WORLD GEOGRAPHY 101: The Netherlands

Once upon a time there was a girl who had a dream of not just taking her kids to see the world, but also to EXPERIENCE the world.  She wanted them to read books, then visit the places in the books.   She wanted them to see a glimpse of history and culture that they could never fully appreciate without being there in person. 

The only problem with this grand plan is that traveling can be expensive.   And even homeschooled kids have plenty of commitments that keep them tied to a schedule.  

This past year we had some shake-ups though.  

1. We moved closer to NYC, which is THE place to find cheap international tickets
2. We subscribed to Scott's Cheap Flights, which clued us into incredible flight deals as they popped up.
3. We ended up with more flexible classes and schedules this year than in past years.
4.  We moved into corporate housing, which means for 1  year, we have no housing costs.

This combination proved to be a happy  confluence of changes that means that WORLD GEOGRAPHY 101 is officially added to our homeschool docket for the year! 

In late September we took our first World Geography trip, which included visiting the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden.   This post will just be about The Netherlands. 

Sadly, Glen was too busy at work to be able to come with us, so it was just the three of us on this adventure.  

 

 We arrived in the morning after flying all night, so we just dropped our stuff off at the hotel and went straight to Haarlem to get exploring.   Haarlem is pretty much the cutest, most picturesque little town ever. 

And it happened to be right where Elder Zimmerman from our old ward was serving, so we met him with some goodies from home.   

Then we treated him and his companion (who happened to be friends with my cousin's kid) to some Dutch ice cream!    Ice cream is a family tradition of ours whenever we travel!

After hanging out with Elder Z for a while, we went off to another part of Haarlem to visit "The Hiding Place."   We'd read the book together and were so inspired being able to see it in person. 

It was  humbling to see what a tiny space the Jews were hidden in for days after the Ten Booms had been arrested. 

The whole visit was a fulfillment of a dream of mine.  I love Corrie Ten Boom's message of forgiveness, love, and gratitude and was truly inspired being there and seeing where it all happened.  I think it's something my kids and I will never, ever forget. 

After The Hiding Place, we ran off to see the Inntel Hotel in Zaandam.  We had no reason to visit there, other than we'd seen pictures of it and really wanted to see it in person. 

Later that night we headed into the city of Amsterdam and went to the Anne Frank House.  We had reserved the tickets weeks in advance, but were only able to get tickets at 8:30PM, which pretty much meant we were exhausted!   

We had also read "The Diary of Anne Frank" together before our trip, so, even with our fatigue, this was another meaningful visit for us.  We weren't allowed to take pictures in most of the museum, so this is all we have from that night.

The next day we woke up slowly and drove to Kinderdijk.     Kinderdijk is a  UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its series of working windmills that keep the water out of the area, despite the fact that it's  below sea level.  

Here's a little snippet from their website:   "You won’t find a windmill complex like Kinderdijk anywhere else in the world. The ingenious system of windmills and pumping stations has been keeping the soil dry here for centuries now, in a constant struggle between human brains and the power of the water.Visitors come from all across the world to experience this unique piece of history for themselves. Since Kinderdijk is a monument to the history of humankind, we were officially included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. Now, we stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the most famous and most amazing places on earth. The story of Kinderdijk is now a genuine part of world history, kept safe for future generations to visit and experience.."

We enjoyed walking around in the lovely surroundings, exploring the visitors' centre, and eating some lunch. 

Next we drove to The Hague and got checked into our hotel there.   We found the temple....

Then we drove to explore the lovely city of Delft!   It seriously looks like it could have been a postcard. 

We took a canal tour, toured the Old Church, and Ellie had fun showing off her flexibility amongst the picturesque surroundings.

The next day we went to church in the Wassenaar Ward....

which happily for us, was English speaking...

although we may have been a bit jet-lagged still.  We did enjoy being a part of the Youth Broadcast which was being broadcast all over the world that day.  It was a cool thing to be a part of across the world from our home.

Later that day we headed to Madurodam!   Madurodam is a place I remember from visiting as a child.  I have pictures of me from there when I was about 3 years old and we visited again when I was 14.  

What is Madurodam, you ask?  Good question!   It's a Miniature Park, where they have many of the top buildings and sites from around The Netherlands in detailed miniature.   It was built by a wealthy family in the 1950's as a monument to their son, George Maduro, who had died in WWII as a Dutch resistor to the Nazis. 

 

I remember the picture of me there as a young child always fascinating me.  And it  was completely charming to me as a young teen and no less so as an adult! 

