Cornwall or bust...

After the mis-adventures of the train, when we finally got to England we were very hungry and ready to get out of the car.  People don't really go out to breakfast in Europe but I knew England may have a few more options.  We put "breakfast diners" into our GPS and to my delight a few places popped up.  The place we ended up going to was in a mall and it was GREAT!  It was a "british style" (eggs, sausages, tomatoes & mushrooms)  breakfast but it was very yummy and hit the spot.  We walked around the mall for a few minutes before getting into the car and the kiddos found these chairs to play on.  

It was really cold and rainy on our way down to Cornwall.  It was about a 6 hour drive from the Chunnel.  It was funny because at one point we saw a sign for "Stonehenge" and Marc and I said "wouldn't it be cool if it was just beside the road and we could see it" ...well, we went around a corner and voila!  The picture was hard to get in a moving vehicle.  The weather was SO horrible that we decided if it was better when we came back up to London we would go then (and it was!).

When we FINALLY made it to Cornwall it was about 4:00pm.  We were going to Cornwall to meet up with my dear friend Heidi and her family.  She lives in New Zealand with her husband and kids but her husband's extended family comes from England so they were there visiting them and showing off their precious kiddos to his family.  It was such a bummer to get there a day late because we missed out on spending more time with them!  Heidi and I have been close since our YL (young life) days when we both lived in Germany and have many great memories together..we had a lot to talk about...she is also originally from the Seattle area.  Anyway, we met up with her and her crew after we unpacked at this great restaurant.

It was a great and the kiddos did awesome.  Her son, Caleb is 2 weeks older then Isaac. Her baby Amber is 6 months and in the highchair at the end.  Ava, ever the big girl was sitting next to Isaac and Isabella still fearful of strangers is attached to my lap.  P.S. we had been traveling since 3 that morning.

Isaac and Caleb did great although we did sit for a long time and they started walking around the restaurant.  All was well until they placed a toy dinosaur on the bar....let's just say the bartender wasn't kid-friendly. :)

The next morning eating cheesy eggs.

This was the only full day that we got to hang out with Heidi (they were ending back out to London that night) and so we decided to pack as much as we could into the day...it was a great day!!  We took a train to a place called St Ives. (although it looks dark out, we were in a tunnel)

Notice the rain cover on the stroller...we ended up needing it big time!

Isaac and his new little friend chasing birds.  Heidi's husband's brother and family were there too, so we hung out with them as well.  This is their daughter with isaac who is about 6 months older than him.

It was a beautiful town and we were having fun exploring...that's Heidi's sis in law standing with me.

The kids loving the sand.  Where is Isabella?? She doesn't like sand! :)

It was so cold but so much fun!

Heidi's sis in law found this awesome cafe on-line.  It was SO good.  We had to split up into 2 tables. :)

Cornwall is famous for their Cornish High Tea so we HAD to have it!  It is Cornish tea with sconces and clotted cream.  Ava was checking out the tea and she decided...

it was good!  

Here we are all crammed back into the train station....after a day of train rides, beach time, window shopping, an awesome lunch and getting beaten apart by the wind and rain we headed back to the area we were staying and had to say goodbye to our dear friends...we promised them we would come see them in New Zealand sometime soon!! :)

Antwerp 10 miler & Cornwall

One of the goals that I have had for this year was to run a half-marathon (which I did, more on that soon) and so some of my friends and I decided to run the Antwerp 10 miler as a training for the half-marathon.  It was a great run except for the killer tunnel at the end of the race that was crowded, had a steep incline and horrible air.  There was even an ambulance that had to come into the tunnel because someone had collapsed...yes, it was bad.  Anyway, it was a good run and challenging.  The weather was cold and rainy (hail was falling minutes before the race) but we prayed....AND it didn't rain at all during the entire race! :) YEAH!

Here was our support guy!  Marc decided to drive all of us ladies to the race and be the bag guy.  We had some friends watch the kiddos so that Marc could go.  Marc is awesome & a good sport--it was fun to share the day with him! 

From the right, here are Lisa, Jenny and I after the race. 

Here is the whole crew.  Jennifer, me, Monica, Jenny & Lisa.
*Please note that we had just ran 10 miles and looking a little beat. :)

Here are a couple sneak peaks of Cornwall, England!  We did finally make it there after our train fiasco and will share more tomorrow.

We were loving our beach time!

