Amsterdam - part 3 - lessons learned

1. Make sure Ava eats a big breakfast before she has to sit in the car for an extended period of time. Car sickness isn't fun for anyone!!

2. Always take trash bags so you can contain puked on clothes.

3. Don't spend all of the cash. We owed money for parking at the houseboat, and we had just enough cash to pay for it. I figured we would be fine because it was the last day so we just had to pay for gas for the car and pick up some lunch on the way. We could just use our French bank card that we were told was accepted everywhere in Europe...

4. McDonalds in the Netherlands only accepts Dutch bank cards. We had stopped for lunch at Burger King and our card got denied. So, we drove to the next McDonalds which happened to be a Rock n Roll McDonalds, complete with a giant Michael Jackson statue in front. Ken ordered and the card got denied again. At least they spoke English and could explain to us why. Ken went to the gas station next door (while I did bathroom duty with the kids) to find an ATM - no luck. They told him there was one down the road, so he looked but still found nothing. Meanwhile, the kids and I were sitting at McDonalds with no food because we couldn't pay for any. When Ken finally came back I counted change and found enough to pay for 1 happy meal, a french fry, some chicken nuggets, and a coca light.

 5.   Gas stations in the Netherlands only accept Dutch bank cards. We had about 20 km to empty when we crossed the border from the Netherlands into Belgium. Thank goodness Belgium accepts our French bank card - we were starting to get nervous.

6. Always take money to the bathroom. There are bathroom attendants everywhere, even in the gas stations. It is a little awkward taking your 3 year old to the bathroom and almost begging to have them let you use it without paying because you forgot your wallet in the car. I guess even if I did bring it in, it wouldn't have mattered because I used all of my change to pay for lunch at McDonalds that day!

7. When you are stopped by 6 German cops at a random checkpoint, say you were just on holiday in the Netherlands, not Amsterdam (good thinking Ken!).  Thankfully they let us drive through, but it is a little intimidating having German cops surround your car trying to look in.

Amsterdam - Part 2

We loved Amsterdam. We would love to go back if we can at some point. The weather wasn't the best, but we made it work. Whenever we go someplace, there is a huge list of things that Ken and I would like to see and do, but that is a bit difficult when traveling with an almost 2 and almost 4 year old. Ava would be thrilled if we visited every zoo and park in Europe and Beckett is happy if we eat a lot and if we make sure he gets his naps. I have difficulty finding the balance.

We ended up finding a houseboat to stay on in Amsterdam. The bonus was that it was right across from the zoo so we could watch the giraffes and zebras any time of the day - that made for huge points with Ava! The bad part was that the red light district was in between where we were staying and the places that we wanted to go to with the kids. If you are curious, ask Ken about it!

Our houseboat for 3 nights.

Ava loved the view.

The bell was a huge hit.

At lunch.

This boy can be a character.

We thought that we would eat at this brewery for dinner our first night in Amsterdam. It ended up being a great brewery, but they didn't serve any food. Great for Ken and I, not so great for the kids.

Most of the seating was outside, so the kids could walk around. Chasing pigeons was a huge hit here.

 This was the coolest library ever.

 Inside the library.

View from the top floor of the library.

 Feeding pigeons goldfish in Dam Square. There were some American girls that stayed on the houseboat right before us. They left their snacks that they didn't eat - Goldfish and Teddy Grahams. Ava hasn't had them since we left in January! We left our French snacks and ate all of the American ones!

So happy to eat pancakes for lunch

At Beginhof.

Flower market

Ken waiting in line for raw herring.

It looks nasty!

 Ken was clearly not a fan. He made me try it too, but of course we have no documentation of that.

 

One afternoon while the kids napped, I walked around the Nine Little Street Shops. I could have spent all day there!

  I ended my afternoon with a glass of wine all by myself. Absolutely amazing!

 

The next day was rainy, so we went to the Children's Museum. Most of the stuff was for older kids, but we found a couple of things for Ava.

Ava and Ken did an experiment while Beckett and I waited next to the puberty section which was complete with videos and figurines. There would never be a section like this in the US!

 We also did a boat tour of the canals. The kids loved it for about the first 10 minutes and then they were over it.

A parking garage for just bikes near Central Station!

 In front of the Rijksmuseum.

 So cute!

 Trying to lure the ducks in.

This kid can never stay clean!

Kens duck call actually worked. I had my doubts.

Notice me hanging on to him in the reflection. We almost lost him a couple of times.

We kept promising Ava we would go to the zoo and of course she didn't forget about it because it was right out our window. So, the last morning, Ken took her there for a little Father/Daughter time.

 Trying to feed the giraffe.

 That is some kind of monkey and no, it isn't in a cage.

 De Medicijn Man - the blue one was our houseboat. Ken took this from the zoo.

This kid had to hang back with me at the boat and pack up.

Amsterdam - part 1 - Tholen

We started out on Saturday morning and were going to drive to a village called Tholen in the Netherlands on our way to Amsterdam. My Moms maiden name is Van Tholen and her Great Grandparents supposedly came from Tholen, so we decided that even though it was a little out of the way, we should stop. My Grandparents never made it there, so I really wanted to stop and take some pictures. We got about an hour and a half into our trip and Ava got sick. Cleaning up puke in the car is terrible! Thankfully, we found a McDonalds to stop at and get her cleaned up. The poor girl felt terrible about getting sick everywhere. She said "I got sick. That is just how God made me. You cleaned it up. You are so nice. That is just how God made you". How can you be upset after that?

We were able to get back on the road and after getting a "little" lost (our GPS doesn't work outside of France and Germany - that is a huge problem!) we arrived in Tholen. I think it may have been the cutest town ever. Even if the Van Tholens didn't really come from there, I am going to pretend like they did because it was such a great town.