The Stroller Post

You knew it was coming - I can't come to Amsterdam without doing some serious stroller-watching!

Bugaboos seem to be losing their popularity! I can't believe the number of QUinny Buzz's I've seen! Lots of Koelestras too. I LOVE the loooks of the Easy Walker, but the price tag is just toooooo high! We saw a tan Stokke Explory today - just looks ridiculous to me! And of course we have seen lots of old Gracos (one with an older child standing IN the basket) and Top Marks.

So what did I bring? Good question! I really wanted to bring the purple Baby Jogger Twinkle that I picked up for $20. I love the suspension on it and could it gliding over the cobblestones. It's narrow enough for tight areas too. But since it doesn't have a canopy and a rain cover is essential here it just wasn't practical. The fold would have been too big for the shuttles and when we're eating out too.

So I brought along our PURPLE Maclaren Triumph! The seat was the light blue allure color and Jagger and I died to a neat swirly purpley tie dye. Kind of cute! I added a black canopy and drink holder and it looks pretty cool! (Jagger is in a major purple phase right now!)

However......when we got off the plane there was a major downpour. I don't know how long the stroller sat outside while we waited for them to bring it in, but it was SOAKED!! Jagger had just woken up and he totally freaked out because he didn't want to sit in a wet stroller. Journey offered his coat and Jagger sat on that in the wet stroller. I felt bad for the people who had an infant with them. They had a Graco stroller and a Snugride infant carrier. I can't believe that they didn't bring the carrier on the plane or at least put some sort of cover over it - but they didn't and it sat in the rain too.

The airlines ended up cutting a slice into one of the foam handle grips on our Mac and the new canopy is broken. It still functions but the plastic strip that is inside the hood to help it keep it's form is cracked in one spot so the canopy kind of slumps at the back. Not a good enough excuse to get a new stroller, but still darn frustrating!

I'm going to try to get to the PreNatal store tomorrow and then the Baby Anco Plaza (where they have TONS of Teutonias) on Thursday.

This, that, and the other

Whew! You'd think we would be used to the time change thing by now....I even made a schedule of activities for us, making sure to give our bodies extra time to adjust.....I feel like we're the laziest tourists ever!

You won't believe the big fashion trend here - yes, anything knitted is still "in"- knitted scarves, shawls, ponchos, even purses - but now they have added LEG WARMERS! Gosh, I grit my teeth even when typing that! Leg warmers are everywhere - in all the colors, prints, textures and styles you can imagine. They are even in the souvenir shops!

Here AGAIN!

We just can't get enough of this place - so much to see and do!

We left on the 16th and it wasn't an easy trip! Our flight was supposed to leave BWI at 5:20 pm. We planned to take the kids out of school a little early and the shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 2:50. Around 11:30am Jeff got a call from Continental saying that our flight to Newark was cancelled! There were lots of strong winds that day and tons of airport delays. They decided they were going to send us to Newark on an Amtrak train to catch our flight to Amsterdam, but we had to get to BWI ASAP!!!

I called the shuttle company, who said they could be there in 25 minutes then ran to the school to get the kids. Jeff finished getting things settled around the house - locking doors, getting the luggage together, etc.

So we took the shuttle van to BWI where we checked in and took a bus to the Amtrak station. The train took us through Delaware and PA and then into New Jersey, where we got off at Newark airport. We rode the monorail to the terminals and then grabbed a bite to eat at a really nice steak house. When we arrived at the gate we were surprised to see that they were boarding the flight early. Got on the flight to find out that there was a 60-90 minute delay for take-off!! We sat on the runway for what seemed like forever!

The flight was relatively smooth -arrived in Amsterdam only an hour later than planned. The shuttle to the hotel was a load of fun - the driver drove quickly with lots of twists and turns and Jagger ended up puking! Poor guy!

The apartment is really neat. It's owned by the same hotel we stayed with before, but this time we are on a higher floor. It's nice because we have a good view of the canal and can watch the people in the streets. Of course since this is an old canal house there is no elevator and the stairs to get up here are STEEP and NARROW! I don't breathe until Jagger gets to the bottom!

Amsterdam is still the same as always - lots of interesting, colorful people, beautiful scenery, and lots to do!