We're Back Online!!!!

Hi All!!! Sorry for the delays, but life gets busy these days. Upon returning to Blogger it has been determined that a change of scenery might be just what we need so we've switched over to Wordpress. The new site is...

tristanherro.wordpress.com

Come and check it out as we continue our adventures in Australia!!!

Yay!!!!!

Forgive Us!

Life has been flying by us faster than Tristan's favorite word, "helipopler!" We will be adding several posts shortly but we wanted to apologize for not including you on the last 5 months of growth.

Forgive us!

A Visit to Germany

Intermingled in our travels of the Netherlands was a quick jaunt over to Aachen, Germany where we met up with Andy's high school friend Jessica and her Husband Mathias.

Here we visited the City Hall where Jessica and Mathias recently got married. This is one of the few buildings that survived the war.


Then it was off to the Cathedral that Charlemagne began building in 792!


Where we gazed upon the beautiful stained glass and mosaic ceilings.


We then headed outside where Tristan showed off his amazing climbing skills. He was able to climb onto this ledge all on his own but needed a little assistance getting down which Mom was glad to supply.


This display of physical prowess was followed by a sprint down the sidewalk.


Jessica also showed Tristan a fountain where all off the figures had poseable limbs.


And then Tristan found a corner that he fit right into!


To finish our tour of Aachen we visited this vicious beast whom wives can sic on their drunken husbands if they are out too late.

But Tristan and Mommy just used his tail as a slide.



Tristan often shows us what is most important in life; birds and puddles are more interesting than art and architecture, climbing is more interesting than observing and Mommy is our favorite person in the whole world!

The Netherlands

For the past 2 weeks Julia and Tristan traveled out the the Netherlands to visit Dad on tour.

On our first days we wandered the streets of Utrecht to see what we could find. This picture has the city's old water tower in the background.

Most of the time Tristan showed us around. Here he found a staircase that led down to the canals. He walked all the way up it with a little assistance from Mom.

Then he showed us the grates in the streets...

and the puddles that had formed from a recent spell of rain.


With some coaxing we managed to get him away from the puddles and pigeons, his other favorite part of Utrecht, and we made it to an old windmill in the town. Here we met this Euro chic fellow named Jacob who journeyed long and far from London to meet up with us.


Later, in the market, we asked Tristan to sit down and take his picture with this strong peanut placard. As you can see, he was not entirely thrilled with this event.


And as day fell to night we all felt a little tired.



But it wasn't long before we had more places to see and more visitors to see them with. Julia's cousins Luke and Nina came for a visit with Catherine and Annabelle. They are staying in Belgium for 3 months and decided that since we were all so far away from home yet so close together that we should meet up.

For a brief moment we gathered all the kids together for a picture in Utrecht. There is some great video of all of them running around but we will have to post those once Dad get back to the States.


We, of course, had to stop by the canals because Tristan could stare at the water all day long.


He also wanted to show the girls some glass birds that he saw earlier in this store window.


He pulled Mom along too.


The next day we all hopped the train up to Amsterdam.


Annabelle caught up on her Dutch news along the way.


Another full day of walking commenced in Amsterdam through the streets...


...and over the canals.


Tristan was so kind to pose with his beautiful mother for a photo.


The three of us ran around and ate lunch while the others went to the Anne Frank house. We were there last time we came so we didn't go in this time.


After 2 days with Nina, Luke, Catherine and Annabelle we all packed in to Dad's hotel room and all passed out.


With a little story telling from Nina the kids were very content in their beds on the other side of the world.

Christmas Tree Hunting

Well, it's almost Christmastime and we don't have a tree yet!

Here, Tristan stopped and gave us that look, "Mom. Dad. Are we getting a tree yet?"

So we all bundled up and headed north to an amazing Christmas tree farm where we could pick out our own tree.

This is where the owners of the farm live. They only sell trees for 2 weekends and they were packed!


Here, amongst the grove of pine trees, Tristan hangs out with Dad.


And Mom.


He really enjoyed running through all the trees until we found the tree that was perfect. And this year we were kind enough to let someone else cut down the tree for us. :)


But, unfortunately, Tristan was not very happy with us carrying the cut-down tree. He was okay with us cutting it and setting it down on the ground, but carrying it was rather distressful to the little man.


Now we have our tree and it is time to head home. Notice Julia's look of amazement as we just successfully stuffed an 8 foot tall tree into the back of our rented SUV.


Another tree victory.

Adventures in Skaneatles

As Dad heads out on tour, Mom and Tristan head out on an adventure of their own to cross paths with Mini Menemsha and the Pumpkin Head Man in the Garden of Eden.

Here, we see Tristan slowly entering the domain of Mini Menemsha. He shows a sign of peace by sharing a drool covered toy with the mini ma'am.


Without warning, the Mini Menemsha breaks free from her holding pen and lunges for Tristan!

But he is quickly scooped up by Betsey and wisked off to safety.


Soon after, she has Mini Menemsha locked in captivity with the ring leader, Eden.


With the girls trapped, Tristan spends some time with one of his favorite activities, "putting the cover on."

LOOK OUT! Here comes the pumpkin head man!!!

Never fear! He is quickly beheaded and taken hostage by Betsey and a knife wielding, Tricia.


And when Julia wasn't looking...


She suffered a great loss of hair.


With thousands of hair casualties, Tristan offers a sign of peace.


And makes friends with all.