Oh to be young again

Last weekend Christine came to visit us from Rome.  She is spending the summer studying abroad in Europe.  

Christine embraced the Amsterdam culture quickly.  Within hours of arriving she was on a bike exploring the city with Greg.  They went to the Ann Frank house, then met up with Rachel (babysitter) and her friends and went to a DJ mixing contest.  The next morning we took a family bike ride into the Dutch country side for pancakes, only to realize there are amazing pancake houses just minutes from our house.  Abigail enjoyed getting to know her cousin.  She quickly realized that Christine was the oldest cousin and she was the youngest.  She would also like to go to college and live in Paris when she gets bigger...thanks.

Naulty/McKenzie Family Reunion

July started off with a bang, with a HUGE family reunion in Southern Indiana.

Terry and Patty hosted the event at there beautiful house and private lake.

The kids (big and small) had a blast swimming in the lake, fishing and all of the actives that Beth had planned.

The biggest hit was the Talent

Show.

A HUGE thanks for to everyone that helped planned the event!!

We can't wait for the next family reunion.

The seasons for visitors

We loved Lake Como so much we decided to say....just kidding.

Sorry for the delay with updates, we've been busy with all the visitors and traveling.

It's been a crazy Spring/Summer season for us.  

Here are some quick update:

April - flowers blooming, weather is getting warmer and the start of the traveling season....  

Our first visitors of the year, the McKenzie family.  Jimmy, Maria, Pearson and Angela decided to spend their Spring break in Europe.  

First stop, Amsterdam to visit with us.  The kids had a great time playing and exploring the city with Kertu (our babysitter) and the adults also had fun exploring the city.  We all learned a bit of freaky deaky dutch together and Pearson taught Kertu how to rap.  During all of this, Jim found time to take a nap.  :)  Next stop for the McKenzie's, Italy to see Maria's family.  

The next visitors were Sandy and Brendan.  Brendan was in the hood (France and Belgium) for business and was able to stop by and see us for the weekend.  Brendan would fit well in Germany with his blitzkrieg tourist mentality.  We learned that just walking by a place of interest and snapping a picture meant you had been there.

May - Uncle Timmy had some time off before starting a new job with Subaru, so he decided to travel Europe for two and half weeks.  He spent time in Amsterdam relaxing and helping out with Abigail, then he was off to Belgium to meet up with a friend and finally to Paris.  Abigail loved playing hide and seek with Uncle Timmy and watching the new Disney Bee movie. She watched the movie so many times, she maybe turning into a bee...

**Waiting additional for photos**

Meg and Rick were also in Europe at the end of May.  They made the road trip (via train) from Paris to Amsterdam and spent a few days with us exploring the city before heading to Belgium and then back to Paris for the French Open.    

We had a mini family reunion and met up with Tim, Meg and Rick in Paris a for some sight seeing and great food.  Abigail finally got her dream of dancing on top of the Eiffel tower.

June - 

The Groff family, Eric, Seniye and Carli made an European trip which included Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.   Amy was traveling in Asia for work so she didn't get to spend time with them but Greg sure did enjoy their time.  Eric had to spend a few days in Rotterdam working so Seniye and Carli stayed in Amsterdam.  Greg never ate better in his life as Seniye is an incredible cook.  Eric, you can send her back any time :)  Carli and Abigail had a great time playing in the park and going to the zoo.  They were like to long lost sisters.  Carli will be a great big sister to Pearl.

 

Beer and Chocolate

If you love beer and chocolate there is no better place then Belgium.  We spent the weekend exploring the cities of Brussels and Gent.

Brussels is the capital of Belgium and the administrative center of the EU.  We don't know what Abigail enjoyed more of, the hotel or Manikin Pies.  

Manikin Pies is the little guy who pees all day and night.  The Belgians have an entire society set up around him and they have been given several thousand outfits from common people and dignitaries around the world.  He was put up at the only fountain in the area where people could go and get the

ir water from.  What a great thing to think about as you eat your pasta.

Lucas made the trip and he enjoyed all of the beer and great food.  He walked more proud knowing he was back in his home country.  He was showing off and it was quite impressive.

Gent is a charming medieval city.  We started our day with a boat tour which took us though the city center.  

The boat gave us a great way to find our next house - the Gravensteen (Castle of the counts).

Amy thinks it will be just a bit bigger fixer upper than what we could take on just now.  Abigail also found where the princesses stay and wait for the prince to come and rescue them.  It is great to see the world with her and learn how to use our imagination again.

Lake Como/Milan

Abigail and I met up with Greg over Easter weekend in Italy.  We spent Easter at Lake Como.  What a beautiful area..

 

  

Abigail and I spent the follow week 

exploring Milan while Greg worked.

Zaanse Schans

Zaanse Schans is a delightful old city located on the banks of the Zaan river.  The village depict Dutch life in the 17th and 18th centuries.  It was a rainy day (very typical Dutch weather), but the kids had fun exploring the willmills, learning about how cheese is made and shopping for clogs.

Austrian Snow Vacation

    

We just returned from our first European ski trip in Austria.  We went to a small mountain town, Kleinarl, with two other families, the Pressler and Kincaid.  It was a great time for all.  Abigail took her first ski lesson and loved skiing.  She learned how to ski with her skis together, make a pizza slice (snowplow) and turn...which is more than I can do.  I have a feeling we'll be going back for more ski lessons (for both child and parents).

            

We also took a our first horse drawn sleigh ride in the snow.   

We took a hour ride to a restaurant located next to Jager Lake.  

The kids love the horse and sang songs along the way.  I think the snow vacation will be part of the Tam-Naulty/Naulty yearly vacation from now on, just look at that smile.