Amsterdam

Here starts part one of our 5 days in Holland. We visited Amsterdam and we have a ton of beautiful pictures to show you. I will upload them in sections. I also took photos of our flat/apartment and the surrounding city. Two of the days we went to the beach at the North Sea, which was very very lovely. The smell, and surrounding dunes felt like Lake Michigan. Altogether, Holland was not what we thought it would be. It was absolutely better in every way. We could totally live there. The architecture was amazing, the lifestyle was fun, and the activies available (no - i am not referring to the red light district or the coffee shops!) were so varied and entertaining! Amsterdam had its quirks but they were not so prominent. We cant wait to share all of our experiences with you!




These nuns were so funny. They had their little rosaries (sp?) and their tourguide. We are leaving the Red Light District (aka - the place where the prostitutes stand in glass store fronts and advertise in their bathingsuits or underware) and walking past a "coffee shop" where they sell/smoke legal weed and these nuns were right in front of us looking ever so interested as their tourguide explained to them about about the big leaf on the stores window. I wonder what they think?

The central train station.

Gross. A long day in the sun exploring the city.

The infamous dutch wooden shoes. Apparently, Crocs couldnt get a patent on their shoe because the dutch said they have been making them for centuries. No, they dont run around in these things. In fact, these were the only ones I saw. The rest of the women had pretty shoes.

Beautiful old houseboats.

These pictures are for those of you who are curious about the crazier side of Holland. Honestly, it wasnt a big deal. Yes, the "coffee shops" were many and the scent of pot wafted throught the air in some corners of Amsterdam, but alltogether, it was not such a freakshow like I imagined it. This was a funny store though. In the center poster it says, "How much money do you spend on weed? Grow your own! I heart coffee shops."

That says, "Homegrown Fantaseeds".

The giant scientology headquarters. Daniel says Kerk is church in dutch. Thats what you get in a very left/liberal country.

Look how beautiful that bridge is!


So many people take their boats out in the evening to tour the canals with a bottle of wine, an baguette and some cheese. It was quite romantic. :)

P.S. Today Bea & I went to the hospital to see Bea's sister Miriam (Bea is my au pair host mom) and to give her some support while in labor. Just after Bea & I left the hospital to come home baby Levi/3,850 grams was born :) Happy Birthday to baby Levi!

Grammy's Hello

Nothing in particular.....

I appologize that I do not update the blog every day anymore. Sometimes I am not sure I have enough to tell you all. We are settling in much more now. Sort of have a flow to our days I guess. Occasionally I snap a picture of something I find funny or interesting to show you. Thats why this is just a blog of nothing in particular. Daniel and I are doing well. The weather here is beautiful lately. On the cooler side of our summer days in Michigan. Only slighlty humid. The people here thinks its crazy hot. We enjoy it though because we know how warm it can get back home. Last night was really nice because Daniel and I ended our evening after being with Markus & Simone by lighting candles on our bistro table outside and enjoying a cup of tea in the darkness. We played a few songs from the ceremony at our wedding and then just listened to the sounds of nature. It was so peaceful. Actually, it was the first time I've noticed the sounds here since we arrived. Most of the time there is a lot of noise from children. I really enjoyed the silence. This morning we went for a long walk through the woods and farm fields to a small creek. We did a few exercises and came home again. It was a great start to our day. I really miss my 6 am walks around the neighborhood in the dark during the winter at Grandpas old house back home. Its not really possible here because the darkness ends at 3:30-4 am. Too early for me! Not much else to tell right now. We leave for Holland tomorrow. I will not blog for at least 5 days. Kitties are being cared for by a friend. I will update with photos when we come home. We love you all and think of you a lot!

Apparently this is how a Gaenze/Goose rests. Cute, huh?

Some pretty flowers Cord bought Bea.

The last of the blooms on that giant rose bush I showed you before.

Two days ago Bea showed me this hazelnut tree she has behind the house. I was so excited because I had never seen hazelnuts before they were neatly packaged in a plastic bag for me on the grocery shelf. I just had to take a picture of what the fruit looks like before its ripe in the fall to share with you all back home. They do not celebrate Thanksgiving here but Bea & Cord have asked me to cook traditional American Thanksgiving food. I will definitely be making them a pumpkin pie. As is typical of me, I will be changing it to make it a little unusual. How about a hazelnut crust? Lecker! :)

Yesterday I was bored in the middle of the day when Bea was gone with Noah to finish his swim courses. He was so proud when he came home with his Seepferdchen (spelling?) award which means seahorse :) Anyway, Bea mentioned wanting to fix up the baby's room because it was absolutely crazy in there. He didnt sleep in his bed because there were things everywhere. None of the furniture made sense in the rooms layout and he had no place to play in his room. Bea also used it for all of her teaching materials so it had become a giant wearhouse for things. Amazing. I wish I had taken pictures before hand. Daniel helped me to hang the pictures after I tried make sense of them. Originally they were in a clump on the dresser and shelf. And, the baby's clothes were in the giant armoire, the toys were scattered in drawers and nothing was in the changing table. So I consolidated all clothes in the changing table, toys in small dresser, Bea's teaching materials in the armoire and made a space for his drawing table. Its not the best I think it could be, but with what Bea has, it actually works now. And, for the first time the baby wanted to sleep in his room :). Cool huh?

