The Upstalsboom on the Baltic Coast in Northern Germany

 Emilie had fun playing on the shoreline of the Baltic Sea. She spent a good hour collecting stones that she had planned to take back home..."A-a-sorry, Emilie...you'll have to be content with having only a photo of them."

 Checking in with Grandpa to see if he was having as much fun reading as she was collecting stones.  Turns out Emilie enjoyed what she was doing more than Grandpa. Although relaxing, for Grandpa, was a good thing!

We stayed for two nights in Germany before travelling to Gdansk, Poland. This lovely hotel just outside of Gdansk was our last stop with Emilie  before she was to meet up with her mom, brother, sister and granddad. They were attending the wedding of her Uncle Andre who was getting married to a lady who  had been born in Poland and...best of all...Emilie and Alexandra were going to be the flower girls!

"Bye, bye, Emilie.  We  had a wonderful time with you in Europe!"

To Paris with Love ~ August 8 - August 10

 Emilie very much wanted to visit Paris. We were pleased to accommodate her request. As it happened to be my birthday on the day we arrived, Chuck and Emilie went all out to make it special. They came into the living-room area singing 'Happy Birthday' while each carried an armload of balloons. They made the day a memorable occasion alright!

It felt like a weekend of celebration. On Saturday evening, Chuck surprised us by booking a dinner cruise along the Seine River. We boarded at 8:15 p.m. and had a wonderful meal that was served over a two-hour period. Someone took a photo of us when  we went out on to the back deck to view the Eiffel Tower all lit up. On the left is a photo taken during the day when we did a bus tour of the city.

It was a very happy birthday being able to celebrate it in Paris with Chuck and with Emilie.

Enjoying Landal

This is a photo of the sitting area in our backyard at Landal. As it was covered, it enabled us to eat outdoors even when it was raining. Our surroundings were lush with flowers and hedges. Often our dinner time conversations were accompanied by the melodious cooing of the doves nearby.  

Emilie had this huge pool all to herself one morning when she had decided it was time for a swim. Landal was located in the middle of farmland. Behind the pool, in the background, there was a bicycle path, a road and behind that--a farm. The Dutch make use of every inch of land available to them.

"Checkers, anyone?" 

From The Hague to Amsterdam - August 5th

 Madurodam...a favorite stopover on the way to Amsterdam. Miniature replicas featuring  many of the famous landmarks in the Netherlands. Located in the Scheveningen district of The Hague, visitors view replicas of famous Dutch castles, public buildings, Schiphol Airport, the Peace Palace, an amusement park and much more. Emilie enjoyed spending time in the playground following our tour. A final stop for a photo standing in a pair of  over sized Dutch klompen and then we were off to Amsterdam.

We took a boat ride along the canals of Amsterdam; although the clouds threatened the day with rain, it didn't come until today.

The Five Flies (built in 1627) was a restaurant Chuck and I went to on our honeymoon. Whenever we return to Amsterdam we try and have dinner there. Now we are making memories there with our grand kids.

Our First Day

This hammock in our backyard provided Emilie with rest for her weary bones after our long flight. We all plopped down on the nearest couch, bed or...the hammock when jet-lag hit us at unexpected times. For Emilie, it was after eating a big Dutch dinner.

 Ready, set, go!--off on the bikes to tour the Brabant area where we are staying at a Landal resort.

 The small figure at the top of the tower (in the middle) is Emilie. This unusual tower design was built as a lookout from which to view the surrounding countryside, the nature preserve and the lakes. I'm sure it was beautiful. I can only take their word for it. I chose to remain "ground-bound."

We cycled past several farms as we biked. Emilie was charmed by this tame little pony with the thick mane.

Emilie's European Vacation - August, 2014

Cameron drove us to the airport and gave us a grand send off.
Too bad Chuck missed taking a photo of Cameron lifting Emilie into his arms up for her final farewell hug. I was taken by surprise when he gave me a bear hug that lifted me off of my feet! (I found out I wasn't as frail as I thought--no broken bones to report.)

Hard to believe it's been five years since  we started taken each grandchild (when they turned ten) to Europe. After Emilie, comes Taryn who will turn ten next July. The years have come and gone far too fast. This photo was taken just before we walked into the terminal. What a nice surprise when we found out our plane was taking off ten minutes early. Last year, we took off two hours late.

No disappointments so far. Emilie didn't stop smiling until she finally fell asleep some time after midnight. The seats in each pod reclined fully to make sleeping on an airplane a very comfortable experience. Of the three of us, Emilie was the only one who woke up on time to be served breakfast. She wasn't about to miss out on anything.

We arrived in Zurich, Switzerland at 7:15 a.m.. (Our time--six hours earlier.) We had a one hour layover and then off to Dusseldorf where we rented the car that would take us to Landal in Tilburg, Holland. Sleep came quickly as soon as we arrived.

Emilie's European Vacation ~ 2014

Emilie is all smiles as she prepares to leave on her vacation with Grandma and Grandpa. Her Daddy drove us to the airport and got us there on time to take our 6:20 p.m. flight. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that our plane would be taking off ten minutes early.