MISCELLANEOUS PICTURES

I have two wonderful "kitchen helpers"...

maybe calling them my personal dishwashers would be more fitting.

These next few pictures are from visiting my parents in California for Thanksgiving. I didn't get as many good pictures as I had hoped for.

I have missed this part of my childhood. These deer are only about 10 feet from the house... not a bad place for a little rest.

Dade and AZ spent a great deal of time with cousins Coen and Beckett. They are only a few months apart each.

Look at this little joy. This is my newest niece, Laura. I was lucky enough to go to Midland for her Baby Blessing. She is so beautiful.

The next set of pictures will be the Christmas Collection. Coming Soon.

AMSTERDAM PART II

It is very fitting that this entry starts with this picture of the pastry shop...after ever snack, meal or even after we walked by a food establishment Dain would say " I should have taken a picture of that". He finally took this picture. The desserts were very tasty.

This was a very cute shop...as were most of the shops. We did get to see some windmills, but only from the train (not good picture moments).

We really wanted to take a canal tour, but it was so cold and we just ran out of time.

That's me again...same jacket.

The buildings on the water on the left side are full of flower shops. They mostly sell bulbs...all kinds of bulbs.

Farewell Amsterdam. I still can't believe we made it there.

Thanks to all who helped watch kids, etc. It was wonderful to know they were being cared for.

BRUGGE AND DELFT

This was the view from our hotel window in Brugge. I have to tell you a funny story about the bells on this church clock tower. At first we didn't pay much attention to the bells, but after a couple of hours we realized that the bells were going off at different intervals... all the time. It would chime at 11:17, then not again til 11:33 and then when ever it felt like it after that. We were always checking our watches...then laughing to each other.

This was quite a treat. The Madonna and Child by Michelangelo was stunning. This was the only piece by Michelangelo to leave Italy during his life time.

As we stopped to take a picture here another tourist stopped and asked if we wanted a picture of the two of us. It was obvious she was from the States and come to find out she is from Tahoe. We talked for a little while.

We only had two days in Brugge and we definitely could have stayed there for a week.

Shortly after this picture we found a vendor selling crepes...Lynners, I most assuredly got the Nutella Crepe...miss you.

Clock tower from the opposite side of town.

The next day we traveled to Delft. A very cute little town and we kicked ourselves we didn't arrive sooner so we could shop and explore more.

We headed straight for the Delftware Factory. For those of you who don't know about Delftware...it's the little blue plates and figures that you see in antique shops.

We were able to watch a master painter at work.

The paint is originally black, then when it is fired the cobalt blue comes out.

This is made of tile pieces about 5x5 inches put together in an exact replica of one of Rembrandt's most famous pieces, The Night Watch, which we were able to visit at the Rembrandt Museum in Amsterdam. It took two master painters 7 years to complete it.

Isn't he cute!!!

Last set of pictures coming soon...

AMSTERDAM PART I

I decided it would probably be easiest to put these pictures into three separate groups. The first group will be from our first days in Amsterdam. After that I will do the pictures from our trip down to Brugge, Belgium. Lastly, I will do a few more from the last two days in Amsterdam.

One of the many beautiful churches in the heart of Amsterdam. As you can also see, it was foggy or rainy or cold everyday we were there. It will look like I never changed my clothes...I had to wear the same jacket everyday.

Dain on the other hand brought several different light weight jackets and was able to change them up.

These shoes made us laugh. We just had to get a picture.

One of the best things about going in November was that they were already set up for Christmas so all the streets were decked out.

This was the only way to get a picture of both of us.

My favorite part of the trip was our visit to Anne Frank's House.

This is the front of the house. The bottom two levels were used as a business that continued to run while the Frank family and 4 others lived in the upper back portion.

Not a bad looking house boat. Not a bad looking location either.

This was our hotel. It was originally a convent...hence the name Convent Hotel. We slept great (thank you blackout shades) and the best part it was close to everything...the train station, city center, food, etc.

This is by far the prettiest train station I have ever seen. We stopped in Antwerp to change trains on our way to Brugge.

More pictures coming soon...

ZOO DAY...HOORAY!!!

My parents came to visit the middle of October (my little sister who lives in Midland, TX was having a baby) and we decided to visit the Fort Worth Zoo with them.

I actually got a shot with everyone. We were watching the monkeys (they were particularly amusing this morning).

Dade watched the elephants for quite some time. He kept asking them to make a trumpet noise.

The next thing I know he has moved on to climbing on top of the elephant.

Aislyn wanted to walk most of the time, which of course slowed us down, but at least I got a cute picture out of it.

Aislyn's first time on a carousel. She was apprehensive until the very end, when she started to cry because we had to get off.

I love my family.

I know this picture isn't the best but I do believe this (broken mind you) jungle jeep ride was their favorite thing. They "rode" (sat in, more like it) in it for several minutes.

SEA WORLD ROUND II

Yes, these pictures are from over two months ago...you have to understand...we got a new camera...I'm a little slow when it comes to new electronics...sorry.

Anyway, when we went to Sea World earlier this summer we bought passes that allowed us to visit as often as we like for the rest of the year. We decided to get the most out of our money and take another trip to San Antonio and let me tell you it was worth it. Do you see the face on that kid. He was just tall enough to ride this mini "roller coaster" and ride we did. I think he rode it at least 7 or 8 times this night.

The next morning we went back to feed the dolphins (Mom's favorite thing to do at Sea World). We actually got Dade to lay down and look over the edge this time.

AZ was happy to stay in Dad's arms. She wanted nothing to do with touching the fish or the dolphins.

May I highly recommend the Walrus and Seal Lion Show. It was hilarious. Even Dade laughed at their corny jokes.

But please be advised...you will get wet if you sit in the front rows of any of the shows at Sea World. We did, but look at the cute picture we got.

We didn't get to feed the birds last time we visited and it will now be a "must" stop from now on.

Needless to say, we wore the kids out, but as always we have some wonderful memories to keep.