Sunday, February 27, 2005

We're here!

We arrived in Amsterdam at 11:50am (local time) yesterday morning. Poor Jeff spent most of his birthday on an airplane. When we arrived we were all too exhausted to even celebrate. He has been craving sourdough bread, dutch cheese, and french wine, so Justice and I had planned to put some candles in a loaf of sourdough, but that didn't pan out. Anyone know the Dutch words for sourdough?

We survived the flights well. The kids were disappointed that Iceland Air doesn't have the seatback TV/game systems that Continental did, but they somehow managed without them ;) We thought the stroller was a goner for awhile there (glad I didn't bring your Quest, Jess!) We checked it at the gate at BWI and expected it when we arrived in Iceland. NOPE! Nowehere to be found. But the Reijkavic airport did have strollers for you to use - they were sitting all around next to the wheelchairs and you just grabbed whatever you needed. They had cheap umbrella strollers and a bunch of strollers that looked to be Emmaljunga (sp?) knock-offs - pramish buggies with big white rubber wheels. When we arrived in Amsterdam the Silver Cross Micro was sitting there waiting for us. I was quite relieved....okay enough stroller-speak!

The apartment is awesome! The living room, master bedroom, and 3rd floor bedroom have big picture windows that face the canal. It is especially beautiful at night when the lights reflect off the water. The kids love to look out the window and see the boats, ducks, and people. Jeff and I both love to watch the people - quite an interesting mix!

Yesterday and today were spent recovering from the jet lag. We did a little grocery shopping, but that was it. Tomorrow we plan to wander around the city and see what we find - each turn brings beautiful architecture, unique little shops, and interesting people!

Thursday, February 24, 2005

The Night Before....

We're all packed and ready to go! Too bad we have 7 inches of snow on the ground and 4-6 more inches predicted during the night! AARRGH! :( Of course it would have to DUMP snow on us when we're leaving for a trip!

We're flying from BWI to Reykjavik (Iceland), where we have a one hour lay over before heading on to Amsterdam. Keep your fingers crossed that there are no delays in our first flight (the place with all the snow!). It would really suck to sit around the airport for 5-6 hours waiting for the next flight to Amsterdam.

I picked up a backpack for Jagger today at Target. He was feeling a little sorry for himself because everyone had a bag to pack except for him. I really hate the children's character backpacks that are as big as the child. Just the weight of the empty backpack is enough to topple them. So I found a cute LITTLE Eddie Bauer pack that is just the right size for him. He brought it home and packed it himself. I told him to put everything he would need for "AmDam" in it. He came back ready to go - with six pair of underwear, two rubber duckies, and a spiderman book. That's my kid!

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Living room with a canal view

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We will leave at the end of Feb and come back April 1. We were able to secure an apartment through the folks at Amsterdam Hotel Housing.. They have been very kind and helpful thus far, so we're hoping that everything continues to go smoothly. The apartment has 4 bedrooms and is on the 2nd and 3rd floors of a historic canal house overlooking the Singel Canal. It is in the center of Amsterdam so we will be close to everything.

The Preparations

The tickets are bought, the apartment is rented, the kids are excited and there is still TONS to do!

We are going on another family trip to Amsterdam, but this time it will be for 5 weeks! Jeff was lucky enough to get the time off work (did I mention that he is now the DIRECTOR of his organization?) and since we're homeschooling we don't have to worry about pulling the kids out of school, we'll just take school with us!

The kids really enjoyed our last trip to the Netherlands. It was a great learning experience for them and Jeff and I had a lot of fun too! I think the Stroopwaffles were the highlight of the trip (some of you were even lucky enough to sample the remaining ones that we brought back). Stroopwaffles are a breakfast treat - a crunchy waffle with syrup in the middle! Delicious! Maybe this time we should buy a case of them when leave Schipol airport!

Journey loved looking at the houseboats (ie "Floating Trailers"). I think he was amazed that people actually live on the water. Some of them are pretty luxurious too! We tried to rent one for this trip but the rentals fill up fast. That's probably a good thing considering my tendency toward seasickness. :(