Last post of vacation pics!

These are a little bit out of order....here is Tessa is her "cradle" the airplane provided. As you can see she thought the cradle was more for playing than sleeping. At least it got her out of our laps for a while. (we just had to keep her from trying to stand up in it!)

Isaac in front of our airplane for the trip back to America.

Of course we had to get a shot of this...Isaac in front of a windmill.

This is the view from John's aunt Katrien and uncle Ben's back patio. Beautiful, isn't it?

John visiting with several of his aunt's and uncles. It was great to get to see so much family on this visit!

Tessa just being cute!

Winnie had this bib for Tessa to wear. If you can't read it - it says "My auntie spoils me".

We visited a seal rescue museum, which is a sort of working seal hospital that rescues injured or abandoned seals and nurses them back to health for release back into the wild. Here is a window that the kids could watch them swimming around.

Ok..I think this is the second to last one...

Bear with me....I am getting to the end of posting our vacation pics. I think that I have one more following this one. Seriously, though, this is only about 1/10 of the good photos that we have from this trip - so lucky for you I'm good at editing!

This photo was taken on a day trip we took to visit John's aunt and uncle. We got stopped by a policeman right before a round-about who spouted off something to us in dutch that we didn't understand. Just as we were trying to figure out what to do, all of these sheep started crossing the road. I guess we weren't in trouble after all!


Tessa and cousin Hetty (she's waving a teething biscuit - we discovered these on our trip and she LOVES them!)

We went on another day trip to visit John's aunt Tineke. Here are the 4 of us, Alice, and Tineke at her house.

Tinkeke has a beautiful home on some gorgeous property. Here is the view from her yard.

Alice and her sister Tinkeke.

John and Harry headed out for some mountain biking (still trying to figure out how they call it mountain biking when there are no mountains in Holland....)

The boys (Harry, Derek, and John) checking out the surround sound.

This is just a cute one of Tessa playing, but you can really see her 2 bottom teeth!

Happy 25th Winnie & Harry!

We were so excited to be in Holland to help Winnie and Harry celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They hosted a wonderful evening of dinner, drinks, music and fun at a quaint restaurant not too far from their town. Here is the happy couple!


And me with my sister-in-law Winnie!

Hetty, Alice (Oma), Emily & Alisa

John & I

The crowd enjoying the evening.

Derek and his girlfriend Roelien (hope I spelled that right! :-)

Winnie and Harry's friends performing a song that they wrote about them. This was really cute - especially after Winnie translated it so that I could understand it!

Winnie & Harry & their 4 kids.

More vacation pics!

We took a boat tour in a little village called Giethorn with Winnie, Harry and their kids. It's a picturesque little town full of canals and some parts of the town are only accessible by boat. The weather was a little cool - but we had a great time nonetheless! Here's a shot of Tessa and I on the boat.

Enjoying our beers on the boat tour.

Once we got out onto the lake, the captain asked Isaac if he would like to help "drive" the boat. As you can see, he was thrilled!

He wanted to drive it a little faster than the captain liked!

Daddy and Tessa.

The whole gang in front of our tour boat. (left to right: Derek, Harry, Alisa, John, Erin & Tessa, Winnie, Hetty, in front: Emily & Isaac)

Home Sweet Home!

We got back from our vacation on Saturday...I've been a little behind in getting these photos posted, but there were so many photos! I've finally sorted through them all and will post a few a day for the next couple days. We had such a great time on our trip. Our vacation began with a couple days in Chicago and John's nephew Desmond's wedding. Then it was on to the Netherlands where we stayed with John's sister Winnie, her husband Harry and their 4 kids. A BIG thank you to Winnie and Harry for their hospitality! The kids had so much fun getting to know their cousins across the pond. Here are a few photos for now:

Hetty, Alisa, and Emily at dinner (we ate at a place called the "Pancake Ship" - an old boat that was converted into a restaurant. They served - you guessed it - pancakes! Dutch pancakes are quite different - but very yummy!)


Isaac and cousin Alisa looking out the window of the Pancake Ship.

Tessa enjoying her dinner. (You can see the dutch pancake on my plate - it was so delicious!)

Tessa and uncle Harry waiting for Emily to come on the train.

Tessa snuggling with cousin Derek.

Vacation Update!

Well, it appears that I couldn't stay away from the computer...even on vacation! Here are a couple photos from our trip so far. We're having a great time here in Holland and quickly getting adjusted to the time change. We can't believe we only have a week left here...it goes by much too quick!

Here's a photo of Isaac in Groningen.

Isaac with his cousin Emily in Orvelte.

Tessa chillin' in a giant wooden shoe.

Our cute little kids having fun in the giant wooden shoes!

Vacation

Just a little warning that that the blog is going to be a little quiet for the next few weeks. We leave tomorrow for our 2 week vacation. First stop is Chicago to see family and attend John's nephew Desmond's wedding. Then it's on to the Netherlands to visit more family, do some sightseeing, and help John's sister Winnie and her husband Harry celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. We're very excited for our trip (just not so much for the 8 hour flight!). Since we'll be on vacation, I'll probably be taking a little vacation from the computer as well. If I don't get any pictures posted while we're gone, you can be sure I'll post some when we get back!