A trip to the shores of Normandy has been on our travel list since the very beginning. When we figured out that we could schedule this trip to coincide with the 70th anniversary of D-Day, we made a plan. We coordinated with our friends the Carruth's (who have almost twice as many kids as we do and are therefore legendary) and we picked a fun camping spot as our home base for the trip. Here we are piled into our car, ready for another road trip...
The campsites filled up super quickly, so while the Carruth's got one of the few tent camping spots left, we ended up having to rent this trailer type thing at the same campground. That was a real bummer for me when I was making the booking, because we haven't really been able to do any tent camping while living out here and we always thought that would be perfect with our crew. Luckily, though, this place was clean and cozy and a total lifesaver for a camping weekend filled with RAIN. Nothing ruins camping like rain! The Carruth's were pretty miserable the whole time and I felt SO bad that we ended up in this trailer out of sheer luck. Well, I felt terrible for them but oh so grateful for my sick, miserable, first trimester pregnant self. Here's our first morning eating breakfast and starting what turned out to be the world's hardest puzzle...
Here's a look at our weekend - it was filled with reflection, history, & as always FUN...
Juno Beach
(where our good pals the Canadians landed)
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| One of many reenactment camps that we walked around. |
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| On our drive out, we saw dozens of old school US military vehicles on the freeway. |
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| This was one of the German bunkers protecting the beach. |
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| There were flowers at each of the dozens of memorial plaques and statues that we came upon. |
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| WWII veterans were just strolling around - it felt like a celebrity sighting each time! |
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| How can you NOT love this? |
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| ...and this! |
Back at our campground
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| Playtime |
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| Soaking up the sun that we've been missing for so many months in Holland. |
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| Loving the break from the rain. |
La Fiere
We drove out to this historical military drop zone to see an air show where hundreds of international military paratroopers filled the sky parachuting out of historical planes to paint a picture of what it might have been like on D-Day.
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| On our drive out, we saw quite a few people who looked like they walked right out of the WWII era. |
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| All of the military gear was neat, but the villages we drove through were really picturesque as well. It made me think of how they might've been transformed during the war. |
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| Getting ready for the show |
I had camping in mind while I was packing, so I packed lots of comfy play clothes for my kids that I didn't mind getting dirty. My friend Ruth was so smart to dress her kids in red, white, and blue all weekend. I wish I would've thought of that! Everywhere we went when we signed guest books at museums, or if people heard our American accents and asked us where we were from, so many people thanked US for our countries contribution and sacrifice. I really felt like we were representing the USA and it was fun to see my kids feel proud to be Americans. I only wish I had that patriotism in mind when I was packing - I would've gone red, white, and blue all the way.
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| This show was really fun to watch! |
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| My kiddos were not so excited to pose for this picture, but I just kept thinking what a fun memory this will be for them someday! |
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| We ended up doing a little off-roading behind the Carruth's to dodge some of the major traffic we were stuck in all weekend long |
Utah Beach
We hit up a neat museum in this area.
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| This is right along the beach, the water is just to the left of this photo. |
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| There were so many cool memorials in this area - all filled with fresh flowers from the many people who wanted to show their gratitude. |
Omaha Beach
We went to another amazing museum. We breezed through this one, though, since everyone was getting pretty tired, so I snapped some pictures of the many amazing quotes so I could ponder them later...
This is the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach - a sea of white crosses by the sea.
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| The water is behind them. |
Here, at the American Cemetery, is where Obama had spoken the previous day. (Since I am not an Obama fan, I will mention how tacky it was that he was chewing gum during a most serious speech). It was pretty neat to be in this area at such a significant anniversary - we were reminded many times that this is perhaps the last anniversary where WWII veterans would be living and present.
We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to see this place where the history of the world was changed forever. We were able to stop and recognize the sacrifices made by so many to maintain the foundations of freedom that our country was built upon and that we try to perpetuate throughout the world.
