T minus 8 days

The vacation project today is to determine the best way to get some limited international phone coverage while we are in Europe. I am not excited about a trip to the Verizon store but I think that will be the quickest way to accomplish my task today.  

Heading out to the golf course tonight for a couples twilight. It will be the first swing for me in 2015. Fortunately it will be a scramble format so we will only need one great shot each time. 

I am still practicing uploading pictures from my phone and iPad to the blog so today I snapped a couple of shots of my nesting bluebirds. Not great photos but I am working on the learning curve of uploading not photography so be it.

T minus 9 days til vacation

Throw back Thursday! Remember the Game Boy. When I was cleaning the basement shelves last month I found all of the Nintendo "stuff" from the kids.  Brushed everything off and put in new batteries and Steve and I were quickly battling at Tetris again. Happens that AJ was at the house then and saw the games and we used the opportunity to talk about his Dad and how John was a very good gamer in his day. Last night when AJ was here he ask me if he could play his Dad's games. So of course Game Boy is still sitting on the table this morning.  Now I will just have to put my I-Phone with Words with Friends down and play one more game of Tetris.

T minus 10 days until Vacation

But.... today is a regular day with regular business to keep up with. A 3-hour board meeting for Woodlane this morning at 7AM followed by a 2-hour golf committee meeting.  Then met Jesi at the dentist while she and AJ got their teeth cleaned. I was there to help with the baby she is currently taking care of.   Just settling in now while AJ finishes his homework.  Unfortunately it is still too
 cool to do much outside today so we will settle on some board games and a little time with the video games before I bring him back to his house.  If there is time ( or energy) left after bringing him home I may do a little research on our Belgium stops.
Here are AJ and Steve playing chess after AJ finished his homework....

Countdown to Vacation 11 days to go

With just 11 days until we leave there are still a few details that need work.  Trip Advisor has been a wonderful resource on planning. The latest answer I got was about the holiday schedule for May 5. The Netherland celebrates Liberation Day on May 5 as the day which marks the end of Nazi German occupation during WWII. We first learned of the holiday when Steve was making his reservation for the Amsterdam Rotary Meeting.  The local Amsterdam Rotary Representative mentioned in her response that the Monday night meeting would include the 2 minutes of silence at 8PM in recognition of Rememberance Day. This then begins the celebrations for Liberation Day. Initially Liberation Day was celebrated starting on May 5, 1945 once every 5 years however in 1990 it became an annual national holiday. What fun to be in a foreign country on a holiday.

Vacation looming

With less than 2 weeks until vacation the plans are firming up.  We leave on May 2, arriving in Amsterdam on Sunday May 3.  We will spend 5 nights in Amsterdam and then take the train to Paris. Yes PARIS! I am so excited to spend my birthday in the city of light. We will move on to Normandy on Tuesday May 12. The plan is to visit the D-day areas and also take a day trip to the abbey Mont St Michelle.  Then we will drive to the town of Lille, France, drop the rental car and resume train travel to Bruges, Belgium. Bruges to Brussels and then back to Amsterdam for the flight back home.  A little planning but there are so many things to see and do it is almost overwhelming.  I have already decided that a return trip will be in order.  Watch for daily pictures and updates.

The New Year 2015

It has been a long cold winter in Ohio and we have not left the state for a warmer climate at all. Usually a week or two in Florida or Arizona helps break up the long gray months of January, February and March. This year instead of vacationing we did a home improvement project and painted the living room and dining room and added hard wood floors. What an improvement! By doing it ourselves the cost was comparable to replacing good carpeting and now these floors should outlast Steve and I.