Exploring the town of Oss

This morning, Bill went into work and the kids and I worked off our jet lag.   We slept in and then went to breakfast in the hotel.  I knew that if we stayed in our hotel room until Bill got home at lunchtime, that would be a recipe for 

disaster.  We donned our rain coats (it was chilly and rainy for a good portion of the day) and went out in town.  Our mission was the find a playground...and we were successful!   We went down several quaint and cozy streets and eventually there was a swing set in the distance.  SCORE!  Even though it was wet and rainy, that didn't stop the children from playing away.  

 

 After Bill got home from work, we took a car ride out to go see a canal lock...think Panama Canal on a miniature scale!  What a mesmerizing experience!  Who knew that the Netherlands is below sea level.  According to a friend at Bill's work, there are canal locks all over the country to help prevent flooding. 

 

Next up was a trip to the local pool.  WOW on multiple levels.  The kids thought it was the BEST place!   There was a giant pool with waves, multiple slides, a smaller child section, and even a giant inflatable slide in the middle of the deep end.  I wish I had taken my camera in there because the place was truly incredible!   The downside was that that lifeguard inside of me was having a mini-heart attack!  There didn't seem to be nearly enough lifeguards for this huge place!  There were no lifeguards supervising the top of the three slides.  There were multiple children going down the slides at one time.  I'm not talking two kids...more like 10 at a time and they came zooming down right behind you.   Kayla loved the giant inflatable, especially because rules didn't seem to apply and she was able to master doing a somersault down this slide.  Even our Roman got brave and was swimming away!  Swimming over the past few weeks at the Plymouth Community Center has really paid off.  He was going under water, asking to go on the slides repeatedly, and loved the wave feature!  We'll be visiting this place again and I'll be sure to bring the camera for documentation of the chaos.    http://www.golfbad.nl/

 

Of  course, after all of that swimming, we were hungry.  Where to?   The Golden Arches were calling our names!  We went to McDonalds!  The kids loved their nuggets, fries, and drinkable yogurts.  Momma loved her almond sliver McFlurry!  Dad became King of the World for locating a McD's in the small town! 

 

After the fun filled day, the kids zonked out almost immediately.  That means that momma and daddy can live it up with beers from our hotel bar.  My first domestic Heineken! 

 

Tomorrow, we are getting up early and going up to Amsterdam.  Roman is super excited to go on a canal tour!  We'll  be sure to take lots of pictures!