Herfstvakantie

is weer voorbij :-( Yes, our fall vacation is over, but it was so nice getting away from home to relax and do things we don't get to do every day. We had a great time exploring the Gelderland region of Holland. We've gone there numerous times before, but each time is another surprise with new things to see. This year, our vacation started off with a typical Tera entrance...I was playing hide and seek with Jari and sprained my ankle...badly enough that I had to hobble around all week. That was Day One. Day Two? We went to head off to do some sightseeing and our car wouldn't start. We called our travel insurance and they sent a tow truck to jump us. We left the car running all afternoon as we took turns looking at the sights and staying by the car. Day Three? Car started, we headed off on a nice nature walk through the Veluwe with all the fall colors crunching under our feet. Got back to the car...dead again. Called another towing company who got us started and then headed directly to a Nissan garage where we got everything fixed and could really begin enjoying our vacation. Still, it was fun testing out all those new, fresh-smelling cars and imagining which we would choose IF we could have any we wanted.

The rest of our vacation was really terrific. We visited my favorite zoo ever, called Apenheul. It's a zoo completely filled with monkeys of every sort, and they are free range throughout the park and come right up to you. It's a lot of fun. We also went to the train museum which was a huge hit for the kids as it is very interactive, and we went to the water museum which was also an afternoon well spent. We spent an afternoon at the Nederlands Mint where we played all kinds of money games and you can see one picture where I got in trouble trying to take a picture of the money-making process..oops! We also went to an artillary museum which always makes me imagine all those that have been through war. Especially since I have been in Europe, and I see so much evidence of the war even as long as it has been over, it humbles me.

Of course, we celebrated Halloween when the great pumpkin surprised us with treats hidden all through our house the night we got back from the zoo. The kids were totally in their element and couldn't wait for his arrival. And he managed to keep them quite stocked up on treats for an evening viewing of Lord of the Rings!

Here's a link to the pictures if you want to share in our adventures this past week.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=lgyy8pf.1vgsio37&Uy=lqr5c2&Ux=0