Just when you went into the open air museum, there was a bunch of little gnomes.

There were some beautiful grounds.

On older lady was demonstrating lace making.

Megan and Ashley had a good time at the open air museum.

There was a fun playground.

Going to the open air museum was one of the highlights of visiting the Netherlands.

They had a square with old fashioned games, toys, rides and then shops and such around it.

We had lunch with everyone getting to try the little pancakes that they put butter and powdered sugar on.

They had some canals, windmills, bridges, boats, shops, etc. all to give you the feel of how life had been like in Holland in years past.

Megan playing a hoop game.

Ian rode one of the little push/pull cars.

Ashley on the high wheel bike.

I even roade the high wheel bike, but I don't think I'll be riding it in LOTOJA this year.

Some of the shops.

A beautiful view over one of the ponds.

One of the many windmills. They probably had 8-10 windmills here. Some were huge.

One of the goats that came up and said "HI" to us.

8-1-10 Sunday We got up and got the kids all to church today. We went to church in Gouda. I ran into one of my old mission companions, Michael Jansen. Come to find out, his wife is the sister of the man who’s house we are staying at. I didn’t even look him up, but just ran into him ½ way around the world. Sometimes it’s a small world. After church we went to an open air museum in Arnhem. They’ve transported a lot of historic buildings from around the Netherlands and set up a museum/park around them. They have a bunch of windmills, old stores, farmhouses, and have recreated an old fishing village. They give demonstrations on some of the traditional Dutch way of life. We watched an old lady making lace, a blacksmith creating things, and some people playing some type of traditional Dutch game that’s kind of like croquet, but they roll the balls with these big paddles. They also had those mini pancakes with butter and powdered sugar. The kids loved them. This was a real neat area that allowed the kids to see lots of traditional crafts, trades, buildings, etc. all in one place. Everyone liked going to the open air museum and I think it was very culturally enlightening for the kids. I think eveyone enjoyed it and learned alot.