My 62nd birthday was celebrated by a 7 hour flight to the Netherlands with Everett and his sister and husband, Ken and Margie Vanden Hoek. We joined the rest of the tour group at the Sciphol Airport, from all over the U.S. for a waterway cruise on the rivers and canals of northern Holland. We had amazing weather for the entire week, which is not always the case when you travel in the Netherlands. The first day was filled with activity to help us adjust to the 6 hour time change. We started at a bed and breakfast/cheese factory called the Clara Maria, near Gouda. Then on to Gouda to take a walking tour to see the St. Jans kerk (church), had lunch and shopped, and then on to Arnham to see the WWII cemetery and later got on our ship there. Sunday was a quiet day, with a church service and then a walking tour through Deventer.
We also went to an organ concert at the Reformed church in Kampen, many more walking tours through cities where we were docked. We went to the Island of Texel, stopped in Sneek, and toured the replica of Noah's Ark in the dock there. The wonderful part of the tour is the relaxing, as the boat cruises through the country side with the quiet pastoral setting of the land passing by. We saw many old dutch homes with lace curtains at the windows, cattle grazing in the pastures, sheep, Frisian horses, storks nesting on tall poles along the water. We passed by many old windmills and also many of the new windmills that provide power.
We had a group of Frisian folk dancers perform for us one evening, and also a folk band another evening. We also spent time playing cards while we relaxed on the promenade deck.
The last day of the tour we went to Keukenhof Gardens to see 72 acres of the most beautiful spring flowers. The colors and varieties are amazing, with tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, of every color and variety imaginable, as well as other types of flowers. There is also a building filled with orchids of every kind.
We also went to the Alsmeer World Flower Market. They have acres of boxes on skids filled with every kind of cut flower to be sold by auction and shipped all over the world, all in a matter of a couple of hours, so they are delivered fresh. It is an interesting business.
On Sat. we were all brought to the airport to either fly home or in our case, we rented a VW minivan, and headed out to meet our extended cousin, Peter Hekze. We spent the next 4 days seeing the Netherlands with Peter as our guide. He was fluent with the English language, so communication was not a problem. He showed us many interesting towns that were fortresses during the Spanish war, shaped like a star, with water all around it. The towns were mostly built with a very beauiful old church in the center and usually on the highest point. We were able to go into some, and took pictures of those that were located in the towns where our ancestors came from. We went to Wolvega where the VT family immigrated from. Grandpa Vander Ley came from that area also. We also went to Goudriaan where the Vanden Hoek family came from.
We went to one town that was so interesting and lovely, I would recommend it to anyone visiting the Netherlands. It was Giethoorn. It has canals all over, and is called the 'little Venice" of the Netherlands. The houses and bridges were just lovely.
Peter's wife Annika was very gracious and prepared dinner for us each evening. We had delicious meals. Peter took meat and cheese and juice boxes in his back pack ,and we bought bread at a bakery and that was our lunch each day. We ate at a picnic table or in the car if it was raining.
We also visited various cemetery's, and couple of castles, got lots of history regarding polders, dikes, land taken from the sea, the pumps used to remove the water etc. It was all very interesting.
We stayed in Almeer which is quite a large area, that was only acquired from the sea since 1956, and that is where Peter lived as well. We stayed at the Bastion Hotel in that same area, which was very nice.
On Wed. we flew home and were very grateful that all our flights and connections went without a problem.
One very important event took place while we were on the ship, and that was on Tues. April 21 when we got the word that Samuel Aaron had been officially adopted. We were all thrilled, and so thankful that the process had gone so smoothly. He is a precious baby, and so grateful that he is part of our family, and joins Joel, Brenda and Emma.
We were home one day and had time to do the laundry, sort the mail, pay the bills , and mow the lawn, and then on Friday left for Sioux Center, Iowa to go to our neice Karissa Stel and Eric Sjaarda's wedding. We had a wonderful time and it was a beautiful wedding. It was so good to see so many members of the family.
