Hamburg's cemetary and Botanic Gardens

The next weekend we showed Mom and Dad the Ohsldorf cemetary (second biggest in the world) and hunted for the angel monuments while enjoying the acres of Rhododendrons. We ate lunch in front of the rose gardens then headed to Plant und Bloomen to see the Japanese gardens and play on the play ground. Ted and his parents stayed for the water and light show but the girls and I headed home early.

Hamburg's Harbor Birthday

This is the second year we've got to see Hamburg's Harbor Birthday. I really love boats! We fought the crowds the first day to see some of the little shops set up along Landungbruke Pier. Aubrie got to jump on a trampoline with bungees and Kaitlan choose to buy a life size Dora balloon. Sharral and I both found purses and hair things while the men throughly enjoyed their bratwursts. The next day we had a fire on the beach by our house with the Kennedy's and Peterson's and watched the boat parade sailing back to the sea. The girls got soaked playing in the river and loved roasting marshmellows around the fire after.

Klovensteen Wald Zoo

We took Grandma and Granpa Parkin to the little zoo in the forrest by our house. The bee man was there taking care of the bees and we got to taste the honey right off of the comb. The girls loved feeding the ducks, wild bores, and deer. We let them play for a bit at the big tree fort on the other side of the forrest after. I absolutley love living so close to the forrest and a big sandy beach with giant boats cruising down it!

Parkin's in Netherlands day 3

Day 3 we headed to Zans Schans to see some of the old 16th century windmills now turned into museums. We saw one windmill pressing peanuts and making peanut oil. The best was the wooden shoe musem and we got the girls their own pair of wooden shoes. Well Kaitlan threw a tantrum over getting the size that fit her verses the one she thought was the prettiest and ended up with 2 pairs that she hardly even plays with now. At least they were only 15 Euro. I learned once again that I am extremly claustrophobic in crowds and can think of nothing but fleeing! We also paid a whole lot of money for a single crepe like pancake for lunch with bacon or ham on it. The Dutch do bacon why can't the Germans? The day would have been better had it not been so rainy and cold but still scenic none the less.

Parkin's in Netherlands day 2

At the start of Day 2 we ventured into The Hague to see some Renissance art. The Mauritshuis Museum was home to the Dutch people's version of the Mona Lisa, a portrait by Vermeer titled Girl with a Pearl Earring. Aubrie especially enjoyed finding every portrait on her scavendure hunt. Sharral loved the gift store at the end. The rest of the day was spent exploring the town of Leiden. A city with ties back to the original pilgrims of America. The pilgrims (Sepratists no longer the Puritans) settled Leiden before searching for the New World and it's promises of relgious freedom. Some US President (Adams maybe?) lived in the town and we ran into a lot of geneology people wanting to find the exact home of some super distant relative. The museum was cool. We saw a 600 year old dried fish and a peat brick placed behind a wall when the building was first constructed so as to bless the home with food and warmth. There was also an indoor toilet wich was very uncommon throughout most of the world at that time. We learned kids used to use old bones as iceskates and everyone sat sitting up in their beds because they thought it was better for their circulation. Bathing was done seldom because they thought most disease came from the water. They mostly drank beer (even the kids) because the fermentation helped cleans the water. The currator thought they were innebrated a lot. The girls like to hold the little doll that was replicated like the baby dolls at that time (1600's if I'm remembering right). We also hiked up to Leiden city fortress for a great view of the city.

More Parkin's in Netherlands

Ted's parents came to visit us for a month starting the first of May. We wisked them to the Netherlands to see the tulips the first day they arrived. The Rhododendrens were now in bloom and Keukenhof was even more beautiful! The girls had just as much fun the second time being there as the first and I started to daydream about moving to the Netherlands to work in thier flower industry. We also got to check out this giant organ that is like a travel jute box from way back when (really I have no idea how old organs are), but it was cool.

Biking at the Altes Land

Once the apple trees are in bloom the Parkin family headed once again to the Altes Land to bike around the orchards. Last year we missed the ferry back home and ended up biking for something like 8-12 hours (the girls were in a bike trolley). This year we kept it simple and invited the Peterson's and Trent Kennedy to join us. We took it easy with Aubrie riding the whole time on her bike. It was an hour from our house to the ferry in Blankenese then we pedalled around Cranz and had a pic nic atop a dike encircling an orchard. I still can't get over how wonderful the smells of apple blossom's and lilacs are. Aubrie did fantastic on our 6 hour adventure and the kids were rewarded with icecream at the end. It was a fantastic day!

The girls in their Gymnastic class

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Aubrie and Kaitlan are in a gymnastic class, they love it! Mom gets to visit with her friends while the girls are bouncing and climbing and swinging and excerting all kinds of energy. What could be better?

Kaitlan and her bestest friend Tessa

This is Kaitlan and her "bestest" friend Tessa Peterson playing dress up, which they love to play every minute they are together. The 2 are fashion queens and will often wear a whole closet of clothes in one afternoon. Every day Kaitlan draws a new picture to give to Tessa or finds a little something (bug, leaf, half eaten candy) that she wants to give as a gift to her friend. Aaah the joys of having a confidant! Here is also a video of the girls and the Peterson kids washing my car and having fun (sort of). I really need a new video camera though, the quality is bad.