Tulip's Visit "Home"

Yes, it's me again! I know I said I was done with this blog, but I had to share this one last post. Kind of feels like things came full circle last week when we took Nathalie to Amsterdam. And yes, I do realize that our Tulip's home is not Amsterdam, but Greg and I will always fondly remember this city as the place where she got her start. :)

Greg needed to travel to Amsterdam for work, and so Nathalie and I decided to join him. I didn't think that I was brave enough to travel internationally with two little ones just yet, and since Nathalie is still nursing, she won. Although, I think Ben "won" too...he got to spend time with both sets of grandparents and had a blast! Apple orchards, petting zoos, roasting marshmallows, McDonald's, playing at the beach, not to mention undivided grandparent attention...doesn't sound too bad, huh?

Greg, Nathalie, and I flew out of O'Hare on Tuesday, August 31st around 7 p.m. The flight was a bit delayed, and while we were sitting at the gate, we see Wolf Blitzer on CNN reporting about people being held in Amsterdam for having suspicious items in their luggage on the Chicago to Amsterdam flight from the day before. Ummm, not what you want to hear before you hop on a plane...especially that exact flight the following day. Anyways, here are a few photos of the little gal kickin' it at O'Hare and preparing to board. And yes, for some reason, she is sticking her tongue out in nearly every photo of this trip. ??? It's cute in a sort of Pavlov's dogs sort of way...as soon as she hears the camera turn on, her tongue comes out.
Our little girl was a champ for her first plane ride...of course, having a night flight helped. She was asleep before we even took off, and except for a few whines and cries, she pretty much slept the whole time. Here are a few pix of her getting the famous "pat pat" move on Daddy's lap (a move that only Daddy does just right) and all cuddled in Mommy's arms.
We landed around 10 a.m. Amsterdam time. We think this photo says, "Hi everybody! I've landed, I'm about 3-4 hours short on sleep, but I've got my Holland cows on and I'm ready to go!"

We stayed at the Marriott near Leidseplein - an absolutely fabulous location. The hotel was very nice too. We think this photo of Nathalie says, "Me again. Did I mention I was short on sleep? Mom and Dad laid me on this cozy bed, so I'll just rest my eyes while they unpack." We unpacked, showered, and were on our way to our first stop...pannenkoeken!

On our way to the Pancake Bakery for lunch, we were quite impressed by the Amsterdam weather we had...bright, sunny, and just a bit cool. We walked by the Westerkerk and The Kameleon Shop to say hello to Ingrid, the owner. I bought many puzzles, scarves, and necklaces there, so we had become good friends. She was surprised to see us and delighted to meet Nathalie. Also delightful was our lunch...koffie verkeerd, pannenkoeken, and poffertjes. Poor Nathalie had peas. Stinks to be just 8 months old sometimes, huh?

After we pigged out on pancakes, we walked to Dam Square for some shopping. I couldn't help but laugh and take a photo of the Palace under renovation. Naturally. Our first order of business was to get our little Dutchie some clogs with her name on them...mission easily accomplished. Then just walking around and enjoying our old city. You're always going to see something new here...a unique building that catches your eye or a group of college boys making obscene gestures. We asked someone what was going on, and it was basically "Fall Rush" for their Greek system. Too funny! That brought back some memories for Greg and me...not the obscene gestures, of course.

Greg wanted to hunt for some buried treasure on Spiegelgracht, the antique shopping street/canal. We strolled along and window-shopped but didn't find anything, except for some mint tea at a cafe. It was early evening now, and the longer we sat, the cooler it became. By the time we walked back to the hotel, Nathalie was all bundled up in her coat, hat, and snuggled next to Mommy in the baby carrier. We grabbed some groceries and headed to Wagamama for dinner, but I think we had found our gal's breaking point. The minute we were seated she unleashed some rather unladylike wailing...so tired and she was not interested in eating out. Thank heavens for take away! We enjoyed a nice meal in our pj's at the hotel while Nathalie slept. And then at 9 p.m. she was awake - wide awake! And so our long night began...

Nathalie finally gave in around 2 a.m. after many, many prayers for rest. 2 a.m. makes sense...that would be 7 p.m. Chicago time. We woke up at 7 a.m. to get ready for work...oh yeah, this isn't all fun and no work, huh? Nathalie and I were going in with Greg to visit his colleagues. Hopped on the tram and then metro (Nathalie's first of both) and we were at Aon by 9:15. We visited with Pauline, Ursula, and Claudia for over an hour, and then I figured it was time to let them get some work done. Sadly, I totally blanked on getting a photo. Bummer.

