Canary Islands

In our first 10 months here we've been fortunate enough to travel a lot to so many different cities. As great as it has been, though, trips like this are high energy and fast paced so we were ready for a veg-out beach vacation. Our good pal Aaron had his dad hook us up with an all-inclusive resort on Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. For 7 relaxing days we did not leave the resort - we did not drive or have to search out an affordable restaurant - it was exactly what we all needed!

I'd heard of the Canary Islands before, but didn't know anything about them, including where they were. The islands are off the coast of Africa, but they belong to Spain. It's a big beach destination from Europe so it was really easy to get there. Even though the islands are Spanish everyone at the resort spoke English, which was also a relief to us - just being able to easily communicate on vacation was a huge bonus. However, the biggest group of travellers on the islands are Germans so we still heard a lot of the language and all the signs/menus were in Spanish, English & German. This was a little disappointing to Griffin who seems to need breaks from the language more than the rest of us - when we came to the States later in the summer one of the first things he said walking through the airport was "I only hear English - we won't hear any German while we're here, right?". On the other hand, this cultural mix was really cool based on the timing of our visit because it was nearing the end of the World Cup soccer games, and Spain, Germany & the Netherlands were all still in play so the resort played the games on the movie screens in the theater and there were big fan bases rooting for these remaining teams.

We definitely relaxed here, but we weren't too lazy! Scott played beach volleyball every day, Ethan was at the soccer pitch a LOT, we swam in the pools & ocean, we played tennis, and took in the resort entertainment. The beaches were really gorgeous and natural! The prettiest beaches I've ever been on. They are surrounded by small cliffs and volcanic rock which is striking to look at, but then the sand was very soft and fine. The best part was that there was nothing on the beaches - no hotels, vendors, shops - nothing, only a few hotels and condos built up on the cliffs. OK, there were naked people on the beach, but nothing touristy :-)) Yes, we were definitely reminded that we were in Europe because at the pool there were usually several topless women, and on the beach full-blown nakedness - including an entire family where the kids were playing in the sand while mom & dad played a physical game of paddle ball! The boys took it much more in stride than Scott & I - we've gone almost 40 years without seeing nakedness on the beach, but the boys barely noticed - Scott & I were downright silly about it most days!

Views of the resort.

Stairs leading down to the beach






This is how Ethan likes to lay on the beach, right on the sand without a towel, he says it's warmer

Cocktails before dinner


Griffin fell in love with one of the girls who worked at the resort...


Don't we look so relaxed?! We had a great time!

Maastricht, Netherlands

We loved this little town in the Netherlands, about 1 hour from our house. We took a day trip here and enjoyed it like we had Aachen a few weeks before - by wandering and browsing and finding snacks along the way! We will try to make it back again (hopefully with visitors) because there are a couple of good museums and other worthwhile sites to see.

The Helpoort Gate, from Medieval times - apparently the oldest surviving town gate in Holland

Main square

I love street views like this

St. Servaasbrug bridge, from ~1280

View across the river

Griffin was a little more into the cannons than Ethan

Ethan Turns 10!

The blog title just about says it all! Our first baby hit double digits! The actual day of his birthday was during the week, but they happened to have the day off school for some holiday, so I took the boys to a small local amusement park on a beautiful day. Then Ethan had his friend party at an indoor soccer center with 8 of his (very nice) school friends. From friends & family he got tons of books, NBA gear, and treats from the States that you can't get here (Life cereal, Rice Krispie treats).






About a week after school let out we went to this great park about 30 minutes from us that we hadn't been to before, Gruggapark. It had multiple play areas for all ages, tons of beautiful green space, and garden paths that the boys loved exploring. June was a pretty fantastic month!

Grandma Hopson sent these cool, personalized aprons for the boys. Ethan will help in the kitchen occasionally, but Griffin really likes to help me bake and cut vegetables.

Aachen, Germany

We've been to a lot of places since our last post in May, including a great visit home to Michigan. I'll start where we left off, at the end of May, when we took a day trip to Aachen, Germany, less than an hour away. Aachen was actually a Roman city and grew mainly during the time of Charlemagne in the 8th century. When Charlemagne was crowned emperor, Aachen was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire.

We spent a really low-key day here in beautiful sunny weather, mostly walking the city, eating dinner & ice cream, and popping into the Cathedral and the Rathaus (town hall).

Front view of the cathedral

Back view

Inside

Horse statue beckoning you into the restaurant

View of Griffin on the Rathaus stairs

View from the Rathaus

Strange, movable doll sculpture

I liked this statue, but I also happened to get that couple in the background - aren't they cute :-)