Wilcoxes are back and blogging!

After a wonderful German style holiday, traveling lots and then being a little bit lazy.. we are back to blogging! We had our friend Emily Chambers with us for three weeks, and then we took a wonderful trip to Northern France, Belgium, then on to the Netherlands! We hadn't seen much of those areas before and loved every minute! Our kids were fantastic travelers, making the whole expereince, unforgetful! We wanted to share a few of our experiences with you.

We headed up to Versaille first, and enjoyed the palace and almost every inch of those beautiful grounds. The kids loved the train ride through the grounds to the Queen's hamlet best! It was a fake little city that Marie Antionette had built to escape the pressures of the Palace! On the weekends all of the fountains on the grounds are going full spray, and we just happened to be there for a night of lit fountains, light shows, music and fireworks! It was amazing!

Then we had beautiful weather for a couple days on the Normandy beaches. What an amazing expereince. It was wonderful to see that the memory of those brave Allied soldiers is upheld still... We very much enjoyed teaching our kids about this important invasion, and learning so much more ourselves. The most impressive to the kids was the Pont du Hoc look out point with the huge craters created by the shelling, and cement bunkers that were supposed to have stored huge guns, as well as the numberless crosses and stars at the military cemetary near Omaha beach. We stayed nearby in Caen, and highly recommend the Freedom museum there!

Then back to our Spree in Paree!
We covered ground! I don't even really remember the order in which we tried to absorb! We shopped browsed through Galleria Lafayette, toured the Opera Garnier, did the Louvre and the Orangerie museums, then the Notre Dame cathedral and hike to the bell tower, then the Musee 'd Orsay, and Arch 'd Triumph a stroll down the Champs Elysse (sp?) with all the amazing stores... kids drew on a car in the Toyota shop and got a 'good behavior' prize in the Disney store! Eiffel tower at sunset and night time cruise of the Seine! Another half day in the Luxemburg Gardens to sail a boat and just play!

We sadly dropped Emily at the airport, and headed to Belgium. We met up with Craig and Hattie in this quaint town... where we ate chocolate and waffles and french fries.... lots of them! French fries supposedly originated here. The town has a lot of canals and we cruised one on a little boat, and then climbed another bell tower. My kids love this....They have climbed all shapes and sizes of towers since we have been here. Notre Dame had around 400 steps, A favorite in Munich, St. Peter's has 302... but while Emily was here we went way out to Ulm Germany and Ike and Amanda climbed the tower there.... 700 (or so steps!) Everything else seems small to those two. This tower in Brugge was a little smaller than Notre Dame I think. We had a wonderful time in this town.... we enjoyed the beach near there.... very clean and nice, and the food was great here... seemed cheap after Paris!

Rotterdam was a one day stop to take in Europe's port on a harbor cruise, and luckily found the best sandwich shop in the world... the Lunch room.

On to the beaches near Amsterdam at Zanvoort. We enjoyed a few days at a little resort village and we swam (at the inside water park) bowled, and played. We built sandcastles, collected shells, and waded in the North Sea, but even Alissa couldn't force herself to get all the way in the ocean. We enjoyed windmill towns and fishing towns and cheese towns all in the country. Then in to Amsterdam! We had another great day and a half racing around with Craig and Hattie. The Van Gogh museum, the Rijk's museum and a night time canal cruise.... very lively fun city! One stop that had the most impact... especially on Ali... was the Anne Frank house. It has been maintained much like it was when the hideouts lived there. I was a hard idea for Ali to really understand that a girl, much like her, had to stay inside and quiet, and be hiding for two years. It was an important capstone of a trip that began with learning who invaded the beaches of Normandy... and ended with why.

We could go on and on about the art, and architecture, the food and people that we experienced. Some day we will. Now we have been back for two weeks, the kids started school a day after we got back, I have been trying to get organized ever since. Amanda is at the international kindergarten this year and loves it, and Ike and Ali act as if they haven't skipped a beat. But that is another blog......
All our love!