. . . say cheese!

At the beginning of September Liam and I headed up to the north of Holland to go to a cheese market with Lindsey and Jackson. This wasn't just any cheese market though -- Holland is one of the biggest exporters of cheese in the world, and this is one of the biggest markets! At the Alkmaar cheese market it was so interesting to watch the time-honored traditions of cheese traders, sellers, makers, and buyers. This particular market runs for two and a half hours every Friday from April to September. It was super crowded, but I don't know if it's because we were there on the very last Friday of the year or if it's always that busy.

apple pickin' . . .

There happens to be an orchard right down the street from us, and coincidentally it is run by Philips! The Philips Fruittuin is HUGE and allows anyone and everyone to come in and pick apples and pears off their trees -- there is no fee to go and you just pay for what you pick! It was so cheap, only €0.25 a kilo! They give you a canvas sack to collect your apples in, and we got about a bushel for €1.25! There were a TON of people there, but it wasn't crowded because the orchard is so gigantic. Our friends Lindsey and Josh met us there with their son Jackson, and the boys were so funny checking out all the apples on the trees and the ground. The only problem was once Liam figured out we were putting apples in our bag he wanted to put every apple in the bag! We basically walked around the first dozen rows and didn't go much further because we were all ready for lunch!

Celebrating America in The Netherlands

While these pictures may look like something straight out of the history books, they were actually taken last month when we visited a castle to watch a World War II reenactment. September 17th is a day that Eindhoven commemorates the American paratroopers landing in Eindhoven during WWII. The planes missed their original landing site and actually landed at Kasteel Heeswijk, so each year around the anniversary of the landing the Dutch celebrate this turn in the war by doing a reenactment for all to see. Keith, Liam, and I went to see the parachuters drop out of airplanes, which originally was supposed to happen at 2 pm but didn't happen until 4 pm. In the meantime we hung out with friends, walking the grounds around the castle, and then excitedly listened for the plane flying overhead.

. . . Liam lately (14 months)

It's been a few months since I have given a real update on Liam and how much he's grown. My "baby" is a baby no longer -- he is a full-on toddler and proves it to me on a daily basis. The way he moves, talks, interacts, and communicates with us is unbelievable! I am having so much fun being his Mama and watching him learn new things . . . this age is truly amazing! Included in this post are some of my favorite pictures from the last month, so you can see how much fun we've been having!

. . . playing catch up

So in order to bring this blog up to speed, I think I'm just going to do a little "picture dump" of some things we have been up to here in the NL, which is basically a lot of pictures of Liam because who can resist his cuteness? Not me!

Liam walking around at his 1 year doctor appointment :)

Liam turns ONE!

I know I already did a birthday post for Liam, but I never got around to saying what we did on his actual birthday, and how we celebrated in the NL, so here it goes . . .

See you later, Alligator!

The rest of our week in Georgia was spent with family and friends, enjoying our last few days together. "Lita" (my mom) came to pick us up Monday and Tuesday to hang out with Liam, which was nice. One day we went to the mall and walked around, and let Liam get in some of the rides, which he loved. He also learned to drink from a straw that day, which he found to be so awesome!

Birthday Party #1

Ok, back to catching up on here! While we were in Georgia we had Liam's first 1st Birthday Party, albeit 10 days early. : )

Several months ago I decided I wanted to do a vintage airplane theme for his birthday (since the kid has been on more planes in one year than many people I know!). I enlisted the help of one of my best friends, Jenny, who designs cards and invitations and whatnot. She is super creative, and was able to take examples of things I'd seen (hello, Pinterest!) and turn them into the perfect invitation, decorations, etc. for Liam's party.

After going back and forth on locations for the birthday party, I finally had the brilliant idea late one night to have it at the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant in Atlanta. Keith and I used to go there for their amazing Sunday brunch back when we were dating, and the place is SO cool. It's actually at Peachtree-Dekalb Airport and the restaurant overlooks the airfield and runways. There are also old planes parked around and the inside is decorated with WWII-esque memorabilia, pictures, and style. It was the perfect location for an airplane party!