 I really enjoyed seeing a glimpse of so many places we'd been in the last few days, but also seeing what a teeny tiny portion of The Netherlands we were actually seeing! 

And since I knew we'd likely never see most of those places in person, it was a cool experience to see them in miniature at least. 

After exploring, we got some lunch in the restaurant there.

Then spent the rest of the day walking around The Hague...

The next day we headed to Kamp Vught, which is also known as Herzogenbusch Concentration Camp.  Because we'd spent so much time studying WWII before this trip, I felt very strongly that we needed to visit a concentration camp while there if possible.  There weren't a ton of concentration camps in this part of Europe, but this one happened to be right on the way from The Hague to Belgium, so we decided that was the place to visit.  It was a transport camp, which meant that prisoners didn't stay there long, but there were still plenty of horrors that happened there.

 This Jewish Children's Memorial was particularly poignant to me and it was absolutely heartbreaking to see how many children were murdered here. 

It was absolutely a humbling experience that we will never forget. 

Stay tuned for future WORLD GEOGRAPHY installments, including the rest of this trip! 

A Full and Happy Weekend

I've spent so much time playing catch-up on the blog, I decided that I wanted to do a post about the recent past, instead something that happened months ago.  

We've only been here for a few months, but we've already met some awesome homeschoolers here in Pennsylvania.  It's not as close-knit as our homeschooling group in Virginia because of the distance between us all, but we definitely do enjoy the time that we do get to spend.  On Friday we met at the Pecks' house and let the kids make gingerbread houses, while us moms got to enjoy some social time too. 

It is my strong personal opinion that decorating gingerbread houses is a timeless activity that one never outgrows.    The kids were definitely more conservative with their decorating now that they're older, but it was clear that they were enjoying themselves! 

Then on Saturday we had a special day when Glen's cousin was sealed to her husband in the Philadelphia temple.   It was great to be a part of and great to see so many of Glen's extended family that we've moved away from.  

Later that day we went to the church for our ward Christmas party.  I was very busy helping with food, so there are almost zero pictures from there, but here is a quick one I snatched with the sweet sister missionaries serving in our ward(it's literally the ONLY picture I took the whole night).   

 

 My friend sent me this picture that shows the amazing  sisters that made handmade tamales and delicious shredded chicken for burritos for the whole ward.   They fed about 300 people and still had enough for a linger longer after church today.   

I helped rally the ward into signing up for food to share.   It was a much different experience than in our last ward (meaning that not very many people actually used the sign-up), but everyone came through and there ended up being  plenty of food to feed the masses!   (It really did feel like a small miracle that there was so much food to spare). 

Today we went to church where I remembered to take a picture with a good friend of Matt and Karey that happen to be visiting her parents this weekend.   It's always amazing what a small world it is within the church. 

So there you have it....this is our boring life in real-time. 

Old Town Alexandria: Where Ellie Decides Contortionism is Her Thing (May 2019)

When you're about to move you start thinking of all the things in the area you haven't done yet.   After nearly 20 years in the DC area, there wasn't much that we'd never done, however there were many things that we hadn't done in many years.   Old Town Alexandria was one of those for us.  

According to Wikipedia, "Alexandria  is a city on the Potomac River, just south of Washington, DC. It’s known for its Old Town, with brick sidewalks and well-preserved 18th- and 19th-century buildings. King Street is lined with boutiques and specialty shops. Founding fathers dined at Gadsby’s Tavern, now a museum with period objects and photographs."

We'd driven through Alexandria a number of times over the years, but realized that we hadn't officially visited there in 15+ years.   So in May, with my DC area bucketlist at the forefront of my mind,  we decided to go explore. 

AnnaLisa and Tim came with us.   And we just spent a beautiful Spring day walking around.  We enjoyed the Torpedo Art Factory, the historical surroundings, and the good food.

 

The blue house in the picture below is called the "Spite House".  At a mere 7-feet wide, it is reportedly the narrowest house in America. The story goes that the owner of one of the neighboring houses in 1830 decided that he was sick of people using the alley way next to his house, so he bought it and built a house there to keep people out.

Here's a view of it from a little further out, so you can see how truly narrow it is.

In amongst the charming old buildings, quaint alleyways, and scenic river views, Ellie decided to try out some of her flexibility for the camera. 

As you can see....she is quite flexible.

And didn't get a lick of it from me!

 

All in all, it was a fun day exploring an interesting and beautiful place.  

I'm not sure why it took us so long to get back there, but I highly recommend it if you ever happen to find yourself in the DC area.