other kids give his brother a turn!) |
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| Carriage ride in Germany (Uriah would not take his eyes of the horses for anything!) |
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| Our favorite train station in Holland. We always said going to "Murderport" was a one-way ticket! |
And we had a few TANTRUMS
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| Uriah broke the stillness in Our Lord in the Attic Church (Holland) |
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| Trying to stop Uriah from falling down the 8-foot drop to his right. |
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| I honestly can't remember what Graham was even mad about on this bus ride. |
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| Uriah fell asleep during this particular tantrum. |
But we had some GOOD FOOD
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| Ice cream at Mont St. Michel |
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| Great pizza in Antwerp! |
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| Belgian chocolate! |
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| Belgian chocolate! |
And we made some NEW FRIENDS
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| This guard was a little standoffish. |
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| A knight at Mont St. Michel |
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| Snapping turtles at a Chinese restaurant in Germany. (We ate the one in front . . . just kidding!) |
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| A tiny frog friend we found in Germany. |
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| My friend, Duchess Kate, waited until I was in London to have her baby! This pub named a sandwich after the royal prince. |
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| My London friends wouldn't join me in a chant of "Give us the baby!" outside Buckingham Palace! |
All that's left to be said is that we made it back alive! It was a crazy 3 weeks filled with all the things mentioned above and much, much more! You might ask if we will attempt another international trip with little kids in the future. To that I say, "Ha!"
And "No."
