The "Last 2 Weeks"

Seems like I'm getting into a good "every 2 week update" routine. So, here's some stories from our last 2 weeks...

On Monday, March 23rd, Greg left for London - again! This should be his last trip for a little while, whew! Worked a lot, but he also enjoyed seeing Les Miserables musical, taking a "Gaslights, Ghosts, & Guinness" evening tour, and eating dinner in Chinatown.

While Greg was gone, Ben and I kept busy with our routine. We started up swim lessons again on Tuesday mornings. I was a little nervous about how lesson time would go since we've had so much free time in the water lately. I think he may have remembered that this is the "lesson" pool, because he did a pretty good listening to the teacher (as best a super-excited, independent toddler can). That evening, we had friends, Kirsten and Ethan, over for dinner. I made lasagna - which neither of the boys ate because they were too interested in playing. But, they both managed to make it to the table for pudding...hmmmm, interesting. :) Greg made it home safe and sound late Thursday afternoon, yeah!!

In other Ben news, the crankies were getting the best of him, so I was able to do a little scoping in his mouth to discover that he has 3 molars coming in at the same time. Poor kid. Am I a bad mother to hope that the last one makes an appearance sometime soon? Not that I want him in more pain, but I'd rather get it all out of the way now!

On the evening of Saturday, March 28th, we said goodbye and good luck to the Podulkas. Joe, Kristen, and Ryan moved to Aarhus, Denmark the next day. But, not without one last meal at the Hard Rock Cafe with lots of Amsterdam friends. They will be missed! (No need to adjust your TV sets folks, this picture is fuzzy.) That evening, we also finally "sprung forward". For a few weeks, we were only 6 hours ahead of IL, which was a bit confusing because I'm so used to thinking in 7 hours. Back to normal time difference though - and now it stays light here until 8 p.m. already! Love it!!

Last week was pretty routine stuff. But, lots of sunshine, hurray! On Friday, April 3rd, Ben and I met Meghan and Kaia at the Kinderkook Cafe near Vondelpark. This is a very cute little cafe where kids of all ages can make their own food. It's a little more elaborate for older children, but for the 2 year olds, it consists of decorating their own cupcake. Ben and Kaia had a blast painting on the pink icing and eating up all the sprinkles and licorice. The weather was gorgeous, almost 70 degrees! The cafe has an outdoor patio with a sandbox and swings. A perfect morning of enjoying sugar and sunshine! (The last picture is just a photo from Vondel that I thought was pretty...)

Last Saturday afternoon, we celebrated with little Ethan (and Diego and Baby Jaguar) as he turned 2 years old! The cake was adorable and so yummy, made by an American woman here who runs a bakery. The baby jaguar on the cake was courtesy of Ben, good thing he didn't notice it was missing for a few weeks! The kids had a great time playing together, and Kirsten made some delicious mac and cheese - no, not Kraft from a blue box, although there are days that I miss that too.