Perfect Semester!

I am finished with school this semester and grades are posted. I got a 4.0 for the semester!! This semester was a tough one and I am so GLAD it is FINALLY over. I took a very heavy course load in addition to some pretty difficult classes so by last week I was ready to pull my hair out. I am off this week but next week it's back to school, maybe I can actually get some things done around the house this week since I don't have school.

On a different note, no word yet back on the first interview I went on. I went a on second interview Friday for a different position at the clinic. I am not crazy about this job but it pays great and it's at the health clinic either way it will put my degree to some good use.

Almost Done!!

It's final exam week for school and it can't end soon enough. My brain feels like total mush after this semester (5 classes). As of now it looks like I may pull another 4.0 this semester. I have two more finals to take and one last paper to write and I am DONE!!!

I was going to take the summer off but UCF is offering a class I really need and it's only 6 weeks long so as soon as I finish this week I go straight into this six week session. I can NOT wait to be done.

One a different note, I had an interview for a job this week at the local health clinic. It is in my career field and would be an excellent career opportunity. I thought the interview went really well so keep your fingers crossed. The down side is if I get the job it will more then likley cause us to cancel our summer plans.

I guess there is always next summer :)

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The Netherlands

You have seen the pictures from the Keukenhof now here are the rest. It was pretty busy weekend with several stops.


Our first stop was to the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margarten, NL. We try to stop at as many American cemeteries overseas as we can. Our philosophy is if we don't stop and pay pour respects who will?


The Netherlands Cemetery has 8,301 brave men buried there and another 1,722 names of the missing inscribed on a tablet that runs along the reflection pool. The weather was horrible that day it was cold, windy and damp so a lot of the pictures are dark.


Next stop was Kinderdijk and this was my favorite stop of the weekend. It is a small town with 19 operational windmills that date back almost 300 years. These windmills were used to drain water from the land and to help prevent flooding. We are able to tour a windmill and see how it operates and exactly how it works. I learned quite a bit from this for example I did not know the top of windmills could be turned so that the sails could catch the optimal wind to ensure efficiency in the way they work. It was very interesting. The downer part was we got caught in a nasty storm while out walking through the field of windmills. It hailed on us!!!



To top off this section of our trip we stopped in a little cafe which had am amazing view of the windmills fields. We were able to warm up with probably the best cup of hot cocoa I think I have EVER had.




This is what the back of a windmill looks like. You turn that wheel and it causes the entire top of the windmill to move so that is can catch optimal wind.


After the storm passed we were able to catch a glimpse of a rainbow:


After a long day of sightseeing we topped off our day with a trip to the beach. This was the kids and Paul's favorite part of the trip. Scheveningen is a beach resort town located in the Hague part of the Netherlands.


The kids really enjoyed walking the beach looking for shells and chasing the seagulls.




A view of the boardwalk:



A picture of the kiddos on the pier. Can you tell it was windy and cold? They normally wouldn't be caught dead standing this close to each other.

The Keukenhof

Here is the first set of many pictures from our weekend. We had a great time and saw so many wonderful things.

Saturday we made the trip to the world famous Keukenhof. The Keukenhof was beautiful and smelled even more amazing but I doubt we will go back. It cost 45 Euro ($70) for a family of four to get in, for that amount of money I didn't find it all that impressive. I found the windmills in Kinderdijk much more enjoyable but you can't come to Europe without going to the Keukenhof and overall I am glad we went. After the Keukenhof we drove the Tulip Road looking at all the beautiful tulip and flower fields.

I took so many pictures that I don't even know where to begin with which ones to post so I made a slide show of some of the pictures from the Keukenhof. My favorite picture of the day is the one in the post belowe of Zac smelling the tulips.

If there is picture you would like to look at just use the controls in the bottom left hand corner. You can pause the pictures and control the speed. If you would like to look at the pictures one by one click on the link below that says view all images.

Be on the look out tomorrow I will post some more pictures of our weekend :)

When is the last time You Stopped and Smelled the Flowers?

We're back from the Netherlands and it was fantastic! I have mountains of pictures I need to sift through but I had to share this one. This is how Zac spent his Saturday with his nose stuck in just about every flower he could find.

Off to the Netherlands!

We are leaving bright and early in the morning for the Netherlands. We have a fun filled weekend planned.

I'll be sure to post lots of pics when we get back.

It's a New Record!

Banjo is the KING of tearing his toys up in less then a day. Usually he has the stuffing ripped out and spread all over the house in 20 minutes. Rasta Dog has lasted a whole week!!! It's a new record for a Rasta Dog in our house!

Two More Months!

Two more months and summer will be here! The kids will be going back to the states for the summer and I can't believe how fast it is sneaking up on us. Due to the kids big summer vacation and a huge vacation Paul and I will be going on while they are gone we don't have very many trips planned for the next two months. We have a few day trips planned and one major trip in our schedule. We plan on going to the Keukenhof in the Netherlands here in the next few weeks. You can read about the Keukenhof HERE


The kids are very excited about going to the Netherlands. Zac keeps telling us he can't wait to get a pair of wooden shoes. Ha-Ha-Ha!!!


Our plans for the summer?


The kids will be traveling up the east cost to their various grandparent's houses. Meanwhile, Paul and I are going on a Mediterranean cruise with stops in Greece and Croatia followed by a week along the french and italian riveria exploring ancient roman ruins.

The number one thing I want to see this summer the Pont Du Guard:



Not sure who is more excited the kids or us?