Christmas Jack is in the store!

So, you know hubby and I went away last weekend for a hot air balloon festival. Well, things didn't work out like we had planned! We got in late Friday, so decided just to go to the hotel and get some dinner since there wasn't much going on at the festival that night anyway.
Saturday, all of the good stuff was happening in the evening so we decided to go to this little town they call the Venice of Holland. It's actual name is Giethoorn. This town is fabulous! No cars, just foot, bike or boat! There are canals everywhere and a beautiful lake!
We rented a boat and took off through the canals and I was snapping photos every inch of the way I think! lol
One of the highlights for me were the weddings we got to see! There is a small church there and the wedding party comes in a boat, like a gondola. The bride and groom come in another boat and everyone else comes in this big sightseeing type boat. The boats were all done up with greenery and flowers and it was all so romantic! If I had known 7 years ago they did this, I would have gotten married there! :o) We did tell our daughter that we booked her wedding already! She just had to find the groom and the dress but she informed me she already has both! lol She is 15!

Anyway, the boat trip was so relaxing and so much fun! We got to the lake and just turned off the motor, threw our feet in the water and just floated. Oh it was nice but HOT! After living in about 65 degrees for so long and then having it about 100, it felt really hot to us!

After the boat ride, I wanted to walk around and get some more photos. First, lunch! We stopped at a store, grabbed some kaiser rolls, cheese, watermelon, drinks and wet wipes to clean up and found ourselves a nice shady spot on the bank of one of the canals. We ate out lunch and shared with some pretty brave ducks! They were so cute!

After wandering a bit, we decided it was just too hot for walking around so decided to head back to the hotel, shower, grab some dinner and then head out to the balloon festival. While hubby was taking his shower, I grabbed a chair and sat outside reading. While I am reading, I keep hearing thunder! I thought, no, it can't be! Hubby checked the weather when he got out of the shower and sure enough, terrible storms were headed our way! Let me tell you, they were bad! The parking lot of the hotel was flooded in like 30 minutes! It was up above the bottom of the hubcaps on the car! I couldn't believe our luck! Well, there was always Sunday still so hubby watched tv and I fell asleep before 10:30! Unheard of for me! lol

Sunday dawned sunny and warm! The festival didn't have anything going on until 2pm so we grabbed some breakfast, packed our stuff and checked out of the hotel just before noon. We had a few hours so we headed into Leeuwarden to check out the town. They had a braderie (street fair) going on so we roamed there a bit. By 1:30 we were back on the road and heading to Joure where the balloon festival was. When we got into town, we didn't know where it was so we stopped into a coffee/tea shop to ask directions. They told us the festival had been cancelled both Saturday and Sunday because of the weather! *arrrggg*! Not much we could do so we had a piece of bakery and a cup of coffee. I still wanted to at least see the field so we got directions and headed over there. We didn't get to see a thing! Not even the field! There were guards posted at all of the entrances turning people away because it was canceled. Needless to say, we were disappointed we didn't get to see the balloons!

We decided to head back home and just stop at little towns along the way! Hubby wanted to stop in Urk, a little fishing town he had heard about. It was quite cute with an old village, a big beach, a fire tower and so much more!
We stopped here and there but nothing exciting and got home in time for dinner! *sigh*
All in all though, it was a very enjoyable, very relaxing weekend!

Next week, however, there is another balloon festival in Breda and since hubby is off all month, he said maybe we could go! I am almost afraid to get excited about it! lol I'll let you know if we get there!

Now, onto to store news.......

I finally got the Christmas Jack album in the store! If you missed it during the Polar Blog Express, you can grab it now at 50% off! Grab it before midnight, EST, Sunday as the price goes back up!



I have also marked down my Christmas Joy, Christmas Clusters, Christmas Bulb Alphas and the whole bundle as well! You can grab any of them for 50% through Sunday!

Well, that's about it for now!
Thanks for stopping by!