Thomas the Train

Thomas came to the Netherlands!
Actually Kaelan thought we went to the Island of Sodor and we didn't argue.  

He spent a lot of time examining this train

It had 2 engines, one on either side, and they had to give them oil on every stop. 

Reminded me of the Tin man!

Yeah! He got to ride!

Then we all rode on one of Thomas' friends to go to another train station where there were more activities.

Even a Thomas bouncy house!

He finished the day as a tired boy with a very cool painted face and lots of fun memories!

Monschau, Germany

We took a long weekend to drive to this cute little Medieval town in Germany.
Such a cute little village 

The Red house

Kaelan loves churches! He always insists we go in them whenever he sees one. In this one he walked right up to the rack of Bibles, took it to the kneeling bench to sit down and read it. 

A perfectly quaint, little village! 

Coco spent a lot of time in this backpack.
It was cold too! 4 Celsius and below and this was in October!

This castle looms over the village. The village is down in a ravine along the river.

We are hiking up the road to the castle. 

We made it! 

We celebrated the October Birthdays while Mom and Jeff were here.
All mom wanted was to go to Germany during Octoberfest and drink a beer!
She got her wish!

Jeff likes them dark!

You can't really tell but this dog was huge! He belonged to the hotel and spent most of the time in the lobby. Kaelan didn't quite know what to think of him, especially after the dog was playfully chasing him and knocked Kaelan's shoe off. 

Side trips

This is the only US WWII cemetery in the Netherlands. 
It was beautiful and very moving.
Have to give my mom the credit for finding this one.

IDAHO
We found 2 men from Idaho.

Kaelan enjoyed running through the cemetery.
I'm pretty sure all these guys would love to know that kids are enjoying the cemetery too...and there was hardly anyone there so we weren't being disrespectful (that was for all of you that were tsk tsking us!)

This tree couldn't be missed in the entry!
So beautiful!

The next week we headed northwest to a national park that has 1700 free white bikes for use in the park.

We first discovered it when Grandpa and Grandma Custer were here and had to come back!

Kaelan rode half the trip behind Mammy and the rest behind Papa!
He is heavy!

Beautiful Fall!

Can you tell I missed seasons?
I have so many pictures of the trees changing. It's as if I hadn't see Fall for years!

The original owners of the property, that is now the National park, had this hunting lodge built in the early 1900's.  As with every church/castle/ home built before the 20th century, the owners/builders only lived there for a few years before they died.  

You can't see it very well but Colette actually rode in her car seat strapped in a contraption behind my bike. She slept like a baby, as she should!

Kinderdijk

This was one of the worst weather days we had when my parents were here and it just happened to be sunny when we drove into the park. The crazy weather made the photos amazing! I love the clouds! 

Christmas Card shot!

Love Coco's smile here! You look good too Papa!

This is my favorite! We still had sun but the clouds were coming!

Mammy and Papa came to town!

We rode the train to Amsterdam to pick them up, this is in Schipol. 

 Mammy and Papa came to visit us at the end of October and we had a really great time playing, riding bikes, playing, touring Holland, playing, trips to Germany and Belgium and, did I mention, playing? Kaelan would not let them rest! He was in their room at 7am sharp, Sister would come in shortly after, and they would watch Thomas in bed for a few minutes. Then he would drag them downstairs to play trains, monster (hide and seek, of sorts), cars, swing, ride bikes out back, play trucks in the yard, etc, etc. I'm sure they are glad to be home now just so they can rest! Boy was it nice for Travis and me!

I know...it's sideways but I have spent many, many minutes trying to fix it and it's not a normal rotate!
Anyways, Mom and Jeff in front of the beautiful church in our village.    

Mom and I took 3 bike rides around the outskirts of our village. We would have taken more but time goes quick!
  

One small example of how Kaelan took advantage of every minute he had with them!

Mammy pushing Coco around on the trike

More playing! Colette can make demands too! Mammy taught her to drum. Metal on metal...great...
Coco was practicing her Halloween look!

Yes another one on it's side!
Wooden shoes at the hardware store. These are for real!

Helping the kids bathe. This is our new technique!

Mammy and Papa bought Colette a swing for her Christmas present! We already have a swing set and Kaelan uses it all the time so now Coco can swing too. Brilliant idea!

Travis is usually the one to swing with Kalean. He takes him out after work while I make dinner. So now he can take them both!

Yep, she LOVES it! No fear what so ever!

Poop Snake

We’ve been working to get Kaelan potty trained for a while now and to be honest, he hasn’t been too interested.  We’ve tried to bribe him with treats for going potty in the toilet but when given the option between a piece of candy or the convenience of dropping a load in his diaper, he’ll typically select the latter.  To try something new, we decided to take Kaelan to the toy store and let him select two toys and these toys would be rewards for using the toilet.  After much time examining all possible toys in the store, Kaelan finally selected two.  We took the toys he selected home, we wrapped them up, and we put together a “potty chart” so Kaelan could track and monitor his progress toward opening his first “potty toy.” Three successful poo’s and 5 pee pee’s in the toilet and he’ll get to open one of his new toys.  It’s amazing how much more interest he’s shown and in fact, last night he cried because he could not make himself go pee or poo and check off one box toward his first potty toy.

I only share this background because it relates directly to the events that disturbed our peaceful home this evening.  Jess had just finished putting Colette to bed while I was giving Kaelan a bath.  Jess was busy doing laundry just outside the bathroom door so I took the opportunity to slip downstairs quickly while Kaelan continued to play in the tub.  I had barely reached the bottom of the stairs when I heard a squeal, some splashing, and stomping of feet.  I turned and sprinted back up the stairs concerned Kaelan had possibly slipped trying to get out of the bathtub on his own.  As I rounded the corner toward the bathroom, I’m greeted by Jessica and the only words out of her mouth are, “you’re cleaning that up!”  I peek inside the door to see Kaelan wide eyed, naked, and standing in the middle of the bathroom dripping wet.  “What happened?” I asked innocently.  “You can’t see it?” Jessica asked me incredulously.  I take a second look into the tub just as the bubbles begin to part and I see exactly what Jessica was talking about.  Kaelan must have seen the horror on my face and he too cautiously peered over the edge of the tub to see what all the fuss was about.  Lying silently on the bottom of the bathtub was a giant turd easily measuring more than 12 inches long!  Kaelan looked up at me and said, “it’s a poop snake.”  No son, that was a poop python.

And so, the potty training continues…

Halloween in Holland

We went to a harvest party put on by the North American Women's Association and we had a really good time!

 Coco had 2 costumes this year! 

She was a ladybug for the Harvest Party and a pumpkin (an outfit that Nathanael, Eli, Kaelan and Colette have all worn) for the Mums and Tots play group party.

 Kman was a train engineer and loved every minute!

 Coco's Tattoo

 Kaelan had his face painted and a Tattoo. Anything with a train makes him happy!

 They both received little awards for their costumes! Thanks Meredith! Kaelan even received a medal.

 These two were born on the same day! Can you believe it? Kaelan was always so huge I'm not used to having such a little one! She is filling my need for a baby a lot longer than Kaelan ever would have!

 Kaelan was determined to wrap this man up like a mummy and the man had an infinite amount of patience! Then Kaelan wrapped me up like a mummy with the help of his friend. His friend said to me, "I'm going to wrap you up like a mummy." Kaelan looked at him and thought a minute before he looked at me and said, "I'm going to wrap you up like a daddy!" Ha ha! He cracks me up all the time!

Daddy and Coco were in charge of our car for Trunk or Treat while Kman and I did some trick or treating!