And before we knew it, we were halfway… While half of the country has to go back to school tomorrow, we still have 3 weeks to go. Bliss! An impression of what we’ve been up to these last few weeks…

Robot Man
On the hottest day this Summer, Steve had to go into hospital to get electroded up for a 24H breathing/sleeping/snoring test. The poor bloke. He was still smiling here… Hopefully, it will give some concrete results and solutions!

Antics in the pool
Hannah had a friend stay over for a night, and they enjoyed the sun by splashing into the pool from the swings.

Baking bread at the Kruidhof
A very nice outing was our trip to the Kruidhof, not far from home. They had a special historic day, which meant we could bake stick bread on an open fire…

Cave people
A couple showed how the old cave people made flint and weaved baskets and bags…

Drilling like a cave man
Steve tried his hand at drilling cave-man style…

From dry
And Sam went from high and dry…

to soaking wet
… to absolutely soaking wet. Only his right shoulder was still dry! So much fun!

The fairy queen
Hannah loves face painting!!!

Setting up the tent
Our first week of camping was at IJmuiden, on the Dutch west coast. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t brilliant, but it was nice to get away for a week, enjoy the sounds of the forest…

Our view
We were positioned straight across from the reception. Behind it was the toilet/shower building.

Starting off the holidays with a Chinese dinner
After we set up the tent, we drove out to IJmuiden beach, where we were totally sandblasted (high winds all week)! We decided to have a nice dinner to celebrate the start of the holidays, and Hannah and Sam had great fun trying out the chopsticks.

The ferry to Engerland
Most people know IJmuiden as the place where the ferry to Newcastle leaves from. Next time! Look at that sky!

Locks and factories
IJmuiden is also an industrial harbour, and we had a great drive around and over the intricate system of locks and factories.

Play tree at the campsite
There was a small playground at the campsite, with this play tree. Sam loved it and could climb up (and down) it like a small monkey.

A walk in the forest
The bigger the stick, the better, in Sam’s opinion.

Holland's Next Top Model
Posing for a few pictures in the forest…

Playing card games in the tent
There was plenty of in-house entertainment too…

Birds liked our breakfast too
And outdoor entertainment. The little finches were never far away to pick at what we left after breakfast/lunch/dinner…

Canal boat in Amsterdam
A day out in Amsterdam, enjoying the canal trips.

Smile!
Smile!

Cruise ship 'Maasdam'
This massive cruise ship was in town today, and we passed it again on its way to the North Sea, when we were on the Fast Flying Ferry back to IJmuiden…

Getting bored
After a while, even this gets boring…

Messing about
More messing about before the tears started (yes, there were plenty, haha)

Tropenmuseum Junior
Making umbrella’s in the Chinese exhibition at the Tropenmuseum Junior.

Nemo
Shadow games in the Nemo science museum.

Lady Wawaaa
More posing…

De Veilige Haven
A cracking playground just around the corner, where the kids played until the heavens opened (again)…

3DDDD
More in-house entertainment, watching a Hannah Montana concert in 3D.

Off to the baker's
One nice thing about holidays is walking to the baker’s in the morning to get warm buns…

Reward!
… and of course getting a cookie while you’re there

Brederode Castle
Another local attraction, the ruins of Castle Brederode. There was an exhibition of amazing brass statues as well, definitely worth the visit!

Going up the tower
And plenty of towers to run up and down to…

And chimneys
Not to mention the fireplaces and chimneys… No wonder they could fit a child up there to clean them in the old days…

Haarlem
Visiting Haarlem on our last day…

Coffee at Grand Cafe Brinkmann
And having a nice coffee before packing up again…
More pictures as and when it happens!!!