Sadness filled the air this morning as we made our way to church. As of late last night, the Netherlands is officially out of the Euro 2008 voetbal (soccer) tournament. :( The team had swept their group leading to the quarterfinals, so there was extreme football fever here. Alas, the good luck orange boa is back hanging on the curtain rod, and the orange shirts will have a few weeks off before it is "safe" to remind our Dutch friends of what could have been.
The Zabikows are on the move! Ben and I are staying quite busy during the week these days with petting zoos, gelato play dates, and gymnastics class. He really loved the sheep at the petting zoo, he'd stand right in their faces and say "baaa" very loudly. The sheep even knocked him down a few times (gently, but see action shot below), but Ben would pop right back up to "talk" to him. We had our first trial gymnastics class last Thursday morning. Ben LOVED it! He did somersaults, spun around on the bar, and just loved exploring all the soft cushy mats. Before we left, I signed him up for the class starting in August. I will be glad for another reason to get out of the house when the weather turns damp and chilly this fall.
We have a busy week ahead of us as well. Tomorrow is our last official Mom & Tots group until late August as pretty much all things shut down here for the summer, including American Women's Club events. But, we are so grateful for the friends that we have made so we will be able to get together "unofficially" all summer long. (Thankfully, I see lots more zoo trips and gelato in our future, yeah!!) Greg leaves Tuesday morning for a few working days in Paris. Ben and I decided not to join him as we will be packing for our long weekend in Brussels and Bruges. We leave early Friday morning and return Monday afternoon. Brussels is less than a 3 hour train ride! We still have to finalize our "things we want to do" list, but we think visiting a chocolate factory, buying chocolates, eating chocolates will all make it onto the list. I realize this blog doesn't have too many photos - have no fear, I assure you there will be plenty from our trip next weekend to make up for it.For Father's Day last weekend, we visited our first Amsterdam museum - the Van Gogh museum. A great little museum with a chronological showing of how his artistry progressed over time and obviously showing many of his famous paintings. He is my favorite artist, and I have a new favorite painting...Almond Blossom. (see below) I love the bright blue background, and I love that it was a gift to his younger brother for the birth of his nephew. Greg's favorite is Irises, also below. He finds the colors very striking, and we were reading that Van Gogh used so much paint that it took his canvases about a month to dry!
I will wrap it up with my Getting to Know Amsterdam segment on language/grammar. I have found that my best Dutch teacher has been public transportation! A recording (PA type system) announces the next stop, and there is also a computer or electronic sign that posts the stop. So, by seeing the word and then hearing the pronunciation, I think I have been able to figure out a few things. Betsy & Marc (or any others who speak Dutch), please correct my errors...-Dutch "ui" sounds like English "ou" as in the word out
-Dutch "ij" sounds like long i, except if it is at the end of a word, then it is y?
-Dutch "ei" sounds like long i
-Two vowels together in Dutch produce a short vowel sound
-There is no long A sound in Dutch
-Dutch "v" sounds like English "f'"
-Dutch "w" sounds like English "v"
So, there you have it. That is your Dutch lesson for the day, as best as I can do with less than 3 months under my belt.I know what you're all thinking...it's just not a Stephanie blog entry without a few more photos of Ben, huh? OK, OK, I'll give the people what they want! Here is my little Van Gogh hard at work. Also, I got my "I will only eat bananas and applesauce for fruits" son to eat a cherry the other day!! This is big improvement folks!! Be sure to note the progression as he goes from "what is this?" to "whoa, this is tart" to "I like it"!!
Doei! (Bye!)
