The Broughtby's European Adventures

For Sam's February school break we went to Morocco.  We were looking for warmth and also ready to explore beyond Europe. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency (amazing resort) in Taghazout, a small fishing village that is south of Marrakesh and north of Agadir.  More Morocco photos here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/eATCUb6Cc4rRoyLYA February 17:  As per usual we opted for a flight that was not ideal so we could save money.  It was a later flight with a connection through Casablanca, arriving in Agadir airport close to midnight.   Sam slept on the car ride from the airport to the hotel but perked up when we found out we had been upgraded to a room with an ocean view (thanks to friend Jasper!!).  This kid continues in his quest for only the finer things. Very elaborate towel and curtain art! View from our balcony at night: View from our balcony during the day: February 18:  Today was dedicated to nothing except explo...

We headed back to the US for Sam's holiday break (a little over 2 weeks long).  Unfortunately Ryan needed to go back earlier to be with his mom who passed away on December 15th after a battle with ALS.  We knew this was coming soon but still tough as we all expected to see her over the holidays.  Grandma Char will be missed. 😢 Sam and I stayed on our original schedule and left the day after his last day of school.  We were able to use Ryan's miles for us both to upgrade to "bissnus" class (how he spells it).  The orange juice sitting next to him in this photo was spilled within seconds of this photo being taken.  Luckily this was resolved quickly by the attentive flight attendants.  This child will never be the same and is OBSESSED with only ever flying this way.🙄 We continued an annual tradition while in Wisconsin of going skiing at Granite Peak  which is our favorite ski location in Wisconsin.  Good practice in advance of a Swi...

The fall is always a busy season for us with Sam and Ryan's birthday plus the usual holidays of Halloween, Thanksgiving and now celebrating Sinterklaas . Halloween Sam wanted to be Greg from Diary of a Wimpy Kid for Halloween. That was amazing since it required nothing except printing a mask I found on the internet and tying a string to it.  Not the most durable or comfortable but free and easy which is how I roll.   There is also  Sint Maarten  which is a Dutch holiday similar to Halloween in which kids go door-to-door and get candy.  It involves the kids signing songs and making a lantern which we were not prepared for so we stuck with just celebrating Halloween. Sam's 9th Birthday  As seems to be standard now, Sam wanted McDonalds for his birthday dinner. So we headed to the canal district and he enjoyed his first Big Mac. Then he opened his presents which included the Arctic Exploration Lego Set that he has CONSTANTLY been asking for.  So pret...

I thought I was retired from races after my last half marathon in 2018 which was PAINFUL.  I have a routine of running (or sometimes just walking) in Vondelpark every day after I drop Sam off at school and I felt that I needed some motivation since my runs were short, slow and all around sad. So I signed up for the KLM Urban Trail in Leiden.  These are races held in cities throughout The Netherlands where you run all around the city and through different buildings (i.e. museums).   I signed up and prepared for the 5 - 6K race.  Funny thing - I ended up on the 10 - 12K route!  I don't know if it was a language barrier issue (everything was in Dutch) or poor route markings (I think both) but I definitely got more than I bargained and trained for.  Next I guess is a 10K in another city!

For Sam's fall break we headed to Prague for a long weekend.  Prague has been high on our list because everyone raves about it.  It seems like the world has caught on to this so it was somewhat crowded with the tourists leaning toward more annoying than not (see below for an example).  But still a great city! More Prague photos here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/6pmcjC4Q3KYr65WH7 October 26: We got in late last night.  Ryan was working today so Sam and I made plans to go to the Lego Museum and a Cat Cafe. The Great European Car Tour of 2023 continues! The Lego Museum exceeded my expectations. We had just been to Lego World in Utrecht earlier in the week so I thought maybe this would be disappointing compared to that.  It was definitely less elaborate but still interesting to see Lego history and there were big piles of Legos for Sam to play with and that's a win. The  Kavárna Kočičí Prah a c at cafe was awesome as expected. Lots of very friendly cats ro...