Nathalie and I made it back to the hotel around 11:30 for some lunch. We had picked up some dark brown bread and Gouda cheese...oh, how I've missed these two things!! Nathalie was pretty fussy, so we just played and relaxed and had a mini-photo shoot of her all dolled up. Not sure how I caught that sad face, but it's too funny not to include. Took me 2 hours to get her to fall asleep for a nap, but she finally went down around 2 p.m. - and I went down too.

We slept til 4 p.m. and then I figured that I'd better get us up and moving so we can adjust to Amsterdam time sooner than later. We got all bundled up and headed to Vondel Park for a walk. Just snapped some random shots of the Film Museum, fountains, Vondel statue, etc. Forgot how much I love this park!! And, it was another first for Nathalie...her first whiff of pot. Ugh.

Greg got home around 6:30, and it was raining as we headed back out to grab some dinner. Cleared up in about 5 minutes, and that was the only rain we had the entire trip! That is absolutely unheard of for a week in Amsterdam! Found an Indian restaurant that we had never tried, and again Nathalie decided that she was not interested in dining out. So, we had another tasty meal in our pj's, gave Nathalie a warm bath, talked to Maw Maw and Paw Paw to check in on Ben, and then asleep by 10 p.m. Oh wait, awake at 10:30 p.m. Oh wait, asleep at 11 p.m. And so it went. Truly asleep around midnight.

Greg went to work again on Friday, and Nathalie and I took our time getting ready, having breakfast, and napping. We hopped on tram 10 to the Jordaan for lunch at Cafe Thijssen. I couldn't resist a hot bowl of the world's most amazing tomato soup and crusty brown bread. Nathalie was a trooper, just smiling and happy to be along for the ride. However, I should note that she was boycotting all jar food. I have been making most of her meals back home, and I made sure to try some jar food before we left home. She didn't really eat it, but I figured that she'd come around once there were no alternatives. Nope! She knows what she likes, and food from a jar is not it! Can't blame her. So, I see a lot of bananas and avocados in our near future...

Back to the hotel for a quick stop, and then on to Kirsten's house for a playdate at 2 p.m. Lots of friends and kiddos were able to make it...Kirsten, Mina, Wendi, Madeline, Linda. I was so lucky to be able to visit with such great friends, and it was quite fun having them meet Nathalie. Lots of comments about "so cute", "looks so much like Ben", and "so snuggly". I admit it was a little weird having the youngest child in the room, as Ben was always one of the oldest. Thanks again Kirsten for hosting and letting us stay for the whole afternoon!

Nearby live some of our other friends, the Roys. Greg met me and Nathalie at their home at 6:30 p.m. We ordered pizza, talked, and just enjoyed catching up until almost 11 p.m. Henley, with Michelle's help, gave quite a gymnastics performance, and Nathalie got some snuggles from Amit. I love the last photo of the girls together. Thanks Roy family for a fun night! Although, staying out late meant a setback with the jet lag...not asleep til midnight.

Speaking of jet lag, it finally caught up with us on Saturday morning. We were supposed to meet our friend Steve at Winkel at 9 a.m. I rolled over, looked at the clock...it was 8:37 a.m. and we were all still in bed. Yikes! Greg quickly got ready and rushed off to meet him. Made it to Winkel by 9:15. Luckily, Steve was running late too; he got there around 9:30. Nathalie and I arrived at 9:45. And then it was appelgebak met slagroom (apple pie with whipped cream) time! Oh, how I miss this little slice of heaven! Again, I was feeling quite guilty that all Nathalie could do was watch us eat...poor baby.

I should back up for a minute and share that Steve is the oldest brother of my friend, Betsy. He actually moved to Amsterdam at the end of August as a student on a Fulbright Scholarship. We invited him to share Saturday with us while we strolled around the Jordaan and elsewhere. Of course, after Winkel pie, we took him to the Saturday market for fresh OJ and showing him the yummiest place for produce, fish, etc. We walked the entire length of the market, and noticed a number of "new" places, such as this poffertjes stand below. Also, my nose told me that a homemade stroopwafel tent must have set up shop. Sure enough! Steve was sure he would be back next weekend!

Our next stop was to walk along Brouwersgracht for a glimpse of our old home and a photo opp of our baby girl in front of the place where she was conceived (sorry to weird anyone out, but it's true). We stopped into Hairplay to say hello to Stefanie and then walked along Haarlemmerstraat, our old shopping street. It happened to be Street Market Day, and we bought some juicy aardbien (strawberries) and some water and found a bench back along Brouwersgracht to sit and enjoy and watch all the boats go by. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! We enjoyed lunch - sandwiches from Small World Catering - on the bench as well. As you can see, Nathalie was exhausted from all this eating, walking, and talking. :)

After lunch, we walked along the Prinsengracht toward Spui square. On the way, Steve stopped at a lemonade stand...I think someone is missing his 2 little girls back home. From 3 to 5 p.m. we visited the Amsterdam Historic Museum. A really great museum - way too much to see in just 2 hours.

