Brennin woke up early and made a large card house construction. After breakfast we biked into Alkmaar. Biking into Alkmaar we noticed things were abuzz with activity. It was market day and the main streets were filled with people and vendors of all types. An old style organ played while people studied the mechanics of it. Tim was excited to show the kids a "food in the wall" vending machine. They bought croquettes which happened to be the kids' favorite croqu...

First thing in the morning we rode our bikes into Alkmaar to buy groceries. We were looking forward to a visit with Marieke and Jetta later in the day. We tied our grocery bags to our bikes and feeling very Dutch we rode home. Marieke and Jetta with their kids arrived. This was the first time Marieke could join us, she just returned from a family road trip to Croatia. Our reunion was very exciting and although we hadn't seen each other for years the family b...

The boys left early for the rowboat with the fishing rod. We saw a few fisherman by the canal but Darius and Brennin were trying the slootje. Apparently they came up empty but had a nice time nonetheless. We drove from Kodeike to Franneker, a town in the province of Friesland. This spot is incredibly special because 5 generations from Tim, and 6 from our kids, lived an ingenious relative. Tim's great, great, great, great, great grandfather, on his mother's ...

First thing in the morning Tim and Brennin made a trip to the bike shop because of a flat tire. When they returned we drove to Bakkum to visit Jetta's family. Jetta met us at the front gate of the campground and directed us to the parking lot. We walked together to find their camp lot. The camp trailers were generally refurbished trailers from the 60s and 70s. Young families were enjoying the simple way of life away from the city and common conveniences. ...

The boys were eager to get going early in the morning on their boat adventure. They packed a lunch and left. The rest of us took the morning slow. When the boys returned they were excited to tell us how far in both directions they went. They passed a windmill in one direction, and in the other direction they went so far that they met up with the bike path. In one spot they helped a lady recover a flower pot that had dropped in the water. They ate peanut but...