The Fogwells in Europe

Lee Ann's mother, Jean Cunningham, came with her close friend Betty Gail to visit us for two weeks. We spent a lot of time in the Netherlands (again)...

Other than seeing Grandma, the highlight for the kids was our visit to Apenheul. This is a primate park in the eastern part of the Netherlands. The unusual thing about this park is that the monkeys have a pretty free run of the park. The smaller monkeys mingle with the visitors!

Before entering, you have to empty your pockets of everything - gum, change, keys - into a monkeyproof bag. Ladie's pocketbooks are not monkeyproof, so they go into the big bag too. I could keep my camera out because the man said that the monkeys don't like the battery smell (they must have good noses!)

Anyway, the first time I pulled out my camera the monkeys immediately jumped on me. They are fast little devils! One guy grabbed my camera, which I didn't let him have. While he had his hands on it he bent down an took a big, clean bite out of the rubber grip. Those are some sharp teeth! I now have a souvenir hole in my digital camera.

I also learned that if you had three or four monkeys on you, you could get them off by walking away from their group. As soon as they saw they were seperated from their group, they would quit playing with your velcro and zippers - jump down - and run back to the gang. There were also more than just monkeys at the park... enjoy!

Our Landlords, Luc and Ann, invited us to a dinner party. I have a couple nice pictures from that evening: