Windmills, Clogs, Waffles, and Chocolate

We slept overnight in Amsterdam and then woke up and made the journey towards Paris. Along the way we stopped many times. We stopped to raid the candy sections of several grocery stores, we went to see windmills and a local clog maker in the Netherlands. And we stopped in Bruges, Belgium for Waffles and chocolate. 

This guy is such a happy guy. He is always up for a laugh. We tried on random items we found in stores and laughed together. 

Pachita found one too that would cheer when you squeezed the legs. Ready to support Netherlands football team now! 

A dream aisle for these people. 

In Tom Sawyer fashion, these two decided that it was fun to work as I pumped petrol! hahah

Had to get more stroopwafels along the drive. 

We made a stop at Kinderdjik. They have several traditional windmills along one canal. It was a perfect stop for the kids to throw stones in the water, try to coax ducks into letting them pet them (nobody was successful...and nobody or animal was harmed in this effort ahahah), and plenty of area to run and stretch the legs after a long drive. 

Trying to find rocks to throw. 

The girls wanted her to buy this bike bell to remind them of Amsterdam. 1- because the little kids would ring every bike bell they passed as we walked the streets. There are A LOT of bike bells to ring in that city! haha 2- To remind Leni that she almost died when she tried to cross a bike path as bikes were coming. Her life flashed before ALL of our eyes! hahaha

We went to the clog maker Klompenmakerij Den Dekker as we drove south. We like this shop because it is small and family run, so it is less touristy. You can go in and watch them produce the clogs and even paint your own if you want. 

They all agreed that they were more comfortable then they expected. 

 Our next stop was Bruges, Belgium. This small city has been one of our favorites for YEARS after we accidentally went there on one of our European holidays. We always look for reasons to come back. You can see the many times we have visited in past blogs. 

These four made games and fun wherever we went. It was so good to hear them laugh and see them get away from their screens to enjoy some outdoor playing with cousins. 

No joking...getting ALL of us looking at the camera at the same time is a small miracle. There are many times that we had to retake the photos to get a shot we are were KIND OF looking at the camera! HAHA

Two sisters in heaven with all the chocolate stores around. 

The boys were so interested in the rusty tools (chocolate). 

We stopped in many chocolate stores and bought waffles as we did our walking tour around the city. 

Leni's kids wanted her to try the waffle so badly that one of them dumped it all over her. I mean, who doesn't want a bit of belly button lint flavoring on their waffle?! We laughed about this for the rest of the trip. I was actually really proud of Leni. I could see the frustration on her face as we tried to scrape caramel and whipped cream off her back and clothes. But she held it in and later laughed with us. 

We went inside the palace municipal building to explore. It is such a beautiful building. 

The royal family. We got them all there but one, who was not sure she wanted to be on a throne hahaha