Churches of the Netherlands

The churches in the Netherlands and in France as well, are nothing short of architectural art. Absolutely amazing! Many of these churches were originally built in the 1400-1500 time frame as Catholic churches but later they became Dutch Reformed churches. Supposedly one of the reformations was less ornate churches but wow....hard to see that!
Prominent and/or famous people were buried beneath the stone floor of these churches. Johannes Vermeer's, a famous Dutch artist, headstone is shown below. Subconsciously, somehow it seemed somehow disrespectful to walk across these memorials, take pictures and purchase souvenirs in these places of worship but that is how these congregations maintain and restore their churches.

If you were prominent (and rich) enough, you got a monument in the church and an above ground coffin!
The stained glass was fabulous in every church but this one was exceptional.

Netherlands---2

We walked over a dike which you must understand is like a 15 foot high mound of dirt and..hellooooo.....there is the North Sea!!! I really wonder how these people sleep during any kind of a storm!
Locks like these are everywhere in Holland as are the dikes. We were asked a couple of times why our country doesn't just put in dikes and locks etc. in New Orleans. They don't understand how controversial that is here. For them, it is a necessary and "sunk (like that play on words?) cost."
Delft was a beautiful and quaint town. The canals were so pretty and we saw many wild swans. Notice in the picture below how close the water is to the back doors of these homes and businesses.
We loved this shot of the old and the new windmills. The old ones are so pretty but really only seen out in the country anymore.

Netherlands 2007

The sign says "Welcome to the Netherlands!" This was truly a dream come true for me. I have always wanted to visit the land of my forefathers. Let me tell you a little about our trip there.

One of the first things we saw was this windmill. Since the windmill was actually working we just had to pull off the highway to see it. It was a working mill and the owners ground and sold their own flour as well as give tours of the windmill. We climbed up to the top of the interior and watched as the old wood gears turned the paddles of the windmill. We tasted their homemade bread and bought some flour. There was a fair-like celebration in this little town that day and since every town seems to be built around a church (see background) everyone gathers there by the church and has fun together.

The Netherlands is very green and of course, very flat, with some of it lying below sea level. The country was especially beautiful and though we weren't there during tulip time we saw homes in the country with large fields of other flowers like this one.
Because Holland is so close to the North Sea, it is a common sight to see harbors, locks, dykes and canals throughout the country.

A Quieter Week

It was a quiet week and it was nice for a change of pace. Brent was asked to be the drum major for the school band. That requires lessons to teach him how to hold and spin a baton. Though it looks easy enough, its actually a bit brutal on the body and he has a few good bruises and a cut on his hand to prove it! But he is getting better at it and we saw a lot of improvement this week. He is real excited about it and so are we! We'll post some pictures of him when he starts in the Fall.
Another fun activity was going with Evaly, Carter and Kylie to the library where Brent is volunteering this summer. They had a petting zoo there last week and it was a most unusual one. The animals were in costumes...yes, that's right, costumes. You know, a dress on a goat, a hat on a sheep, backpacks, vests, etc. And all these animals were exceptionally relaxed in a setting of 30 or so pre-schoolers running around,petting them and brushing their fur. They had a hen that just sat there and let the kids pet her. Rabbits that had soft Chinchilla-like fur,that were sprawled out on the grass and not disturbed at all by loud and quick-moving children. They even had a very large turtle who allowed the kids to touch his head. He never did duck into his shell. It was really amazing to see how gentle and unafraid these animals were. I talked to the propietor and she said it was because "they were working." She claimed that when they had their costumes on, they somehow know how to behave but as soon as the costumes come off, they know they are going home and they line up to get on the truck and don't want to be petted anymore. Weird, huh?It was the best petting zoo I've ever been too.
On Saturday, Brent, Evaly and I went school shopping. Brent found some "cool" clothes so that's done! (I love shopping for boys...one hour, all done!) Then we took care of McKell and Carter so Mommy and Daddy and Kylie could go out and celebrate Nathan's birthday. It was fun and they are such cute kids! We love being close to our grandkids!

Those computer savy kids....

Well, my daughter, Evaly, has the most darling blog ever! (Of course, its exceptionally cute because she has adorable children to post on hers!) But she's persuaded me that its a great way to keep in touch with friends and family and since I am not a very good letter writer I've decided to give it a try. I love having computer savy kids. They sometimes have to drag me into "21st century technology" and deal with some reluctance and fear on my part, but, I usually like it a lot once I've learned it.