Okay, so this is REALLY bad.....our last post was in January! We have been so busy travelling. Yeah, we know, really rough, you say. But our time has also been eaten up battling the world's BIGGEST 2 and a half year old!
Let us break down what's the haps since the New Year struck:
In February, we were joined by our friends Bryan and Erica on an Alps ski trip. We left our house in Amsterdam at 6:00am and drove through Germany on the Autobahn to Kitzbuhel, Austria. The trip took 12 hours with only two stops.....one gas stop and one Mickey D's stop! The boys did great in the car.....aside from Carter's motion sickness!
On a side note, we have to say that international McDonald's restaurants are really amazing! They are equipped with leather couches, plasma TV's, and individual bathrooms that are clean and lit up with fancy colored lights!
Austria was amazingly beautiful in landscape, architecture, and weather! We finally got to experience some California weather (well, almost)! Snowboarding on the Alps was great, and so was drinking beer at the top of the mountain! In the middle of town there was an "oasis". An indoor swimming pool and water slides. We got to show off our newly acquired pastey white Amsterdam skin! The pool was fun, but the waterslides were even better. They were like the water version of Space Mountain....all dark with neon lights. I hadn't had so much fun in so long. I am sure that all of the teenagers at the top of the water slides were cracking up at "that old lady" screaming and laughing every time she went down the slides!
We took a day trip to Bruges, Belgium in March. We walked around and toured the sights, and even took a horse carriage ride.
March was wonderful because it brought us back home to California. Again, the boys did great on the plane. They got to sit with the pilots and wear their hats. They got wings pinned on their shirts, and loved every second of it! Carter's motion sickness visited again on the ride to Grandma and Papa's house. Tony had to work the two weeks we were home, but Stacie got to shop! I couldn't wait to get to the mall and Target! The ATM machine (or what some of you close to my heart call "the ready teller"!) was smokin'! We were fortunate enough to be able to spend Easter with our families. The Easter Bunny was good to us this year.
We spent the last part of our trip home in SoCal. We got to stay in a Marriott Villa in Newport Beach. We took the boys to Disneyland. They had no idea what Disneyland was, but, boy, they sure do now! They absolutely loved it, and are excited because they know that next month they will get to go to Disneyland Paris! We went to the Character Breakfast in the morning, and got to eat breakfast with lots of the Disney characters. They even signed the boys' autograph book.
We returned to Amsterdam the first part of April.....with another great plane trip......and another visit from Carter's motion sickness! I always wondered if anybody REALLY used those barf bags for anything other than spitting old gum into. Unfortunately, my question was answered by my son!
April held a trip to the tulip farms (Kuekenhof), a visit to Volendam (an old fishing town with nice shops and views), and a visit from Doug and Jenni (Tony's cousin and his girlfriend). We also journied to Bloemendaal--a sweet reminder of a California beach bar and grill, where the kids can play and the adults can drink a beer (or if you're the Q's, two)! April also marked the end of training wheels for Carter. He mastered riding his two wheeler within days and looks like a true Dutchman now! Only one nasty fall for Evil Kneivel so far. The last day of April is the biggest party day of the year in Holland, especially Amsterdam. It is called Koninginnedag (Queen's Day for those of us that don't speak Dutch!). Every canal in the city is jammed with boats. Every cafe, coffeshop, store, sidewalk, street, etc. is packed to the point of gross. Everybody wears orange and it is one big ol' party. Great to experience it once, but we will probably head to a different country next year for the weekend.
The beginning of May was greeted with a visit by Stacie's parents. A few days after they arrived, we all went to Paris. A few days after Paris, Tony and Pete went to Scotland for some serious golfing. We would love to share our latest pics of Paris, Scotland, Amsterdam, and Avery now wearing undies, but some jackass on Easy Jet decided to steal our cameras and I-pods so that's not possible.
OK, back to Paris. A short train ride from Amsterdam brought us into the heart of the city. Our first task was to find a taxi to take us to the apartment we rented. After being jockied around, we finally found someone to drive us the 10 mins. to the apt. for a reasonable price. This is where we would insert pictures of the beautiful Parisian chalet we were going to call "home" for the next 5 days, but since someone else is enjoying the pics we took, that's not going to happen. Let us enlighten you.....
***The doorknob was broken, so in its place was a pair of scissors you had to turn to the left to get the front door open.
***The kitchen was inhabited by ants and crumbs and dirty dishes.
***The shower was SO SMALL Stacie had to stand OUTSIDE of it to shave her legs.
***The bathroom had to be bleached before we could use it
***The TV, internet, and phone did not work.
***The fish tank was held together with string and duct tape (yes, we were in charge of keeping the fish alive)
***The ceilings in the "TV room" and bathroom were peeling apart
***There was an unmarked jar of mysterious red sauce in the fridge, along with some mayo, mustard, and cheese
***The freezer not only held ice cube trays, but also a spilled, frozen, buillon looking substance
***There was a wet shower towel hanging in the bathroom when we arrived
Oh, the list could go on and on....if only we had our pictures!
We really enjoyed Paris, but it was jinxed from the get-go.
Carter had a fever, the flu, a rash, a cough, and his eardrum ruptured. Avery got a really bad case of pink eye. His eyes were glued shut every morning. Pete and Bonnie were attacked by bloody noses. Pete, Bonnie, and Stacie were battling allergies which turned into coughs and colds. And of course, Tony escaped it all! On the plus side, Avery is no longer wearing diapers!!! Side note: NEVER potty train in a foreign country!
Okay....on to Italy!
We started out in Florence. We rented another apt., but actually had a "normal" place this time. We saw all of the beautiful sights...St. Marco Square, the Duomo