On Sunday we went to Corsica to see Mom. We were with her for 2 days and then drove home on Wednesday. It was a good visit, and great to see her again.
This coming Sat. I am taking Joel, Brenda, Emma and Sam with me to SD to spend a week with family. We plan to drive straight through so will be interesting to see how we do, especially with a 3 year old that is a high activity child. The DVD player should help some.
Well, until next month........
We also went to an organ concert at the Reformed church in Kampen, many more walking tours through cities where we were docked. We went to the Island of Texel, stopped in Sneek, and toured the replica of Noah's Ark in the dock there. The wonderful part of the tour is the relaxing, as the boat cruises through the country side with the quiet pastoral setting of the land passing by. We saw many old dutch homes with lace curtains at the windows, cattle grazing in the pastures, sheep, Frisian horses, storks nesting on tall poles along the water. We passed by many old windmills and also many of the new windmills that provide power.
We had a group of Frisian folk dancers perform for us one evening, and also a folk band another evening. We also spent time playing cards while we relaxed on the promenade deck.
The last day of the tour we went to Keukenhof Gardens to see 72 acres of the most beautiful spring flowers. The colors and varieties are amazing, with tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, of every color and variety imaginable, as well as other types of flowers. There is also a building filled with orchids of every kind.
We also went to the Alsmeer World Flower Market. They have acres of boxes on skids filled with every kind of cut flower to be sold by auction and shipped all over the world, all in a matter of a couple of hours, so they are delivered fresh. It is an interesting business.
On Sat. we were all brought to the airport to either fly home or in our case, we rented a VW minivan, and headed out to meet our extended cousin, Peter Hekze. We spent the next 4 days seeing the Netherlands with Peter as our guide. He was fluent with the English language, so communication was not a problem. He showed us many interesting towns that were fortresses during the Spanish war, shaped like a star, with water all around it. The towns were mostly built with a very beauiful old church in the center and usually on the highest point. We were able to go into some, and took pictures of those that were located in the towns where our ancestors came from. We went to Wolvega where the VT family immigrated from. Grandpa Vander Ley came from that area also. We also went to Goudriaan where the Vanden Hoek family came from.
We went to one town that was so interesting and lovely, I would recommend it to anyone visiting the Netherlands. It was Giethoorn. It has canals all over, and is called the 'little Venice" of the Netherlands. The houses and bridges were just lovely.
Peter's wife Annika was very gracious and prepared dinner for us each evening. We had delicious meals. Peter took meat and cheese and juice boxes in his back pack ,and we bought bread at a bakery and that was our lunch each day. We ate at a picnic table or in the car if it was raining.
We also visited various cemetery's, and couple of castles, got lots of history regarding polders, dikes, land taken from the sea, the pumps used to remove the water etc. It was all very interesting.
We stayed in Almeer which is quite a large area, that was only acquired from the sea since 1956, and that is where Peter lived as well. We stayed at the Bastion Hotel in that same area, which was very nice.
On Wed. we flew home and were very grateful that all our flights and connections went without a problem.
One very important event took place while we were on the ship, and that was on Tues. April 21 when we got the word that Samuel Aaron had been officially adopted. We were all thrilled, and so thankful that the process had gone so smoothly. He is a precious baby, and so grateful that he is part of our family, and joins Joel, Brenda and Emma.
We were home one day and had time to do the laundry, sort the mail, pay the bills , and mow the lawn, and then on Friday left for Sioux Center, Iowa to go to our neice Karissa Stel and Eric Sjaarda's wedding. We had a wonderful time and it was a beautiful wedding. It was so good to see so many members of the family.
On Sunday we went to Corsica to see Mom. We were with her for 2 days and then drove home on Wednesday. It was a good visit, and great to see her again.
This coming Sat. I am taking Joel, Brenda, Emma and Sam with me to SD to spend a week with family. We plan to drive straight through so will be interesting to see how we do, especially with a 3 year old that is a high activity child. The DVD player should help some.
Well, until next month........
