February Break

The kids had all of last week off of school, but Trevor was crazy busy at work, so he couldn't get away for a big trip. So we took advantage of the weekends. The first weekend, we stayed close to home and decided to visit The Hague.

Herring is a typical Dutch food. We haven't been brave enough to try it raw yet, but we did try it fried. This is called Kibbeling...and it was delicious! Even the kids ate it, and raved about it.

Kibbeling

Haring Stand

We also visited the Mauritshuis Museum and saw some great art. Including Vermeer's The Girl with the Pearl Earring.

The Girl with the Pearl Earring

During the week, I took the kids to Amsterdam to the NEMO Science Museum. I didn't get any good pics of it, but the kids had fun making and flying paper airplanes and exploring the museum. We even stopped at McDonald's on the way there. James was happy about that. 

James enjoying his Happy Meal

On Friday after work, we packed the car up and drove down to Luxembourg for the weekend. We stayed at a great hotel that had an indoor pool, which was pretty much a dream come true for the kids. They've missed being able to swim whenever they want. So they had fun. 

Saturday morning, we started the day by visiting the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial. Probably my favorite thing we did all weekend. It was a really special place. Over 5,000 fallen soldiers are buried here, and one army nurse. General Patton was even buried here. The lady in the visitor's center told us the stories behind two of the men who had earned medals of honor. Their stories of bravery were really touching, and made the experience so memorable for all of us. It was such a beautiful day, too, to enjoy the surroundings.

The Visitor's Center

General Patton's grave

We then headed into Luxembourg City and walked around to see the sights.

The Duchal Palace

The Notre Dame Cathedral

And then, of course, we had to eat at the Tex Mex place in the main square. Because that's how we roll. It was actually really good! It's hard to find good Mexican food here. And this place even had large glasses for the drinks, and they had ice! Pure luxury. ha!

The kids had indulged us with all the boring cultural stuff, so we took them to the park in the afternoon. They had a great ship-themed city park that the kids had a blast playing at. That's one thing Europe really does well at...parks.

I mean, look at that slide! it was huge!

Sunday, we attended church service, and then we headed back into Luxembourg City to visit the Casements.  Luxembourg was originally a huge fortress. The casements were basically tunnels under the fortress where they housed soldiers and protected  the city. It was pretty impressive.

On our way home, we headed over the German border to Trier. Trier was originally built by the Romans in 14 BC. This picture is of the Porta Negra (Black Gate), which is a remnant of the original city wall.

We boarded this little tram and took a city tour...

 ...visited the oldest Catholic church in Germany...and then headed home. It was a fun weekend.