Summer fun

The kids are getting bigger as each days goes by.  Sylvie is pulling herself up to standing, and having lots of crashes.  She is so proud of herself.  She can also get up to where Archie tries to get away from her.  In the evenings before bed they do a little chase game where she chases him and they both are rolling around giggling with one another.  It is super cute.

Action shot on the tramopline at Monkeytown, an indoor play center.  We go there every couple of weeks and the kids have a great time.

The truck that Archie spends at least 30 minutes in driving, getting in and out, and running around.  He was so excited once he discovered it, I thought I would never get him to leave.

It was a hot day and we were walking back from Monkeytown.  Sylvie was asleep and Archie just woke up.  I decided it would be fun to try some ice cream.  He isn't really into sweets and it took me awhile to convince him to try this.  Once he had some, he got straight into it!

We have been exploring a lot when we are outdoors.  Archie is really into the bumble bees at work on the flowers.  We usually have to stop at every flower bunch to look for bees.  It is fun help him discover all these new things.  Today we walked into school and he saw a snail with a shell.  He talked about it all day.

Champagne! and one last week with Jim & Margaret

We spent a long weekend with Jim and Margaret in the Champagne region of France.  It was rolling hills of grapes all going to make the sparkling drink.  It was very scenic and quaint.  It was very relaxing and a nice way to spend more time together.
 

While there, we went to the city of Reims.  It is a city with a lot of history dating back to the Romans.  It has an old cathedral from the 1200s.  I would say it is one of the most amazing I have ever seen.  The building is huge and ornately detailed in stone carvings.  The rose window was stunning.  To think that it was made in a time without modern machines or tools is mind boggling.  The kings of France were crowned/blessed there and Joan of Arc was in the church as well.  We loved the city and enjoyed walking around and taking in the sites.  It was fun to see Archie running down the side aisles of the quiet dimly lit cathdral.  We had a couple stares from tourists but isn't God's house for everyone? :)

 Window by the famous modern artist Chagall

 Archie running through the cathedral 

 Modern painting of Joan of Arc

And then we had a couple days left with Jim and Margaret after their trip to Scotland.  The weather was warm and pleasant and we enjoyed it together.  Archie still asks about Neena and Jaboo.  He had such a good time playing with them.

We rode our bikes with the kids on them to a neighborhood park.

Out at a park enjoying a swing together.  They were having fun.  We just can't capture it on camera for some reason.

New haircut!  Short for the summer!

Trying to get a photo of us together

Oh, the papparazzi find me everywhere!

At our favorite playground digging in the sand.  Archie can do this for hours.

Sylvie is now pulling herself up on things.  She enjoyed playing in the sand and getting it everywhere.  And she tried to eat it as well.  She didn't do the full handfuls that Archie did last summer, just a little taste.

Springtime in Holland

Here are some photos of the nice warm weather we had for a week.....then it went away.  We played as much as we could and even wore shorts.  Now we are back to low temps, jackets, scarves, and umbrellas.

These photos are from downtown Breda on Queen's Day.  It was the celebration for the crowing of the new Dutch King.  It was very eventful in the city and very orange everywhere.  It was neat seeing how festive everyone gets.  People were dressed in orange wearing lots of orange accessories.  Most people (without young kids) went and spent the day in the squares, drinking, and watching the event on large screens.

Playing with the umbrella, meant for shade.

Unhappy that Mom is helping him hold the umbrella up.  Right before this photo, he was smiling and super cute.  Went for the camera and it all went wrong.  I still love the photo though!

Did I post this already?

We love getting to dress up in dresses!  We are so fortunate to be doing clothes swaps with a good friend.  She gets all of Archie's old clothes for her boy and we get clothes for Sylvie.  She has given us some adorable dresses.

Doing puzzles together at the table.

New game taking all the cushions off the couch and jumping!

Brushing teeth

Let's take a photo together.....first try

Second try

.......fifteenth try, and the last one.  What a lovely photo of the two together.  They couldn't try harder to look away from one another.

Archie's art project from daycare.  He "made" me mother's day flowers.

And I tried one more time to get a photo of them together.  Fail.  This was the best one.