Our family travelled to South Holland near Lisse April 13-20, 2007 because I wanted to see the tulips in bloom. Our first stop was the Keukenhof gardens and it surpassed my expectations. But the highlight of our Holland vacation for my husband was cycling on the paved paths through the dunes near the North Sea. Unfortunately we didn't take any photos of the dunes or the town that we biked to for our snack, Noordwijk, but it is a great place to bike with kids since most of the time you are off the roads. There are paths which take you to the beach as well as paths that take you either direction along the coast through the middle of the dunes. Although our daughter (age 8) doesn't ride a bike very well yet we were able to rent a one wheeled attachment for my husband's rented bike at a bike shop in Noordwijkerhout so she could keep up. (I included a photo of them so you could see what I am trying to describe.) To get to the dunes from the bungalow park in Noordwijkerhout where we stayed, much to my delight, we had to pass by some of the beautiful fields of tulips which were in bloom.

The highlights of our vacation for our daughter (age 8) was a large playgound, called Linnaeusof, and the Tiki Pool at Duinrell, an incredible indoor pool paradise with a wave pool, lazy river, and at least 6 different slides (one which you ride down on a double inner-tube and feels a bit like a rollercaster and two that everyone in our family was too scared to try - the older teens were having a blast on these).

The highlight of the vacation for our daughter (age 14) was the ice sculpture display at Madurodam. And Madurodam (Holland in miniature), with many interactive displays (with the help of a handful of 10 centime pieces and several euro coins), was much more interesting for our children than I expected.

We also visited Zaanse Schans, a favorite of my son (age 12), in North Holland. This historic area includes shops, small museums, windmills, houses and restaurants in a polder landscape near the river, Zaan.

Our last stop was the Royal Delft Porcelain Factory and Museum. The tour guide made the factory and museum very interesting for our whole family.(We did have a car to get to these places.)

For those American families who live in France, we also enjoy visiting Holland for a little taste of America. We get to speak English, eat barbecue ribs in the restaurants, buy soft rolls and doughnuts in the bakery and stock up on some food items from the grocery store which are hard to find in France (like soups that haven't been puréed.) There are great things in France, of course, but France seldom reminds us of the U.S. (and there is no easier place for a child to ride a bike than in the Netherlands.)

This is my first article ever. Hopefully, I will soon be publishing photos from our other vacations with children in France, Belgium, Germany and Holland. I can introduce you to a gorgeous place to canoe (with little skill.)