This picture is from Riquewihr, a medieval town wedged into an area of hilly vineyards.  Like Germany’s Rothenburg ob der Tauber or Switzerland’s Stein am Rhein, Riquewihr is famous for being a prosperous old town that was seemingly frozen in time. The Vances spent a week in Riquewihr, living in a vacation apartment in a house built in the late 17th century (fortunately, the house had been remodeled a few times since then).

The old houses of this area are awash in color, not just pastels, but vibrant blues, red, pinks and oranges. ¹  Alsace is loaded with such eye candy.

But there’s more to see in Alsace than just little old towns.  There are also medium-sized old towns, like Strasbourg, which has a beautiful Gothic cathedral.

Alsace’s wildlife star is the stork — and it turns out that storks really do build their nests on top of chimneys, which probably makes it hard for them to get fire insurance. No sign that the storks are still delivering babies, though.

Thanks to its history, Alsace has been the scene of a battle or two. The mountain range there is dotted with military cemeteries, and you can still see some of the trenches that formed the front lines in World War I.

Thankfully, Alsace is again a place where little girls can have fun.

More pictures here.

1. Compare, for example, the houses of one of Jenelle and Jonathan’s favorite towns in Germany, Heppenheim.

With so many people riding so many bikes, the Netherlands are a hotbed of bicycle innovation — kind of like the Silicon Valley of Bikes, except that there aren’t any valleys in the Netherlands.  One product of this is the Bakfiets, which is sort of the Dutch answer to the minivan.

The box on the front can carry packages, groceries or (preferably with seat belts) your kids.  Some appear more comfortable than others:

This one has a front platform that folds up when not in use:

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the Dutch neglect the traditional child bike seat:

And if you want some help with pedaling, try this one:

They saw the world’s largest flower garden at Keukenhof . . .

. . . went shopping for shoes . . .

. . . watched the windmills go ’round . . .

. . . and learned how packages are delivered in the canals of Amsterdam.

The facades of the houses have beautiful murals.  The oldest house in this picture (on the far left) dates from the late 14th century.  Here are some more pictures:

Jenelle’s mother and sister were in town last month, and they were kind enough to watch the munchkins for a bit while Jenelle and Jonathan spent a night and a day in Stein am Rhein.

For more pictures, look here.

Annika left the comforts of Oregon prepared:

• princess crown — check;
• DVD player — check;
• pink princess roller bag that Annika insisted on pulling through the airports herself — check.

Her efforts were rewarded with a great trip that included:

• first flying the whole family to Houston so the twin babies could stay with Nana and Grandpa Dell (or, as the twins call them, “Mommy and Daddy 2.0″);
• flying to Zurich, Switzerland with Mommy and Daddy, then driving to Munich;
• during the drive to Munich, repeatedly asking when she could see a castle (an important topic for any princess, of course);
• visiting two castles (the Residenz in Munich and Linderhof Palace in southern Germany);
• celebrating Mommy and Daddy’s 5th anniversary by dining at one of Munich’s hottest vegetarian restaurants (no, you don’t need to adjust your computer);
• Daddy spending a Saturday morning in Mike’s Wunderbarer Waschsalon (free wi-fi included), which reminded him of the last time that he went to a laundromat in Germany and obtained change by taking his mother to her first Turkish grocery store;
• driving through Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland in one day;
• staying at a lovely hotel in Luzern, Swizterland, where Annika could run up and down the halls and eat delicious waffles every morning for breakfast; and
• renting bikes on their last day in Luzern and taking a lovely afternoon ride.

Fortunately, in Oregon there are many ways to go camping without a tent and without sleeping under the stars.  (Some purists will assert that this is merely “camping” and not camping, but one should note that most of those purists do not have a young gaggle of girls to travel with.)  So, the Vance family made a September reservation for a cabin at Stewart State Park, which is only a 35-minute drive from their house.

The cabin had a lovely view of the coast mountains.  It also had some simple furniture, electricity and heat.  It proved to be about the right level of camping for the Vance family right now.