After the museum, we walked down the Kalverstraat shopping street to Rembrandtplein. It had been under construction when we moved, so we wanted to see the finished product. Statue, fountain, benches - the square looks nice. We relaxed for a bit while Nathalie got the "pat pat", and then hunted for a spot to have dinner. It was such a beautiful day that a lot of the seats outside facing the square were taken, so we actually ventured on to Leidseplein and enjoyed fish and chips at the Irish Pub. At this point, poor Steve had recieved quite an earful about expat life in Amsterdam...all of the places to visit, things to remember, etc. We were just so excited for him and pray that he has much success with his studies so that he has plenty of play time too! And speaking of play time, it was very clear what Nathalie thought about our new friend...she flirted all through dinner. :) We said goodbye, made our way back to the hotel, and called to check in on Ben. I miss that little guy! Bedtime at 11 p.m. Getting better...

Sunday was a full day of enjoying new places and old friends. We made our way to Central Station around 8:30 a.m. for a train to Enkhuizen...Nathalie's first train ride! Enjoyed some Goedemorgen smoothie on the way (miss that stuff!), and arrived around 9:30. We bought our tickets for the Zuiderzee Museum and hopped on the ferry (Nathalie's first boat ride!) that would take us to the entrance. It was a cold morning, but Nathalie put on a brave - and funny - face.

The ferry dropped us off in the nature area of the Zuiderzee Museum, which means Southern Sea. It (the Zuiderzee) actually no longer exists...a long barrier dam was constructed in the early 1900's and the water is now part of the IJsselmeer and the Waddenzee. Many people found this regrettable, as an entire culture of fishing and such was being eliminated. Thus, the idea of the museum to preserve the past, giving people an idea of what it was like to live and work there during the period 1850-1932. In the nature area, three huge limekilns greeted us. We walked along the water's edge until we reached the fishing village with it's small houses and shops. We saw a man giving a demonstration on how to make a jumping rope, twisting the ropes together. The children could make their own, and it made me a bit sad that we never made it here with Ben. I think he would have loved how 'hands-on' it was for the kiddos. Alas...

From there, we walked toward the windmill. It was such a beautiful, blue day. We could smell something yummy, so we kept wandering through until we came upon the fish smokehouse. Hmmm, maybe not so yummy as it was smoked herring. I had already tried herring, so I told Greg it was his turn. He chickened out, so we kept on going. It really did smell fantastic though. We walked by a cute clog boat and approached an area of pasture. There was even what looked like an animal show with goats and sheep. Really, it turned out to be the 'goat bank' - people buying and trading in goats. Hee hee!

We found the 'town canal' - the center of the outdoor museum that was lined with shops. There was a pharmacy, cheese shop, souvenir shop, and a bakery. We did stop for coffee and sweets, and then Nathalie tried on her first pair of clogs. There were also a few little stores - a wood workshop and a paint workshop - where children could make some crafts to take home. A clog boat at the woodshop or a painting at the paint shop. Or at the paint shop, one could "pimp their clog". I was so surprised (and amused) to see this on the sign...if you don't believe me, just see below. I was a bit tempted to go 'pimp a clog' for Ben, but there were other children hard at work, and now it was my turn to 'chicken out'.

In the church district, we learned that in the previous century, the church played an important role in people's lives. The preacher typically had equal status to the lawyer, doctor, and even mayor. Many houses were built around the place of worship, as well as other shops such as the basket-maker, the sail-maker, the hairdresser, and the post office. Even the school was nearby. The church itself was simple, yet stunning. You can't really tell in the photo, but the church was almost glittering in the sunlight. At closer inspection, there were tiny spider webs covering the entire thing! Crazy, but what a way to marvel at how some of God's tiniest (and scariest) creatures can add such beauty. We walked in and out of the buildings and enjoyed the glimpse into Dutch past.

At this point, we had spent almost 3 hours enjoying this museum, but we were getting a bit tired and wanted to rest a little before dinner with friends that evening. So, we said goodbye to this fabulous open-air Zuiderzee museum and made our way back through Enkhuizen to the train station. Wished we'd saved a little energy and time to spend a few more minutes in Enkhuizen...it looked very picturesque on such a gorgeous day. Arrived back in Amsterdam around 2:30 p.m. and had some R&R at the hotel.

