Op Vakantie

Felix got his first plane trip as all of us went to the Netherlands the first two weeks of June. A few highlights. First Felix got ready for the trip by enjoying some chocolate, since that's what the Dutch are known for.



We stayed with Nicki's father in Den Haag (the Hague), and the first day we were there we went to visit a farm where you can feed baby goats from a bottle. As we drove out there, through the lush green polders and past the windmills, Ella commented, there are a lot of farms in Holland!






Felix took the opportunity to kiss the goats.



We also visited with Ella and Felix's new cousin Céline and with their old cousin Emile, who is already two years old. What a big man he is.





We took a trip to Delft, which is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands, and the birthplace of a certain Nicole Ellen Ferguson. The main church in the middle of the city is where all of the Dutch royals are buried, including William of Orange, considered the founder of Holland. The kids decided to show their respect by running around and jumping on the graves.



I also found a pizzeria there I didn't know I owned.



Back at his Opa's house, Felix added to his experience of his first plane ride by getting his first ride on a ladder.



And Ella jumped with her cousin Annick on a trampoline in Belgium.



All in all, Ella and Felix had a great time visiting their cousins Emile and Céline, and couldn't leave them as they said goodbye and went away in their car.



Thank you Opa, Dunie, Funky, Céline and Emile!

Some notes from me so we remember all the things we did... we went to miniature Holland - Madurodam - where there happened to be a Dutch Sesame Street exhibit and Felix boogied to Dutch Elmo (with much gratitude to Diane Weber, Funky's mom, for filming this):


We had wonderful visits with my aunties Mariette (& Bert) in the eastern part of Holland and Heleen (& Sylvain) in Baarn, a super fun time visiting the bunnies at the kinderboerderij (petting zoo) in Belgium with Oma, and Ella played on cousin Annick's slide WHHHEeeee!


There were also several visits to the beach with Opa and Alex The Dog, mostly by the restaurant-on-the-beach where Tante Eva works, De Kwartel, just a short walk through the dunes; some days the weather was not so great and sometimes it was very nice, especially the day the kids went to Scheveningen with Oma and OpaJon.




Click HERE for the visit from Céline's POV with more pictures of us.