Although Annika was already an experience camper, she enjoyed new experiences like roasting marshmallows and helping Daddy with breakfast.  She thought her sleeping bag was pretty exciting, too, since it was Mommy’s and it was pink.

After managing to get some sleep during the night, everyone went for a nice stroller-friendly walk on a trail in the park.

More pictures are here.

This is the story of how a baby named Annika took her first trip to Europe. It was a lovely trip: she brought her toys and her pacifier and diapers and some tasty baby food. She also brought her parents, Jenelle and Jonathan, because a princess like Annika can’t travel properly without servants.

A friend of Jenelle kindly offered to drive them to the airport on the morning of their departure. Jenelle and Jonathan unloaded their luggage and the airport and carted it to the check-in counter. But, while waiting at the counter, Jonathan realized he had left something in the car.

THEY HAD FORGOTTEN ANNIKA!

Not really. But Jonathan did forget to take the camera out of the car. They tried to call Jenelle’s friend and ask her to return to the airport, but by the time they reached her it was too late. So, they left on vacation without a camera.

Lufthansa airlines was good to Annika. On the 10-hour flight from Portland to Frankfurt, she had a bassinet to sleep in, baby food to eat, and free toys. Lufthansa wasn’t too bad to her parents, either: the flight attendants handed out chocolate bars over and over.

It was the next day by the time they arrived in Frankfurt and caught their connecting flight to Munich. So, everyone was tired by the time they arrived in Munich. They picked up their rental car, a trusty Mercedes A-Class compact car (no, not a luxury car) and drove to their vacation apartment south of Munich.

The vacation apartment was in a little village southwest of Munich near a lake called the Starnberger See. Holzhausen was a lovely, typical southern Bavarian place with farms and an onion-domed church on a hill.

They stayed on a small dairy farm in the middle of the village, called Moarhof. The house was a little over 100 years old and was owned by a friendly Bavarian couple with two young daughters.

The main priority after arriving at the farm was a good night’s rest (Bavaria being 9 hours ahead of Oregon). Lucky for Annika, she had her own bedroom at the farm. Annika and her parents spent the next day driving around the area, buying groceries and a little camera. They also found time for an evening stroll around Holzhausen.

The next day they toured some of the Munich suburbs, including Dachau, site of the first concentration camp, which is now a memorial.

Annika went to Europe last month for the first time. How did she like it? She seemed quite happy with the experience, which largely consisted of viewing the Swiss and German countryside from her car seat, riding over cobblestones in her stroller, dining in exotic locales (e.g., in a rental car in a parking garage, or at the ruins of a 16th-cent. castle), and being the subject of countless cute pictures. A summary of her trip by the numbers:

• Countries visited: 4 (mostly Germany and Switzerland, with brief drive-thrus of Austria and Liechtenstein)
• Miles Kilometers driven: 2743
• Waterfalls seen inside a mountain in Switzerland: 10
• Number of Porches passed on the Autobahn: 1
• Top speed attained on the Autobahn: 150 km/h
• Year the oldest house seen on the trip was built: 1333
• Number of pacifiers taken on the trip: 3
• Number of pacifiers lost on the trip: 3
• Amount of chocolate Annika’s parents consumed: Lots and lots

You can read more in Annika’s forthcoming book, Confessions of a Well-Traveled Baby. And Jonathan will post some pictures, too.

• the travelers got to see their beloved Florida relatives, the East-Coast-Clan (a.k.a. the Michaelis family);
• it was Annika’s first non-direct flight (she did fine–a layover is just another chance to eat);
• Jenelle and Jonathan paddled around in the Michaelis ship (the S.S. Canal Carnivore) and plucked coconuts from the waters of Cape Coral;
• the travelers were treated to a number of wildlife including herons, dolphins, pelicans and two endangered species, burrowing owls and manatees;
• Jonathan got to see American street signs in German;
• everyone enjoyed an evening picnic at the beach;
• they collected seashells at Sanibel Island;
• Matt peeled coconuts and Autumn used them to make yummy pina coladas;
• the trip finished with a fun Family Home Evening.

You can see some pictures here.