Flowers & Grandma Time

There's nothing better than Spring!?  The last few weeks have passed by like a whirlwind.  Grandma Nadine just left yesterday and we miss her already.  Thanks Grandma for coming to see us!

On the day that Grandma came we went to the Keukenhof gardens near Amsterdam.  Marc and I went with the kiddos last year and it was just as beautiful this year.

I thought these pictures that we got in the huge wooden shoes were cute and so very Dutch. :)

Isabella is saying "Cheese" in her cheesiest face.

So So Cute!

Isaac decided to hop in too!
We have SOOO much to catch up on...wish us luck that we can get on here a little more often.  :) It's been so beautiful lately that being outside has been the norm.  We'll try to sit and get more posts on here.

Sweet Kiddos

So here is a little something to share while Kelly attends training with Protestant Women of the Chapel this weekend.  Since I had work today, our friends Dwight and Letty looked out for the kids...actually, I'd say that Letty made the offer to watch them...and I'm so thankful that she did.... However, I must give some props to Dwight in that I heard that he made some killer French Toast this morning after I dropped the kiddos off.  iMan had a good five slices and the TWIX had two or three each (that's twin chix, if you've never heard me with the referrence).  Well, our dear friends passed this photo on to us & I had to keep the good times going -- so enjoy 8-)

Getting there...

There is so much to catch up on!  The girls turned 23 months over the weekend and Marc and I ran a half-marathon on Sunday.  We have been very busy so that is why the lack of blogging!
Here is the 1st part of our trip to England. Yes, just getting there was quite the adventure!  We took the Chunnel from Calais, France to Folkestone, England.  Your car goes on a train through a tunnel under the English Channel (hence, Chunnel)...pretty cool!

What turned out to be quite the adventure was the fact that about half-way there I realized I forgot our passports.  Uh oh...BIG mistake!  With open borders, we have gotten used to traveling in Europe and not needing them.  We totally forgot that the Chunnel would have some extra security...and did it ever!  We went ahead and continued on our trip thinking maybe we could use our Dutch ID cards.  Before boarding the Chunnel you have to clear both French & British check points.  Well, we had no problem leaving France but the border check for England was a TOTALLY different story.  After being detained for 2 1/2 hours at border patrol, we finally were escorted out of there and we came back home to the Netherlands to get our passports (3 hour drive).

Here are the kids on the way back home.  We decided instead of turning right around and heading back that night we would leave at 3 the next morning.

We put the kids to bed when we got home that night and here we are in the car the next morning  (with PJ's on) ready to FINALLY get onto the train!  Isaac was really excited! :)

There is the train on the right and we are loading on.

Here are Isaac and Ava on the FIRST train!  Yes, after the LONG trip we had just endured there was another hiccup in our travel plan...a broken down train!

We sat on this train for 2 hours and then they told us that we would would have to get off the train and take another one!  Did I mention this whole time we were trying to meet up with friends in England and they were waiting on us!?

Here we our getting on the new train!

Isaac playing with his trains on the train.  He was SO excited to be on the train that it was very cute.
Well, we did FINALLY get there!! Cornwall, England coming next...

another peek...

We haven't meant to be so quiet over here, it has just been a busy week!  We did pick up someone special at the airport today....Grandma Nadine!  We are already having fun! :)
More soon...

Taste of Stonehenge...

We are back!  We got back late last night and we had a great time in England.  We spent from Sunday-Wed. down in Cornwall which is a beachside area visiting with my friend, Heidi and then we went to London from Wed.- Sat to see my cousin Jamie.
Here we are at Stonehenge which we visited on the way up to London.  We have lots more details and pics but wanted to let you know that we are back safely.  Today is also my birthday so we have had a fun day with friends coming over for Mexican food tonight.  I also got a 10 mile run in...that's a good way to commemorate getting another year older and also train for my half-marathon NEXT weekend!
Hopefully, I will get more pictures up SOON! :)

We have disappeared again...

We still aren't back yet but wanted to pop in and let you all know we are still alive.  :)  We have taken a little trip to England and the 1st part of the trip has included a lot of this....beach time.

We are onto the 2nd half or our trip but the kids have loved being in the sand (mostly-Isabella is still not a fan & as you can tell it was a little cold) and having fun in a new place!  I may have more updates soon since we once again have some internet access and I am finding if I don't post trips quickly it never happens! :)