The first night we made it as far as Oberwesel, on the Rhine. We stayed at one of our favorite hotels, Burg Schönburg, which is in an old castle. Our room was beautiful, and Thijs was happy to be out of the car.

Here's the view from one of our windows.

The inside was beautiful, too. Thea wrote a few cards and letters at the writing desk in the niche.

Here's the view down the Rhine from one of our windows. It's a little hazy, but you can just make out the Pfalz in the distance.

The next morning we went for a walk around the outside of the castle before leaving.

Thijs doesn't recognize Dad from that far away just yet, though.

The next day we drove to Stuttgart to visit Guido. Here's Thijs with Guido at his apartment.

Thijs was in a good mood...

and had fun laughing with Guido

...and playing with his finger.

Thijs & Nijntje had a little nap on Guido's floor.

But not for _too_ long. Thijs is always afraid he'll miss something while he's sleeping.

Guido just couldn't resist, but his aim with the rabbit ears was off by a bit:-).

After Guido's, we drove down to Konstanz on Sunday to meet Bianca, Peter and Sandra. We had drinks at a nice outdoor cafe in Konstanz.

When Thijs got fussy, Dad flew him around the square for awhile. That worked fine except for the fact that Thijs barfed (narrowly missing Bianca).

Here's Bianca with Thijs...

...and now Sandra has him. He sure makes the rounds!

Mike, a relative of Thea's from Romanshorn (on the Swiss side of Lake Constance) came to meet us in Konstanz, too.

As we left, the new Zeppelin NT sailed by. Zeppelin is based in Friedrichshaven, at the other end of the lake. They're planning to start passenger service sometime next year, I think.

We took the ferry from Konstanz to Meersburg - a 10 minute trip that saved a lot of driving.

Which is a good thing, since this was our longest travel day and Thijs spent most of it looking approximately like this. We _told_ you he doesn't like being in the car.

The missing roll has the "people" pictures from Regensburg. The only picture of Regensburg (from this trip) that we have right now is the beautiful stained-glass window in the Regensburger Dom (Cathedral).

Almost home! On the way back, we stopped in Oberhausen to eat at one of our favorite restaurants (Köstritzer) in "the mall."

Back home, Thijs and Dad rest on the sofa.

We went to dinner with Pat and Dave. Pat is back from the states now and Thijs was glad to see her again.

Here we are in our stroller, on the way to our appointment. It was cool enough today that we got to use the insulated cover on the bassinet. I'll say one thing about Dutch weather -- it leads to really good weatherproof strollers!

It's amazing how big he's gotten -- he barely fits in the bassinet on his stroller now! Back in June he was so tiny and the stroller seemed so huge...

Our appointment was at 8:45 (yuck!) so we were the first ones there. This is the waiting room.

Here's Thijs in his cute little cow hat, before we got him undressed (he has to be naked except for a diaper before we go in).

Thijs doesn't seem to mind getting undressed, though.

Here's a wider shot so you can see the changing cubbyholes.

Still waiting. Thijs stares pensively out the window, watching the parade of backpackers (the Hostel two doors down kicks everybody out before 9am), so they all tromp past the Consultatiebureau.

See? He's happy to sit around (nearly) naked, chillin' with Mom.

All done, and back in our stroller. Thijs was great again -- he cried when he got his shots but he stopped as soon as we picked him up. By the time we left the office, he was barely sniffling.