Tuesday was rainy, but we persevered with our proposed agenda of Notre Dame and La Sainte-Chapelle. On the way, Ben got his first souvenir - a poncho. We arrived at Notre Dame and stood at Point Zero, the point from which all distances are measured in France. Then into Notre Dame, very beautiful. Ben had a "holy nap" while we waited for Greg to climb the tower. But, the line was way too long (he stood in line for over 30 minutes and didn't move but a few steps), so we left. The rain was really coming down now, so we found a nearby cafe for lunch and shelter. Then, we walked to La Sainte-Chapelle. Stood in line for quite a while, and Ben was entertainment for many tourists. We had to go through security since the church sits within a complex of buildings that includes the justice department. The security guard asked if I had a fork in my bag. I said yes (it was Ben's) and they asked me to give it to them...they would return it when we were done. I took it out of the bag, and they nearly laughed out loud at the rounded-tip fork. They said we were ok to move along. :) Back to our hotel for some drying off and crepes for dinner. Ben didn't enjoy his banana one as much as Dada's nutella one...he's no dummie! 
Our visit to Versailles was on Wednesday. The chateau was amazing, cannot possibly imagine having lived there! We all liked the Hall of Mirrors, Ben's a big fan of looking at himself these days. I think I enjoyed the gardens even more than the palace, and the weather was perfect, just a little windy. Ben had a "royal nap" while we stopped for a sandwich and strolled through the gardens. We probably spent about 4 hours there, then took the train back to our hotel. With the weather being so nice, we decided to grab a "picnic" of pizza and couscous to the Champ de Mars park in front of the Eiffel Tower. What a fantastic view! Near the Tower is a boat company that gives tours on the Seine. We took a 7 p.m. cruise, and I think the boat ride was Ben's favorite part of the whole trip! He loved talking on the "phone" (the commentary translation device), and we got some great views of Notre Dame and her flying buttresses.
Thursday May 29th - Happy Birthday to me! Nothing rings in 30 like a chocolate croissant for breakfast and a visit to the Eiffel Tower. As we were standing in line, a woman came by to tell us that they would be opening about 10 minutes late as they were fixing some elevator problems. That's never something you want to hear when you are getting ready to go up 1,000 feet in the air! We went to the top first, so Greg could get it over and done with. He wasn't too thrilled with the height, but Ben must be our little daredevil as he couldn't get enough of being right by the edge. Everytime I started to walk away to get a new view, he would scream. :) We even sat for a bit and had a snack and a diaper change on the first floor just to take it all in. We walked to the Arc de Triomphe and then strolled down the Champs Elysees (think Chicago Mag Mile). Ben got his first-ever McDonald's happy meal, and I got some really amazing macaroons from Laduree. Ben was taking a "couture nap" and it started to drizzle a bit, so we took the metro back to the hotel. The rain stopped, and we walked down Rue Cler for dinner, with an apple tart to top off my sweets filled day!
We visited the Place de la Concorde and the Obelisk on Friday morning - the place where many royal beheadings took place. As we were taking photos of the monuments, some Asian tourists were taking photos of Ben. Funny to me that they have traveled all the way to Paris to photograph a smiling blond boy, but c'est la vie! We walked to the Louvre for some culture and a ridiculously expensive lunch. Saw all of the good stuff - Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and of course, Mona Lisa. (In the Mona Lisa room, we again had some Asian folks that were busy snapping photos of Ben instead of one of the most famous paintings in the world!?) On this day, Ben took a "cultural nap" at the Louvre before we moved along for some strolling and shopping. Bought a beautiful water color painting from a local artist. We went to see crepe man for dinner again, and seafood man next door brought over a live crab to show Ben. This little guy has no fear right now - he was shaking the crab's "hand" and laughing. :)
Saturday we packed up and traveled home. We met some really great "grandparents" from Australia on the train that helped keep Ben occupied - what a blessing!! Especially since I got the flu almost the minute we walked in our door back home in Amsterdam (hence the delay in getting the blog updated, I am just now starting to feel normal again). Not the perfect way to end an amazing Paris adventure, but I'm so grateful that I didn't get sick there. The trip was perfect, and we are already making notes for what we want to do when we go back - and looking ahead to our Brussels/Bruges/Antwerp (Belgium) trip later this month!