The Post in Which My Foot Gets Run Over

I am not lying about it, it happened today in Amsterdam.  It so far just looks a little bruised, which is crazy.  I just can't believe my foot went under a tire, and it isn't broken.  Anyways, here's a few posts from our last days here!  And tomorrow, homeward bound! 

 A Dutch Firetruck

 Elka, Lucas, Lyla and I went on a Spido harbour tour in Rotterdam Harbour yesterday while Shaun and Tony had a meeting in the morning and while they met together for the last time.

 You may be able to tell that I have a little boy who I believe would be interested in these pictures of the machines and boats, etc.

 Police boat from Customs

 Another police boat

Where Tony and Shaun were when we got off the boat

 The first time on the train.  We took it from Rotterdam to our hotel in Amsterdam Zaandam.

 We took the train into Amsterdam this morning and went on Mike's Bike Countryside Tour.  It was highly enjoyable!

 Lyla was great, even falling asleep while we biked.

 The second place we stopped was a touristic windmill.  Very nice photo opportunity.  Here we learned about how originally Holland was peat, then the peat was harvested so much that the land became lakes and swamps, and then the Dutch figured out how to take back the land.  I thought it was fascinating, and at one point in the tour we were five metres below sea level.

 We went to a klompen factory, where this fellow was burning on the designs.  He had bags of klompen behind him and Shaun and I were silly enough to ask him if he got them from a factory.  I think he was a bit insulted, so he directed us into the next room where we could see them made.

After the tour we walked to the Anne Frank House and the Wester Kerk, where you can go up to the top of the bell tower, but the Anne Frank House had a line outside of it, and the Kerk only let 6 people up at a time, and all the tours remaining had 5 people in them.  So instead of waiting, we walked along the street and went out for supper.  Then we took the tram back to Centraal station and off we went, back to the hotel on the train.

 Still smiley after a long day. 

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And here`s our hotel.  We have a nice room up on the 10th floor.

And here we are, the last night of our European adventure.  See you all tomorrow(ish)!

My Battery Is Running Low

Shaun and I finally have unlimited internet access and now my laptop's battery is almost dead :(  We are staying at a nice hotel on the outskirts of Amsterdam and it is beautiful.  However it doesn't serve breakfast, which irked me.  But we had many pieces of luggage and a car seat and we were on the train, so we found a hotel close to the train station.  It happens to be brand new and glorious, and we are here for two nights.  Another reason we picked it was because it has a direct train line to Amsterdam Centraal and Amsterdam Schiphol (the airport).  So tomorrow I have wonderful plans to go into Amsterdam and tour all day, but I am feeling a little guilty.  Lyla has been so patient with us dragging her everywhere but I feel like I see it in her eyes, "Why are you taking me out when all I want is a good nap?"  Anyways, just two more days, and I think this may be the last time for a long time that I get to see Amsterdam, so just hold on Lyla!  Most nights she has been up for a couple hours, but now we have moved the couple hours into the late evening the last 2 days, so now she is just going to bed the same time as us.  So it took her a week to adjust, and now when we go home it will be hopefully quicker, as her bedtime here works out to, oh, 3 in the afternoon.  And then her wake up time works out to 1 in the morning.  Ah well, what's another week of no sleep for a mama?!  

Anyways I'm off to sleep now, and then tomorrow I hope to go on a bike tour of Amsterdam.  And then from there, we see how tired we are I guess!  Have a good night everyone!

The Castle in Gent and The Canal in Brugge

Here are some more pictures, especially for Seth and Hazel!  I am starting to look forward to going back, especially to see them.  It has been hard to get a hold of them as most of our day they are sleeping (or at least I hope they are!).  So there are some to catch up from our Paris trip, and then some from the beautiful town of Gent, in Belgium.  We went there on Tuesday evening after Shaun and Tony had a day of meeting together for discussions.  On Monday they went to Rotterdam to meet with a company there as well.  Elka and I stayed home with our two youngen to give them some rest.  Lyla is now feeling a bit better.  Anyways,  the meetings have been very productive and they are excited about all the possibilities.  Tonight we are in Rotterdam, as the two men have another meeting in the morning.  We stopped by another beautiful Belgian city called Brugge on our way here, and of course we had to try a Belgian waffle and some Belgian beer!  I am hoping Elka and I take a harbor tour while they are meeting tomorrow morning, and then we will say a very sad goodbye to Tony and Elka.  They will head home to Wetteren, and we will head to Amsterdam.

At the top of the Eiffel.  We couldn't believe Vancouver didn't make it.

I know you can google for a million pictures from the top, but this was with MY camera!

A month apart - Lyla and Lucas

Seth wanted to see a picture of a castle, so here we are!

The canal at Brugge

Our first sighting of a coffee shop - in Rotterdam

Our last supper with the Alcantaras in Rotterdam

Family Picture

Hi Seth and Hazel!  We took you to the Eiffel Tower with us.  We even went all the way up the Tower to the very top!  I have a picture of our family there too.  I will try put more pictures on the computer later.  The view from the top is amazing, but we had to wait a very long time!  Lyla is doing great, but misses her brother and sister, and her own time zone.  She was up until 5 in the morning last night.  She was very tired but has a very bad cough and red cheeks.  Teething plus a very bad cold I think.  I have the same one, and it involves a lot of coughing and a very sore throat.  Poor Lyla.  But she just keeps smiling when you drag her all over Europe!  Today we stay home (and go to church) so maybe she will feel better having some good naps.

We love you Seth and Hazel! From Mom and Dad and Lyla!

Goodnight From Paris

At the airport.  Seth and Hazel acted like they didn't care, but I know they were crying deep inside...

Seth and Hazel are touring Europe with us.  Our lovely "neighbour" Ina took this picture for us on the plane.

Do you see the "Welcome to Amsterdam" sign?

Tony and Shaun, deep in discussion the first night in town.  We are staying in a little town called Wetteren, in Belgium, around 30 minutes from Brussels.

Tony and Elka's apartment in Wetteren

On the road to Paris.  We saw these windmills on the way from Amsterdam to Wetteren, and all the way to Paris as well.

Churches in every village you see, very elaborate and huge.

We are in Gaul!

Next time...the kids are a bit young yet.

The first thing we saw upon entering Paris.

French Ambulance.  We thought Seth might care :)

Gas pumps on the sidewalk.  Seems very convenient!

French Firetruck

French Street Cleaner

The view from our hotel on the 5th floor.  See the Eiffel Tower?  It IS real.

We walked up (ok fine we took a little cable car) to the hill where Sacre Coeur is located, a huge Roman church.  This is the view of Paris.

The family picture in front of Sacre Coeur.  Lyla is sleeping on Shaun's back.

Our wonderful hosts!

Sacre Coeur

The Eiffel Tower light show.

Out for supper

It was Tony's birthday today so he had the Happy Birthday song sung to him in the restaurant.

And that is it for now.  Tomorrow we hope to go up the Eiffel Tower after Tony and Shaun have a meeting in the morning.  Have a good night everyone! Love from Shaun and Brenda and Lyla.