NEMO

NEMO Science Center is an enormous science museum filled with kid-friendly exhibits.  We went there the morning of our first full day in Amsterdam.  It was a big hit.  All of the information is in Dutch and English so no problem reading about everything (not that the kids stopped long enough to read anything).  We spent the whole morning there and stopped for lunch at the cafeteria at the top (the museum is five stories tall).  The kids had a great time!

The Houseboat

The houseboat we stayed on while in Amsterdam is called the Quinta.  The boat was built in 1901 and renovated last year.  She was moored in a main canal, not a smaller one, but we were in a very residential/business area so there weren't tourists everywhere.

This was the kids' room.  They loved it.  They loved the boat and thought it was awesome that we stayed on it.  The boat had three bedrooms.

They are peeking out of the "window" to the room Pat and I slept in.

It was very spacious and reminded me of traveling in the Airstream only with a lot more space.

The stairs go up to the wheelhouse.  That is where the door is to board the boat.  The picture is taken in the third bedroom.  Down the stairs on the left is the rest of the houseboat.

View from the wheelhouse.

The other direction from the wheelhouse.

Down into the boat from the wheelhouse.

It was a great experience and I am so glad we were able to stay there.

Spring Break

Last week was spring break for the kids.  I planned a road trip to Amsterdam and Brussels.  We made the Amsterdam part but had to cancel the Brussels part due to travel restrictions after the bombings.  We did have a good time in Amsterdam.  I rented a house boat for us to stay on while we were there and the kids loved it!  Because of the number of pictures I have I think I will have to break them up into a couple of posts.  First up a couple of pictures from Amsterdam.

 Loved the canals, architecture and bikes everywhere.

 Centraal Station.

And LOVED the cheese.  We brought lots home too.

JAG Formal

This past weekend we went up to Grafenwoehr for the JAG formal.  We reserved a room at Army lodging there on post and the kids were so excited to have the Disney Channel and Nickeloden (it's the small things these days).  They even got Popeye's before we took them over to childcare for the evening.  Then mom and dad got a much overdue evening out.  It was a good time.

Watching the Disney Channel.  Silly the things you miss from America.

We had Gus snap a picture of us before we all headed out.  Not too bad for old people dressed up for "prom".  The kids were amazed when I put on a dress and heels.

Still waiting for spring...

Last week we had a good snow day.  It started snowing when we walked the two big boys to the bus and stopped at lunchtime.  Maggie and Cadel had a good time playing in it before it started to melt.  The big boys got to play in the snow when they got home from school that day but it was already starting to melt a bit.