July's Fun with Friends

(Pics 1-2) The Reeds, of Springfield, MA, concluding their month long European vacation at the windmills of Kinderdijk. Enjoyed their company.

(Pics 3-4) The Meister family, of Arnold, MD, included Delft as a destination in their European vacation. Tom worked with Neil when they were both stationed in Seattle. We met Gretchen (now 9) when she was a little younger than Lucas and Hailey. It was awesome to catch up, show them around town, and eat dinner on our patio set by the canal.

(Pic 4) The youngins on animal statues: enjoying our membership to the Rotterdam Zoo with all our military pals.

One Year Down

I love Summer

A Few More Pics from Gozo/Malta

Gozo

Citadel, Face in the Mountain, & Blue Window

Gozo

Blue Window, Fungus Rock, Megolothic Temple

Malta and Gozo

A plane taken from Schiphol to Valletta, Malta, a car ride from the airport to the ferry terminal, the ferry ride itself, and another short car ride to the beautiful villa in Gozo.

mygozovilla.com is the website of where we are staying if you'd like to check it out.

It's a tastefully decorated 3 story place with the perfect sized swimming pool, 4 spacious bedrooms, and red accents throughout the house.

We tried a restaurant called Oleander - we ordered fried rabbit, the local favored cuisine. First night, we all jumped in the pool for a quick dip after the long travel day.

Day 2- We got to the Ramla Beach before 9:30 AM and stayed for about 6 hours. The crystal clear water in all shades of blue, coupled with orange sand, 83 degrees air temp with a slight breeze, and cheap beach snacks and ice cream made for an excellent day.

FEASTS are a series of saint celebrations traveling from parish to parish all over the island. A mass, a procession, fireworks, and food stands were all the rage. See Lucas respond to the continued popping and cracking of some simple but loud fireworks.

Day 3- We love beach- need we say more.

Kids Swimming

Videos

Fun with Grammy

Grammy and Aunt Becky came for a blitz visit after their whirlwind weekend in Paris. We were thrilled to see them and delighted they made the long trip. We explored Delft together, went on a canal tour, ran around the beach, played dress up at home, made valentines, and visited the Escher Museum.

Hailey's Major Growth Spurt

The Rose Bush in Our Garden

Map of Netherlands

Map of Netherlands

Budapest

Tom was presenting at a conference in Hungary, and the rest of us came along. The photos include Parliament building (looks like a castle to me), Chain Bridge, Hero's Square, real castles, Gelert Thermal Baths, Tom performing in one of the acts at the CIRCUS!, and a traditional Hungarian folk performance.

Queen's Day (April 30th)

Some of our favorite friends- the Noorlanders. L&H's primary teacher is seen here giving rides around the canal on her scooter. Free-For-All Tag Sale: the one legal day of the year the Dutch park themselves and their stuff on the streets to sell. Face-painting services were offered, Lucas bought a 2 euro Spiderman mask, Hailey bought a 1 euro "camera."

New Kid Pics

Our friend Debbie tastefully replaced JcPenney as our new annual photographer

Lucas & Hailey: Spring 2009