Spring Break 2017

Tobin gets two weeks off for Spring break so we took the opportunity to get out of town. Here is our spring break in pictures - the first trip was to Garmisch in the very south of Germany in the foothills of the Alps. The second trip was to the Netherlands.

Just like our New Year's trip, we stayed in a youth/family hostel outside the center of Garmisch. This is really close to where we stayed for New Year's, too. It's such a beautiful area with the mountains, valleys and adorable villages, so we needed more of it, but in a different season. This youth hostel was also really nice with a big play yard in front for kids, a movie each night, a ping pong table, and an indoor play room with wrestling mats, a climbing wall and nest swing. Staying in a hostel once again confirmed my love for this kind of lodging - cheap, no cooking, no cleaning, no waiting, no worrying about the kids bothering anyone, and a never-ending supply of coffee that I don't have to make.

On our first full day we drove to Partnachklamm, a gorge through the mountains.

To get to the gorge you walk through the small stadium from the Winter Olympics of 1936.

On the path leading into the gorge. Jonah is already not sure about this.

Just moments before slipping on the rocks and plunging one foot into the water. And we haven't even started the walk yet. Shoulda listened to Daddy!

Some of the cave sections were pitch black.

Pack mule mama

Some parts of the path were really narrow and parts where adults had to duck down.

A misty waterfall.

The water was completely clear. I wanted to gulp it!

The narrow path through the gorge opened up into this area where lots of people stopped to rest and have a snack.

Relaxing in the sun. The gorge was the easy part, kids.

Finally allowed to throw rocks.

We hiked up a little more and came to a big hotel and restaurant in a tiny mountain village. This beautiful hillside was right off the side of the restaurant just begging kids to run and roll on it.

"I'm jest gonna set here a piece."

Leaving the grassy hill and starting up the mountain for what would be a very steep, very long walk. We basically had to dangle the vision of an ice cream cone in front of their faces to keep the complaining to a minimum. (We knew there was a place at the top to get ice cream and food.)

Somebody's house up in the mountains.

Finally rewarded with ice cream! It really was a crazy steep walk. I'm surprised Jonah made it.

And my reward, the Dampfnudel!!! A steamed ball of dough topped with warm vanilla sauce and sprinkled with ground poppy seeds and sugar. Lecker schmecker!

Me, not sharing.

Riding the narrow little cable cars down the mountain.

The next day we walked around the town of Garmisch, which is, of course, completely adorable in the typical Bavarian style.

Poor Toby was so upset that we had to leave after three nights. He makes friends easily and met a nice gaggle of kids to run around with, one boy in particular. I exchanged email addresses with the parents but I doubt we'll ever see them again.
We drove home on Easter and had a few days to do laundry, re-pack and hit the road for Holland.

I was really excited about this next place. It's too expensive now to stay right in Amsterdam, so I found a yoga studio in a suburb of the city that's available for travelers. Its in a big warehouse-type place with a kitchen and shower and the lady who owns it lives on the other side in the attached house. She's from Long Beach but moved to Holland thirty-plus years ago, has two grown daughters, and built her business here.

The yoga classes didn't interfere with our stay because we were out all day anyway.

This couch turned into a double bed.

Somebody left a balloon behind which was the perfect game to play in this room.

And three mattresses on the floor for the kiddies...kind of like glamping!

I don't know how, but we managed to get Doren to fall asleep by himself on this mattress. This is the first time in his life of almost three years that he has EVER fallen asleep at night without having some kind of contact with Marc or myself. It only lasted a few hours when he woke up crying for me, but its pretty amazing that it happened at all. It didn't work out for the other two nights, though.

The next morning we picked up Marc's aunt, Tineke, and her husband, Richard, at a train stop outside of Amsterdam and drove to Keukenhof, a huge garden of millions of tulips. There are actual fields of tulips on the way there, but this was more of a planned garden of flowers. Driving there we saw idyllic scenes of farms with windmills and cows or sheep grazing in fluffy grass. The funny part is in the middle of these farms are boats. It looks like they're parked there but they're actually floating in the little canals that run through the fields. Its so funny seeing what looks like a huge field of grass and then see human heads gliding through...because they're riding on little boats. It's just one more detail for me to love.

My favorite eight-year old and favorite flowers!

It is so wonderful to have relatives in Europe. We are very grateful for them.

Tineke usually walks with her hands behind her back. So does Doren. We finally caught them both in the act!

Being weird

Aaaaaahhhhhhhh

Aaaaaaahhhhhh

Aaaaaaaaahhhhh

He's super easy to manage when he's unconscious.

That evening we went into the city with Tine and Richard. They moved around the corner to a smaller, single-level place, but still overlooking a canal in the heart of the city.

The next morning we picked them up again and drove north to the town of Alkmaar where they just so happened to be having their weekly cheese festival on that day! I mean, what could be better? Tons of tulips, tons of cheese, animals grazing, adorable towns...my eyes are crossing!

Mission: Eat all the cheese. Goal: Full-blown constipation. 

A stubby, little doorway. 1719...must be one of the more modern buildings.

Dudes carrying cheese wheels on boards hanging from their shoulders like back in the day. 

Watching the cheese men of his ancestry.

No, not him! Give me the cheese, Mr. Cute Cheese Man!

Many flavors.

Where they used the weigh the big cheese wheels.

A totally cute house.

The little towns are like mini-Amsterdams, with all the bikes but minus the hoards of tourists.

We needed to cross the street and all the sudden a hundred school kids flew by on their bikes.

We walked through the narrow little neighborhood streets. I know I'm repeating myself, but its incredible how cute everything is. The row homes are so tiny! And the cars are bikes. That's all they need.

Riding the street car to Central Station

On our last morning on the way home we drove through Utrecht just to have one more place to walk through before the long drive.

We saw a Farmer's market just for flowers.

And the church bells playing a song...

I can't pick a favorite place. There are too many to love!

As you can see, spring break was wonderful. Three loads of laundry down today and school starts tomorrow. I can't believe we are three-quarters through with the school year!