Last Wednesday, April 15th, Ben and I made our first visit of the season to Westerpark. The weather was really beautiful, and so the slide and sandbox were calling our names. Ben had the run of the area for about 15 minutes, and then it seemed like kids starting showing up at the rate of 1 every minute! I was honestly glad to see so many people taking advantage of the sunny skies, but after about 45 minutes, we decided to go play some soccer and blow bubbles on our own - and of course, pick wildflowers. A really great spring morning!
Thursday the 16th was Ladies Night! Meghan, Wendi, and I met for Mexican at Alfonso's before seeing a movie - "He's Just Not That Into You". The food was good, the movie was entertaining, but the best part of the evening was the company. It's always so nice to get a few hours for us mommies to chat without chasing the kiddos.
In an attempt to bring back the Getting to Know Amsterdam tidbits, the photo below explains the obstacles that Ben and I face in the stroller on a daily basis. The roads and sidewalks here are basically just bricks pounded into sand. I guess it makes sense for easy access to work areas when needed, but it sure does take you by surprise when you turn the corner to see the road/sidewalk completely unpaved. And, it's always kind of funny to watch the workers try and put the bricks back in as they came out. :)
The rest of this blog entry is devoted to our visit last Saturday to Keukenhof in Lisse. Be warned, there is a riduculous amount of photos ahead. If you don't like flowers or pictures of my kid, you can stop now. This huge flower garden was celebrating it's 60th anniversary, as well as the 400th anniversary of New York City. In 1609, Henry Hudson (on behalf of the Dutch East India Company) stepped ashore on what is now Manhattan. It was interesting to read how much of NY's history has Dutch influence...Harlem, Wall Street, Flushing. I liked the "I (tulip bulb) NY" display below, as well as the Statue of Liberty flower mosaic - with over 50,000 bulbs!! Hope they have a machine that plants all those, not manual labor! And, see the "Hudson River" in beautiful blooms, amazing!
As we were walking around, we couldn't help but notice the wonderful fragrance in the air with all the flowers in bloom. For some reason, I don't remember the scents being quite so strong last year, but it definitely enhanced the experience. Enjoy more flower photos...
We strolled on...here are some more flower photos. Ben finally fell asleep in his stroller around 12:30 p.m., and so after an ice cream cone (shhh, don't tell Ben!), we found a place to lay in the grass and soak up the sun. Greg ended up getting a little nap too, and I enjoyed all the people-watching. I also did a little more reading in the park guide we'd bought...at the end of the season, the horticulturalists dig up all the bulbs so that in the autumn the cycle of planting, flowering, and digging up the bulbs can begin all over again. Crazy!
After the boys woke up from their naps, we took a few more photos before Ben had his fill of flowers. So, around 2 p.m., we called it a day and headed home. It had been a great day; the skies were sunny and the flowers were in bloom - what more could we have asked for?! And, I was wishing that I had a flower garden to go home to - I was feeling very inspired!
As we were walking around, we couldn't help but notice the wonderful fragrance in the air with all the flowers in bloom. For some reason, I don't remember the scents being quite so strong last year, but it definitely enhanced the experience. Enjoy more flower photos... We made our way to the petting zoo to let our little animal loose. He LOVED petting the bunnies and carefully watching the giant turkey. He also got very interested in smelling the flowers. I asked him to smell one, and from then on, he needed to smell ALL of them. And, best of all, he found a few wildflowers to pick. Notice the "Holderby" concentration - with his tongue sticking out. ;)
In addition to finding the petting zoo this year, we also found the windmill. Apparently, we just didn't wander this far last year?? The mill was built in 1892 in Groningen and brought to Keukenhof in 1957. Lots of festive music was being played, so this was a great place to stop and eat our picnic lunch.
Near the perimeter of the gardens, you can see the tulip fields. I'm not sure that these photos can do justice to the fantastic sight of thousands and thousands of tulips as far as the eye can see.
As we wandered past the windmill, there was an area set up for picnicing and relaxing. Greg and I thought these pitchfork chairs were brilliant!!
We strolled on...here are some more flower photos. Ben finally fell asleep in his stroller around 12:30 p.m., and so after an ice cream cone (shhh, don't tell Ben!), we found a place to lay in the grass and soak up the sun. Greg ended up getting a little nap too, and I enjoyed all the people-watching. I also did a little more reading in the park guide we'd bought...at the end of the season, the horticulturalists dig up all the bulbs so that in the autumn the cycle of planting, flowering, and digging up the bulbs can begin all over again. Crazy!
After the boys woke up from their naps, we took a few more photos before Ben had his fill of flowers. So, around 2 p.m., we called it a day and headed home. It had been a great day; the skies were sunny and the flowers were in bloom - what more could we have asked for?! And, I was wishing that I had a flower garden to go home to - I was feeling very inspired!
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