The Hansen's Adventures...: May 2006

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

I am so behind!

There has been so much going on here that I have not been able to write. Please forgive me. I will post soon!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Ahh...yes the canals...

For those of you who did not see Ted's comment it was this...

"I have to say, I am surprised that there was not one picture or mention of either the canals in Gouda or the dike we drove along that boarders the Lek, or the canals in Goudrrian. Sharon must have wanted to maintain happy thoughts through out the Dutch vacation posts and omitted all of them. The question would be was it a conscious or unconscious decision? Maybe we didn't really get any good pictures of the streets in the countryside towns... they sure made for an interesting, not so leisurely drive. "

I find it funny that he even brings this up because I almost threw him into one of these canals.

There are no pictures and I did not mention it because it was the WORST part of our trip. The area we stayed in gets so much rain that all the little towns have canals. These little towns were built when horses were the main source of transportation.

Well, in Goudrrian the road runs right next to the canal...if I were to have opened my door I would step into the canal. Ted decides that this is the day that he is going to practice his mad driving skills and rips through the streets doing double the speed limit. As I mentioned, these roads are built for horses, so what happens when an oncoming car approaches? Sharon freaks! All I can imagine is us flying into the canal and not having one of those punch things that breaks the glass underwater...

The dyke story is one that divorces are made of...First off the most of the dyke is under construction so the road that is built on top of the dyke is jacked up for like 95% of the drive. The Lek River is about 100 feet below my car door. Once again, if I stepped out I would fall to the river below. The road is not a straight road...it curves all over the place...and Ted thinks it is more fun to watch the scenery than the road...I hated that "relaxing, country drive".

Thankfully in Amsterdam we did not have to drive anywhere near the scary canals. Most the canals on the major roads have big barriers. However, in the city the people parallel park their cars along the canals. One slip of the foot and your car is sleeping with the fishes. Amsterdam Fire even has a special unit trained in vehicle recovery. Although, there are some areas that have the little, tiny bars in place to stop a car from rolling into the canal. Interestingly, these bars are not funded by the city, but rather the insurance companies!

Side story...sort of... I asked the guy who gave us the farm tour how many cars go into the canals. I am thinking at least one a month. He says about one every ten years. WHAT? One every ten years! Apparently, when you grow up driving along the open canals you are more afraid of driving on the highways...who knew...oh and that guy who did drive into the canal...we was drunk...

Here is an example of the "protective" bar...

Look to the left and you can see the cars parked right next to the canal...

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

A Post from Noah...they don't even know what I am capable of...

Wuz up? I am so done with all those baby notes...because I am now a rocking...walking toddler! Yup! I took my first on Friday morning while daddy and I were playing before he left for work. Sometimes, mommy doesn't believe daddy, so I had to do it again for her. They both were really excited and I am glad my daddy was there to see it.

This weekend we have been practicing a lot. I am up to about 10 steps. The last 2 are more of a run dive into my mommy's arms. Soon those kitties will be all mine!

This morning I was able to stand up and then I walked to the middle of the room. I am getting much better at sitting down rather than falling forward.

I also have mastered bending down to get things rather than plopping my butt down on the floor. It makes it so much easier to make messes this way!

My parents took me to get my first professional hair cut last week. I thought my mom was doing a great job at cutting my hair with the nice, quite scissors, but for some reason they thought it would be fun to take me. It was torture! The crazy red headed lady came at me with this noisy thing...I still have no idea what it was because it moved so fast. I couldn't get my hands on it to inspect it and that made me really mad! I think it is too short and I miss my mullet curls on the back. I think the ladies really dig the party in the back look.

This weekend we went to the park so daddy could see me on the swing. I fell asleep on the way there, so mommy and daddy found a Biergarten in the park. After that we went to the playground and had so much fun! I don't like the feel of grass and I don't like sand on my feet. I do LOVE going down the baby slide and swinging on the swing!

My mommy and I are going to get on one of those really big bird looking things soon. I am so excited to see all my friends, grandparents, aunts, uncles and my favorite Great Grandpa! We should be in Colorado around June 12.

I think that is all for now! I miss everyone and can't wait to see y'all soon!

Love,
Noah, the toddler

Wondering what is going on...

Getting mad...

MAD!!!

Really mad!

This was the big by slide that daddy took me on...

Climbing to the slide... :-)

At the park

Me and my mad skills!

Look at all my teeth!

Just Kickin' back

Too cute!

Monday, May 08, 2006

Easter in Holland - Monday

On Monday, we headed home via Belgium, but not without a tour of the dairy farm. It was very interesting to see how the farm operates. Noah loved the cows and the horses (see pics below).

We didn't stop in Brussels on the way home (it was too far south for us.) But we did stop in this little town looking for some waffles for lunch. First off, it was Easter Monday and pretty much nothing was open. The only thing we found was this little restaurant in a trailer. I have never had anything like what we had there and I hope you never have to...

When you walk in there is this large display case with a bunch of what I now know was frozen food. Then behind the counter there were about four vats of oil. They spoke Flemish there, so we struggled to figure out what to order. We saw Cajun Chicken on a stick. We figured that was a safe bet, so we ordered two and an order of fries. They grabbed our chicken sticks and dunked them in the oil. As our food cooked we watched as other customers ordered. Every order from bread on a stick to wurst (hot dogs) met its fate in the vat of hardened arteries.

We don't really remember much after that because we were pretty freaked out about the amount of fat we were consuming...

Those pods are for the baby cows...they empty :-(

Where the cows live...

The milk waiting for pick up by the big milk truck...

Ted and Noah performing quality control of the milk process...

Hello Emma! (that is her name...)

Feeding time is all the time...

Noah meeting the 29 year old horse! (We didn't spend too much time in here given my past...)

The view for our B&B...

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Easter in Holland - Easter Sunday

On Sunday, we headed back up to Amsterdam for the day. The best part of the morning is that we found free street parking! Parking is usually free on Sundays and it was also a holiday. We headed over to the Rijksmuseum. This is where they have a bunch of other Dutch artists, but most importantly Rembrandt. Did you know that was his first name? His full name is Rembrandt Harmensz Van Rijn.

Anyway, one of his most famous paintings is housed at the Rijks, De Nachtwacht (The Night Watch). Trust me, I have the postcard. It was amazing to see. Very big! There is also another very famous painting called Die keukenmeid (The kitchen maid). This one was done my Johannes Vermeer, another must see. I am getting better at my art appreciation. Who knew?

After the museum (Noah and my attention span tends to expire at the same time), we hopped on a boat for a canal ride. Amsterdam has four canals around the city. Our cruise took us on each one and then out into the harbor of the North Sea. It was a really nice trip with some really nice Heinekens. Noah fell asleep about half way through the trip.

It was then time for Linner or Lupper. The Dutch are known for their pancakes, so we decided to check it out. They were awesome! Thin and not too sweet, unless you add the strawberries, whipped cream and ice cream like Ted did. He is still alive...although his heart may have aged a bit faster that day.

We spent the rest of the day walking around Amsterdam. Ted got a little weepy when we went by the bar where he and David had their first European beer. Ahhh...the memories...

We headed back to our B&B via the country side. It was a great day!

The Rijksmuseum

Ted and Noah on the boat (pre nap and beers)...

You were suppose to be able to see 7 bridges from this point...I only can see five, but whatever...

Welcome to the blog of Ted, Sharon, Noah and Oliver. This was to keep y'all up to date with our adventures while we lived in Germany. BUT now we are home in the states! So, the new purpose is to keep y'all up to date with our lives. Please enjoy!

Name: The Hansens not in Germany

Location: Denver, Colorado, United States

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