Another one of Daniels towers. If he is not working on a project outside, swimming in the lake, or playing the piano, he is building something with the blocks. :)

Daniel and the baby constructed this lovely parking garage! They were so proud :)

On another 15 mile bike ride to the village of Mellendorf on Tuesday I found a tiny Naturkost which has all bio/organic foods. I was super excited to find sprouting seeds and so I bought a package for 99 cents and I started to sprout them :)

My sprouts after 2 days :)

Playing with the kids after dinner on Tuesday :) Simi and Noah thought it was funny to pull their pants up over their shoulders. Kids are creative arent they?

During midday yesterday Bea and I took the kids into the forest to go blueberry and strawberry picking. Then I made these muffins for the kids.

Heidi on Sunday or Monday night after her bath. Spunky cat.

I love this website http://www.closetcooking.blogspot.com/ because the pictures are so beautiful and colorful! I found this recipe for Balsamic Roasted Strawberry & Asparagus Quinoa Salad and I wanted to try it. Of course, I had to change it a little because thats what I always do! We really only have white asparagus here so I decided not to use it, and I omitted the feta cheese, and changed the pecans (which I cannot get here), for toasted hazelnuts! Oh, and I added kiwi too! It was absolutely delicious. Roasted strawberries are wonderful :)

Yesterday I made these Meyer Lemon Tarts for Bea to take to a birthday party in the evening. They were very nice too. But these were not vegan. :(

Daniel's the Bad Man

These are some of the photos from Simi's birthday party. Bea has a cute candle holder that you can change out the number in the center to make it fit a childs birthday. Not sure what you do when you need double digits?

Simi was super excited about his new Fahraad. So was Daniel, believe it or not. :)

Daniel built that ramp for Simi's skateboard and Elia loved it! Elia uses his "laufrad" (a mini kids bike with no pedals - propelled by feet only) to ride full speed up and down the ramp! He's only 2 :) Daniel says he'll be a superstar by 13.

Since this was a "Three Detectives" themed party everything had the ??? on everything. This is Noah, wishing it was his birthday, not Simi's.

The kids all had cupcakes but Simi got his own mini cake.

After cake the boys went to the lake to swim. Here is the gang we entertained.

Beautiful Bea.

After the lake Bea got the kids all excited by telling them a story of a bad man who had been seen hiding in the forests around here and how strange things had started to happen near the house. Their job was to find the clues that he had left and capture him! First they went by the lake to look for clues and they found a mysterious traveler who said she'd seen a man "go that way!" This was Anika who who put on crazy clothes and did a very good job acting. Then the kids ran back by the house to find another clue by the chicken coup. The food had been stolen from the chickens! So they continued into the forest where they found giant poisonous flowers left by the bad man to kill the detectives on his trail. Not far from there they saw a few bicyclists (me and Anika) who's tires had been popped by nails left in the road from the bad man. But we didnt know which way they should go! The funny part was when the kids stopped some random cyclists and a neighbor to ask if they'd seen anyone (and their descriptions were cute!) But, of course, they had no idea what the kids were talking about! A short walk further down the road and they heard strange noises from off in the distance. Daniel was making a noise on a special instrument Bea had given him. Then he came flying through the bushes on his bike, cape blowing in the wind, and the kids went running after him! Daniel said, "those little buggers were fast!" Originally he was going to run the way back home but he injured his foot earlier that day and decided he would try to ride a bike instead. He was sure thankful! The boys were ecstatic when they caught him and brought him back to the house where Cord was ready and waiting as the policeman with his gun to take Daniel under arrest. It was creative, cute and a ton of fun for the boys!

Afterwards Bea made this dough from yeast, flour and salt and the kids made "Stockbrot." That means stick bread. They roast it over the fire like we do marshmellows and then eat it. It was a little interesting to me.

I was exhausted when the kids left, but the party was a success! So far, Cord, Simi, Noah, Elia, and Daniel are using the ramp just about every day! Simi popped a tire....sounds like Daniel and his ramps, hmmm?