A mini-camping trip and a trip to Monterey, CA

Back in November decided to take the boys camping. We had to laugh because it wasn't really in the wilderness, you could see houses from our campground, but it was close enough to the real thing for two little boys. I would love to camp more with our family but we need to invest in some camping equipment. Like sleeping bags. It actually got pretty cold at night and both Seth and I woke up several times during the night FREEZING. We had the boys between us with the bulk of the blankets and they seemed to sleep fine. We were close enough to civilization that we just hopped in the car in the morning, drove to breakfast, and then came back to take down our tent. The night before we did manage to cook our dinner of hot dogs over the fire with coat hangers. See? We need real camping gear so we can do it the right way. Like dutch oven style. Anyway, here are some pictures:

At the beginning of December, Seth had an interview in Monterey, CA. He had to use one of his vacation weeks for it, so we made a family trip out of it. We spent the first two days of the trip at Disneyland. The highlight of this particular Disney trip was when Taft got picked to be a Jedi trainee in Tomorrowland. He was so stinking excited. He got to fight Darth Vader with a light saber and later asked if we thought it was the real Darth Vader.

Monterey is GORGEOUS. Oh my. So Gorgeous. We loved it up there. We decided against taking the Monterey job at this point in our life, but man, it would be awesome to live there. During Seth's interview day, the boys and I drove about an hour north to have brunch with my cousin Katie in San Jose.

In line at Disney.

We never see Seth in the mornings in our regular life, so having him around in the mornings on vacation is extra special.

The water! This picture doesn't do it justice. It was so clear. To the left there is a cove and we saw a group of seals and a few seal pups. It was cute to see the pups sneaking off into the water to play with the grown ups slept.

Europe 2013: Belgium

For the last few times we've visited Seth's parents, we've thought it would be our last, figuring his dad would be retiring and moving back to the States before we'd have a chance to visit again. This time truly was the last. Seth's parents moved out of the home they lived in since 1989. I know Seth is glad we really were able to make it back "one last time."

We arrived to Brussels in the morning, but it was the middle of the night for us. Seth, Luke, and I all took naps but Taft was excited to be around his cousins and aunts and uncles and stayed up ALL day long. He adjusted to the time difference the quickest out of all of us. Nicole (Seth's sister) and Jed were finishing up their European vacation/honeymoon but we overlapped for about a day or two. Seth's other sister, Natalie, and her family overlapped with us for about a week. They had been in Belgium for 3 months! It was really fun for the boys to spend time with their cousins that unfortunately they rarely get to see.

First day in Belgium. Uncle Jed built these kids the COOLEST fort in the forest behind Seth's parents' house. We were sad to have only overlapped with them for a day or two. 

A really fun park. Wish I remembered the name??

In Leuven, heading the the official Herway family restaurant, Domus. 

Lukie and I took a morning walk into Sterrebeek one morning when we were awake waaaaay earlier than everyone else. 

The way to Sterrebeek. It was a creepy/pretty foggy morning. 

Jet lagged Taft about to enjoy his waffle from Stokkel market. I have to admit, I never thought waffles were all that great, but THESE ones are amazing!

One night Anita, Natalie, and I went downtown to a restaurant to get dessert and play cards. That's a major difference in Europe, you can sit for HOURS in a restaurant, taking up a table and it doesn't bother the servers one bit!

Excited for the "Sumway"

On a day when I simply couldn't get out of bed, Seth, Anita, and the boys got out to some sights. This is at Beersel Castle.

Also without me, they checked out/sampled til they were sick at the Neuhaus chocolate factory

Gaasbeek Castle

Gaasbeek Castle with Grammie

Downtown Brussels with these hooligans

While the Portugals were still in town with us we all headed to Brugge for the day. It was SUCH a pretty day there. This is also where everyone had the best frites in all of Belgium. I was feel queasy so didn't try any, but everyone raved about them. 

Cute Brynnie Boo trying to get her loose tooth out with a chocolate wheel

 

Antwerp

Breendonk Concentration Camp. Seth's family has lived in Brussels since the 80s, and his mom just learned there was a concentration camp here. It was pretty incredible to visit. It's such a fascinating time in history because it's just so unfathomable. It was a very sobering day, but I'm so glad we were able to visit it.

I didn't take any pictures of it, but we were in Brussels for their "No Car" Sunday. People could ride their bikes all over downtown with no cars. We all headed out for that and it was a lot of fun, although some cars didn't seem to get the memo. 

And I have to mention AGAIN how much Anita, Tom, and Seth stepped in while I was in the throws of terrible morning sickness. It was such a bummer to be sick there, but it was also a blessing to have so much help with the boys. Plus, the boys absolutely loved spending time with Grammie and Pop.

Europe 2013: Loire Valley

We took a few days to do a bike trip through the Loire Valley in France. The boys happily stayed with Grammie and Pop and probably didn't miss us at all. Seth planned each detail (as usual) and I happily went along with everything and honestly don't think I complained once! I know it's sad that I am proud of that, but usually my ideal vacations are less "active" and more lazy. Seven years later and I'm realizing Seth's idea of vacations are a lot more fun. (Although I am most definitely not opposed to a relaxing, tropical vacation in my future.) 

Let me start off by saying that Seth was on Cloud Nine each day. He had a smile on his face non-stop and kept saying how awesome it was. Like, he was literally high on life. I'm really glad we got to go and most importantly that my morning sickness had eased up a bit and allowed be to have energy AND be in good spirits. It would have been really sad (and mean of me) to rain on Seth's parade.

We took the metro downtown to catch the train to Paris. By the way, I had to jump off a few stops early and run to a trash can because of you-know-what. Rough way to start the trip. We made it to Paris and had a short layover before our train left for Tours. It was just long enough to get a sandwich, no time to see any of Paris. We arrived in Tours mid-day, picked up our bikes, and headed to Amboise. We arrived late afternoon and were able to check into a small B&B. The lady who ran the B&B also ran an Italian restaurant so we ate there for dinner and it was the delicious, real Italian pizza kind of pizza. She also made the BEST hot chocolate for us in the next morning.

 We headed to the Chenonceau chateau that morning and took the audio tour, which of course I now remember hardly any of because I took too long to blog it. I do remember it being very interesting and soap opera-like (mistresses, disgruntled wives, etc.) The chateau was completely furnished and gave a fantastic picture of how the house was run in it's prime. We spent the night back at Amboise, this time in a fancier hotel, but went back for the same pizza for dinner. 

The second full day we rode to Blois, got lost along the way, but happily lost. We didn't go inside the chateau in Blois. The last day we rode to Chambord chateau (the biggest one we saw) and then back to Blois to catch our train. 

We rode about 90 miles over the three days which was totally do-able. It was nice to take our time, enjoying the quaint towns we rode through, taking long breaks for lunch, etc. I think one of my favorite things about the trip was having endless, uninterrupted conversations with each other. 

Beginning of bike trip, outside the rental shop

Right after Seth snuck some grapes because I wanted to try some. I was nervous there might be some kind of severe jail time for stealing grapes though. (I only ate like 3)

Chenonceau Chateau

Side view of Chenonceau. Excuse the clothing attire. 

Our hotel the second night offered robes so I of course had to put one on immediately. Friends was also on TV in ENGLISH. And I was eating those delicious chocolate Petit Beurre cookies. I was loving life.

Stopping for lunch. Each morning before heading out we grabbed a baquette, some salami, apples, and of course Petit Beurre cookies. 

Second night hotel in Amboise. Seth did a FANTASTIC job at picking hotels this trip.

After going up steep hills and I didn't even complain. The reddish building behind me is where Leonardo da Vinci lived his last years and passed away.

Leaving Amboise in the morning headed to Blois, with our baquettes strapped down for the ride.

Coming into Blois

Last chateau of the trip: Chambord. This was huuuuuuge and amazing but I wished it was furnished more. The other chateaus were furnished for the time periods they were lived in.  This one was so big though it would have been extremely expensive to do.