Adventures in Amsterdam: January 2010

Libby's Wedding

In June, the girls and I flew to the states to attend the wedding of my best friend, Libby. Libby's wedding was held in Santa Barbara, CA. She rented a beautiful house for the week and the wedding party stayed in the house, which is also where the reception was held. The ceremony was on the local beach at sunset. It was very beautiful. Maisy and Sophie were flower girls in the wedding, which gave me the excuse to buy them fabulous dresses! Weren't they adorable? Libby bought them their purple flip flops, which they loved...and wore all summer long.

The girls getting ready for the wedding.

Libby and her new husband, Ryan.

Mommy carrying Sophie down the beach after the ceremony.

Linda and Libby after the beachside ceremony.

Libby's wedding should have been featured in Martha Stewart's Weddings magazine.

Every detail was beautiful.

Maisy

Biking In Amsterdam

Since we do not own a car in Amsterdam, I must rely on my "bakfiets" or boxbike to transport all of the groceries and household goods that I buy.

Fortunately, I can carry Sophie on my back in the ergo carrier and Maisy on the saddle bags if I fill the box up with cargo.

When grandpa John is in town the girls enjoy riding on his bike for variety.

The girls napping in the boxbike while we ride through Vondelpark.

Maisy has mastered her "lopefiets" or walking bike.

She can actually keep up with me.

Horseback riding is in Maisy's genes. There is no question that Maisy loves horses. Unfortunately, she cannot start riding lessons in Holland until she is 6 years old. But in the meantime, she likes to practice her riding skills by sitting on the back of my bike on the "saddle" bags. She has developed excellent balance that I am sure will come in handy when she is finally able to ride a real pony.

Aren't they too cute?!

Grandma Cindy out in the city.

Maisy fell asleep in the front of the bike...

...and Sophie fell asleep on my back.

Sophie and Maisy regularly fight over who gets to ride on daddy's bike.

If you happen to be in Amsterdam, watch out for Grandpa John on his bike. He likes to recklessly ride his bike while taking action photos of us on our bikes.

A Day In Volendam

We ditched our bikes for a day while grandma and grandpa were in town and rented a car to drive to Volendam.

Volendam is a small port town to the North of Amsterdam that is located at the mouth of the river Ij. It is a popular tourist attraction because some of its residents still wear the traditional Dutch clothing. However, we only saw store clerks and wait staff dressed in costumes.

On our drive to Voldendam we passed a number of farms and traditional Dutch windmills.
It was quite scenic.

In the 20th century, Volendam was known as an artists' retreat. It attracted famous artists from around the world, including Picasso and Renoir.

We randomly stopped at this hotel Spaander to eat lunch outside. Our choice was quite fortuitous because the interior of the hotel was literally an art gallery with more than a 1,000 original pieces, which my father loved. Apparently, the artistst that stayed at the hotel all donated a piece of artwork they created during their time in Volendam. The walls were filled with beautiful oil paintings.

The town center was charming, but also very touristy. At times it felt like we were walking around Epcot Center.

The residential streets were immaculately maintained and quite charming.

The girls enjoyed throwing rocks into the water. Grandpa enjoyed taking their photos!

Spring In Amsterdam

While my parents were visiting last spring, we took a day trip to visit Madurodam, the miniture city. The city was built in 1952 in memory of George Maduro who fought the Nazis in the Dutch resistance, and died in the Dachau concentration camp.