A Week at a Time: April 9-15, 2011

Every time I go to update the "A Week at a Time" it seems like I've fallen behind. I hate to make excuses, but the weather has just been so beautiful that I haven't wanted to spend much time inside on my computer. The same goes for today, but I'm waiting for my breakfast to digest before going on a jog.

Anyway, Saturday (April 8), Mr. Traveler and I set out for a little adventure in Doorn, including a picnic and a visit to Huis Doorn, where Kaiser Wilhelm II from Germany fled after WWI. The visit to the old mansion was interesting, because the property was seized after WWII and most of the decorations and possessions were preserved. However, we did have to endure a tour in Dutch since there are no unguided visits. Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed in the Huis, but you can check out their Web site linked above for a few pictures. Instead, I took this picture of a magnolia tree just as we wrapped up our picnic.

Apr 9 - Magnolia Blooms in Doorn

On Sunday, Mr. Traveler had a baseball game out of town, and I stuck around the house. I ended up with a random picture for the day. Can you guess what is is?

Apr 10 - Wat is Dat?

If you said a glove with a glass much inside, you are exactly right. We took the glasses on our picnic, but I didn't want them just rattling around in the bag, so I devised these little carrying cases. The day after our picnic, I found the glasses still in tact in our bag, waiting to be washed.

On Monday, I went to the IWCU coffee morning at the V&D cafe in Utrecht. I enjoyed seeing some new and familiar faces around the table. At the event, I mentioned to one of the ladies that I didn't think I was coming to the Bookworms meeting that evening since I hadn't received the email with the list of short stories we were supposed to read. She encouraged me to come anyway; there were only two short stories, and they were both only a couple pages, so I could read through them when I got there. I send Mr. Traveler an email letting him know my plan, and I had dinner on the table when he got home so we could eat together before my meeting. I took the following picture on my walk to the Bookworms meeting in Zeist. I just couldn't get over the bright blue sky and the pretty shades of green.

Apr 11 - Zeist

On Tuesday, it was time to get busy and prepare for our next set of guests. I caught up on the laundry, made sure the sheets were clean and ready for the air mattress, and did a little bit of tidying up. As I was cooking lunch, I noticed that one of the onions had an unusual shape, and decided that it was a good enough subject for my photo of the day.

Apr 12 - Heart Shaped Onion

Wednesday, it was time to pick up my in-laws at the airport. Mr. Traveler worked from home until it was time for us to head into Amsterdam. As we started to plan out their activities for the week, I took this uninspired picture of my guidebook.

Apr 13 - Guide Book

I've already talked about the week with Mr. Traveler's parents, so I'll try not to repeat too much in the next couple descriptions. On Thursday, we spend the day in Utrecht, where I took this picture of a very colorful bike handlebar.

Apr 14 - Colorful Handlebars

Finally, on Friday, after a morning in Delft, we ended up in the beautiful Keukenhof gardens. I let Mr. Traveler play with our SLR since he wasn't too thrilled with the combination of a pottery museum and gardens for the day's activities, but I still ended up with some decent shots on my point and shoot. The picture below is one of several I took in the gardens.

Apr 15 - Keukenhof