We were graciously invited to one of Greg's colleagues homes for dinner that evening. He lives in a canalhouse right on the Amstel river...amazing! Caja and his wife, Elvira, had taken us out for dinner before we moved back home, and so in a way, it was like being with old friends. We arrived around 5 p.m., enjoyed time together, ate some Thai food, and sipped tea. Nathalie was a bit fussy...wouldn't fall asleep and wouldn't eat much. Caja drove us back to the hotel around 9:30. I do have to share that we learned a few interesting things that evening. First, they actually have a home about 20 miles from Amsterdam where they stay most of the time. Their children attend school in Amsterdam and ride their bikes about one hour each way (no matter the weather) to get to school from their village. This is a very common occurence. Not sure I could imagine this happening in the U.S. Second, Caja's opinion on the Dutch team losing in the World Cup is this: the Dutch would have been embarrassed if the team would have won because of how poorly they played. Interesting to hear since they value 'voetbal' so highly...wasn't a 'win it all no matter the cost' kind of attitude. I liked that. Hope we see one another again soon!

Greg went to work on Monday, and Nathalie and I had another busy day planned. We visited for a few hours with a friend, Jen, who, as you can see below, was expecting twins. She gave Nathalie a cute little bear, and we just spent time catching up. Then, Nathalie and I had a lunch date with Kirsten. Ethan was at school, so we stayed until about 3 p.m. enjoying time together. She needed to go get Ethan, and I still wanted to try and do a bit of shopping for the kiddos. Nothing like waiting til the last possible second. :) Took tram 5 to Spui and Nathalie fell asleep on the way. I browsed around the American Book Store for some books, picked up some appelflap for tomorrow's breakfast, and bought some snopjes (candies) for Ben. Nathalie was starting to stir, so we ventured back to the hotel to play and wait for Dada.

Naturally, we had our last meal planned...the Pancake Bakery. And again, I felt horrible that Nathalie dined on baby food from a jar (yuck!) while Greg and I devoured pannenkoeken and poffertjes. Actually, she was pretty fussy and wouldn't eat again. I think someone is ready for home and some real food! We walked along the Prinsengracht (to walk off some pancake calories) and Nathalie fell asleep. So, seeing as we weren't ready to say goodbye to Amsterdam just yet, we found a cafe where we could sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine. Of course, she woke up shortly after we took our first sip, but it was fun to pass her back and forth for snuggles and just soak up the atmosphere. It had been a beautiful warm day, was now a beautiful cool evening, and we had a beautiful trip!! As always, we'll miss you Amsterdam! Back to the hotel around 9 p.m. to pack up and get some rest before our big travel day tomorrow.

Tuesday morning - up at 6 a.m. and in the taxi by 8. It was pouring rain, a perfect day to say goodbye. :) We actually had been surprised that the weather turned out so great while we were there. We checked in quickly, found a spot to enjoy some koffie verkeerd, and Greg even ordered some cheeseburgers from McDonalds through an Easy Order ATM. Hilarious! Boarded our flight at 10:30 a.m. Chicago, here we come!

Oh man, this flight was HARD! I knew it would be more challenging since it was a daytime flight vs. nighttime, but good gravy! It was a very turbulent flight, so we had to be in our seats a lot. Nathalie was bored to tears (literally!) and wanted to get down and play. No luck sweet girl. I nursed her a lot, Daddy did his 'pat pat' move a lot, and we walked as much as we could. I even took her to the bathroom for about 20 minutes so we could look at ourselves in the mirror. I'm sure that wasn't sanitary, but I was desperate! I have never looked at my watch so many times in an 8 hour period, and I have never felt time move more slowly. The last 5 minutes as we were landing, Nathalie screamed her head off. I tried to nurse her, but she wouldn't. UGH!!! Overall, considering that we have royally messed up her body and schedule, I do have to say that she did well. But, those are 8 hours that I'm happy that I don't have to relive! Clearly, this photo is at take off, not landing. ;) We actually landed almost an hour early, praise God!

Made it through customs and got our bags. Nathalie was never so happy to see her stroller! She smiled from ear to ear and her little legs wouldn't stop moving with excitement. Had to go through a special screening for some tulip bulbs that we had bought, but we were in the cab and on our way home by 1:30 p.m. Chicago time. Quickly unpacked and showered, and GreeMa and PeePaw arrived around 3 p.m. with Ben!! We missed him so much!! We played, snuggled with Peanut, ate pizza, and Nathalie was asleep by 5 p.m. It was a rough night, she was up at 2:30 a.m. Greg was wide awake then, so they played for a bit. Both asleep by 3:30, up at 4. I took her this time and we started some laundry and made Daddy's lunch (yes, he was going to work!). She was in bed again by 6 a.m. It's going to be a long day...a long week getting her readjusted. But, it was well worth it!!

Until we meet again Amsterdam...tot ziens!!