Tip Toe Through the Tulips

While we were on our trip, Coleen and I talked about making a trip down to Woodburn to the tulip farm when we got back. We just happened to luck out and have beautiful weather this weekend, so Coleen, Merrick and I packed up the car and headed South while Travis got ready for his NFL Draft Football Birthday party. These days any chance Merrick gets to go in the car or be outside, he is all for it. Although, after only a short time at the farm, he decided that he didn't want to walk and that either Auntie or Mama had to carry him. This made our trip to the tulip farm a little shorter than I would have liked. We heard that the fields were about half the size as in years past. This was our first time to the farm and it was a beautiful sight to see all the tulips in bloom. At $5 per vehicle, I would say this is worth the trip down to Woodburn, especially if you have beautiful weather.

We're Home!

Travis and I arrived back in Portland at about 11:30 am this morning after a very long flight from Frankfurt to Portland. We were so happy to arrive home safely. Coleen and Merrick came to pick us up at the airport. I didn't realize how much I had missed Merrick while we were gone and how much he has grown and changed in the past 2 weeks. Now we all have to get back into the swing of our normal schedule. We hope to have pictures downloaded and posted very soon.

Amsterdam

We arrived in Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon after a little mix up at the train station in Antwerp. Apparently the tickets we had bought online from Antwerp to Amsterdam had to be printed out in France =( So we had to buy new tickets. I'm hoping to be able to get a refund when we get home.



We arrived in Amsterdam to finally see a familiar face. It was so nice to get off the train and see Kristen. She had figured out what Tram to take to get us to our hotel and went with us to get us checked in. Then because it was so nice out, we decided to walk through Vondelpark to Kristen's apartment to do some laundry. After each of us living out of one suitcase apiece for 2 weeks, we wanted to have some clean clothes for our flight home. We then headed to a little cafe to have dinner. It has been so great to catch up with Kristen and learn about her experiences here in Amsterdam.

We have done a lot of sight seeing, visiting the Rijks Museum, The Van Gogh Museum, The Rembrandt House, The Anne Frank House, we tried to visit the Old & New Churches, but they are both closed while we are here, we also did a canal cruise and went to see the comedy show Boom Chicago.

As this is our last day in Amsterdam and on our trip, Travis and I have been taking a little slower pace and just enjoying our last day here. We have plans to meet up with Kristen for dinner and then to take a guided tour through the Red Light District, which should be very interesting!

Travis and I have both really enjoyed our trip and have missed Merrick so much. We are ready to head home and sleep in our own bed and see all of our family and friends (although we will miss Kristen!)

Chocolate, Beer, Bicycles and Waffles

We didn't have access to internet while we were in Brugge. The city is gorgeous and it was a nice little pit stop between Paris and Amsterdam. We really just relaxed and didn't do much. We enjoyed lots of beer (well Travis did), lots of chocolate (well I did), several waffles (they don't make them like this in the states!) and a guided bike tour through Brugge and the countyside. We were really only in Brugge for about a day and a half, so we didn't do any sight seeing. It was a nice change from everything we had done in Paris and London. I would definitely recommend making a stop in this city if you are ever in Belgium!