Pancakes and Windmills

The kids and I had lunch at the pancake restaurant down the street.  There were dozens of pancake choices on the menu, both savory and sweet.  We were shocked at how big they were, but they were very thin, and I seemed to have no trouble at all finishing mine!

Pancakes for lunch!

Yesterday we drove to Kinderdijk to see the famous Dutch windmills.  There are 19 windmills at the site.  We started the tour in the visitor center, which has a great introductory movie about the windmills.  I was particularly interested in learning about the Millers who cared for and ran the windmills.  The large water wheels are in the "basement" of the windmill and there is a huge beam that runs up through the center of the mill, connecting the wheel to the wing mechanisms in the attic.  The Millers lived in the windmills with their families, and their living quarters were tucked in and around the working parts.  We thought it must have been very noisy!  One windmill is open to go in and we had fun climbing up and down the stairs and checking out the living quarters.  The other windmills are not open to the public since they are rented out for people to live in.  They looked very cozy with curtains in the windows and flowers on the windowsills!

Climbing the stairs in the windmill.

Some of the windmills at Kinderdijk.