Assen, Netherlands

On Friday I finally arrived in Amsterdam to see my adorable neice and handsome nephew Lauren & Justin...and of course my wonderful sister. They met me at the airport afterwhich we drove to their home in Assen. First Lauren wanted to show me her school and then we drove out to one of the parks they like to bike ride in when the weather is warmer. The countryside is very pretty and green.



Saturday after having breakfast, we got ready & drove to Groningen which is about 20 minutes away from their home. First stop was a lunch fit for royalty...Burger King! (Where else do you go when you have young ones with you) I didn't even know they had Burger King's here. We then strolled through the market where you can buy anything from fresh produce, flowers, breads, cheeses & meats to textile items such as clothing, purses, shoes, etc. Just across the street from there was Martini Tower. Lauren, Dawn & I climbed all 370 steps to the top just behind the clock faces. We happen to get there just a few minutes to 3 pm and at promptly 3 the bells rang and scared the bejeezes out of us! You could see for miles from there and boy was it windy. Lauren counted the bells and we believe there are 13 with there being several different sizes.



On our way home we stopped by the market (grocery store) and picked up a few items for our trip tomorrow. The stores here are different than in the US. You pick up a scanner and scan items as you pick them up to place in your basket. When your done, you replace your scanner and pay. No having to wait in long checkout lines. Pretty neat. I had absolutely NO clue what I was looking at on the shelves half the time.



Tonight Dawn & Jason got to go out to dinner and a movie just the two of them (a rare event since they've been living here). The kids and I had pizza followed with popcorn and a movie...Sound Of Music (Lauren's favorite!) Til tomorrow...

PS - I can't get the slide show to post on here, but will keep trying. You may look at some in the meantime on my facebook site. (under April Ellisor Schmidt)

Ski Trip

This past Christmas we went on a family ski trip...all but Ronnie (had to work). He's not much into very cold weather, riding up lifts or being away from the flat prairies! One day, Honey, one day! The kids and I went with my Dawn & her family, Mike & Laurel, Kyle, Dad & Aunt Judy. What a wonderful blessing that we were all able to go. This was a first in a very long while.



The first day I wasn't such a good mom. I didn't read the trail map and legend much more than a glance or I would have noticed the beginners area. After checking in Andrew at ski school, I instead took the kids (1st time skiers) down a run that was well over their heads (by accident). We finally met Dad, Laurel and the rest of the gang at the room 4 HOURS later. The kids hated skiing, never wanted to try again and we were all EXHAUSTED.

Dawn had pointed out the beginner area that night, so the next day we spent there. The kids only fell 1 time each and dad was able to ski with them, coaching them along the way. They loved it and couldn't wait to go up the lift again and again. Thank you Dawn!! The third day we skied the same area with Andrew this time. He did great as well. Thought that falling was great fun and tried to wipe out even bigger each time. What a charater! Trey was skiing through the trails in the trees with me and looking for jumps...sound familiar Dawn? Aliska kept trying to work on getting her skis more parallel and out of the wedge. They did wonderfully. Dad had such a wonderful time watching them. Seeing the joy on his face of watching his grandbabies enjoying something he started with his own kids was priceless. Now the kids are asking if we can go every year! I sure hope to continue this tradition as best as we can; we'll eventually get Ronnie there.