London Fog

London - Fall Break 2012

It was fun to go to London because Vivian and Jack attend a British school in Germany and they feel like they experience British culture everyday.  It's fun when they speak with their fun British accents too!  The first night we arrived we took the "tube", the London Underground subway to see the London Eye to get views of the city.  Unfortunately, we couldn't see much of the sights because of the London Fog and rain.  But, we could see Big Ben and Parliament which was right across the river.

The London Eye (Ferris Wheel)

 I think one of the kids favorite things this week was riding the underground and figuring out the way.

 Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  No, we did not see the Queen, she wasn't home.

 Vivian and Jack had fun riding in the back of the hop on hop off bus!

 Happy 13th Anniversary to us!  In front of Westminster Abbey.

 The Tower Bridge

 The Tower of London

 Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour

What is a visit to London without going to the Theater?  We went to see Roald Dahl's "Matilda".  It was amazing.  One of the best musicals ever.

 The last day, we took a bus out to see Stonehenge.  That was fun to see!  

Glad we were able to see this ancient and mysterious, famous landmark.

We had a blast on our trip to London.  Everything went well until the second we walked in the door.  I came down with a high fever immediately and 24 hours later, I was admitted to the hospital with possible appendicitis.  Turns out I had an intestinal infection which took a week stay in the hospital with loads of antibiotics to wipe it out.  I am now home trying to heal and take it easy.  I will undergo further testing due to the fact my illness seemed to be worse than just an infection.  Thanks to all of you that knew about this and have kept me and my family in your prayers!  I totally appreciate it.  Staying in a German hospital was very challenging in many ways.  We had a lot of help from friends of mine from Bible Study with dinners, support, and visiting me in the hospital.  What a great God we have that gives us what we need and promises to give us no more than we can handle!

Sunny Sorrento

Last month I was able to enjoy a week-end away with some girlfriends from Dusseldorf whose husbands also work for Johnson Controls.  We visited the Almafi coast of Italy and we stayed in "sunny Sorrento", but it wasn't so sunny when we got there.  Actually, we heard it hadn't rained much since May and we had a very wet first day, down pours at times.  But, we managed to stay dry and see many coastal towns while on a private van tour.  The coast was amazing to see and visit even in the rain.  But we are used to rain because of living in Dusseldorf!

 Positano

 There were many italian pottery stores.  

And the Limoncello was everywhere.

The second day we took a ferry to the island of Capri.  We took a chair lift to the top of Solaro Mountain on the island of Capri.  The views were amazing!

Visitors!!!

We were lucky enough to have my parents visit last year, but then they were able to come this year too.   It worked out for them to visit us for a short week before they headed off on their bicycle tour in the Netherlands and since we are only a couple hours away from Amsterdam, some of their friends from the bike tour stopped by for a couple days too.  

 I went with Mom and Dad to "Floriade" in the Netherlands.  

It was a flower show that takes place every ten years!  

 We rode our bikes to a a nearby attraction, Tiger and Turtle Magic Mountain...

 Then, we rode our bikes to the ice cream shop, of course!

Jack and Jack Jr. shooting some hoops at home.  

 Jim and Mary Teitsma came in town first.  

We took the train to Cologne to show them the Dom cathedral.

Then, Uncle Bob and Aunt Ruth came the next day.  Kristy and Dean Wall also flew in that same day.  We walked through the quaint town of Kaiserswerth and had some lunch.

 On the last day we went on a tour of Dusseldorf and took a boat ride on the Rhine back to Kaiserwerth

It was already time to see them off on the the train to Amsterdam.  We enjoyed their visit!