Lekkere Vakantie, part 2

After departing Texel, Robert, Sam and I spent a night in Bilthoven with Oma & Opa. It seemed very quiet after a week with so many kids running around, but that didn't last long because the next morning we departed for Cadzand to spend a few days with Robert's best buddies. The trip started with a fun night out in Knokke, Belguim with Douwe, Palle, Guido Mascini & Guido Bouw with our 8 young children in tow at a restaurant that was literally a country club at the beach. The kids had a blast running around the largest play yard I've ever seen while the adults caught up over steaks and wine. It's always a ton of fun for Robert to catch up with his old buddies. We spent the next few days with Douwe and Palle and their kiddos on the beach, followed by evenings dining together. It was a great couple of days and it was neat for me to get to see so many different sides of Holland (Cadzand is all the way south on the border of Belguim).

Digging with Charlie in Cadzand

Sam & Rowan in Knokke

Douwe plays with Sam & Rowan

On Tuesday morn, Robert, Sam & I packed up the car again and headed out to the Hague to check out Madurodam, which is a miniature version of Holland all packed into one theme park! It was very cool, and Sam really enjoyed it as well. Only problem was that Sam thought that each little display was like a miniature play-yard for him, so he wasn't very happy when we told him he couldn't pick up the boat or the cow! They also had a Sesame Street display going on, so we got to check that out too. Even though Elmo isn't very popular in Holland, Sam thought it was pretty neat to get to see all of the characters.

Obsessed with the trains & trucks in Madurodam

He wishes he could grab the boats!

From Madurodam, we made a quick pit stop in Scheveningen en route to Amsterdam. This is a lovely beach town just outside of the Hague.

Finally, we had one last night in Amsterdam to catch up with Robert's friends and Peter, a visit to the Vondel park and then back to visit Oma and Opa for 2 nights before heading back to the US. It was a whirlwind trip, but great for us because we were able to do so much in the 2 short weeks that we had. We don't get there as often as we'd like, so when we do it's nice to make the most of it. Thanks again, Oma & Opa, for a great trip to Holland. Hope to be back next year!

The Vondel Park in Amsterdam

Lekkere Vakantie, part 1

This August, Sam made his first of many journeys across the pond and he did great! Not only was he incredibly well-behaved on the airplane, but he was just generally very flexible throughout the whole vacation.

The vacation started with our arrival in Amsterdam early Friday morning on July 31, and then we joined the family for a 2 hour drive to Texel, an island in the North Sea. The drive was timed perfectly for a much needed nap, and then we were refreshed by the sea air from the ferry ride over to Texel. (The ferry boat was funny because Robert remembered it being this really exciting trip when he was a boy, but in reality it was about a 5 minute ferry ride! Barley enough time to leave the car!!!)

Once in Texel, Sam was immediately excited to play with his cousins. We had 3 houses with big backyards, so the kids could run around like crazy. It was a nice village with a swimming pool, tennis courts, bike trails and a playground, and was only about a 10 minute bike ride to the beach. The biggest pity from this whole trip is that I don't have a picture of Sam riding the bike with Robert, because this was by FAR the most exciting thing he has ever done, but I was lucky enough to catch some video of Sam and Robert enjoying the waterslide at our pool. Lets just say that not only does Sam look exactly like his Papa, but he clearly has "no fear" mentality as well!

Finally, we spent loads of time on the beach in Texel, and I learned that my child would be happy to dig all day if you'd let him! So, here are some pics of Sam and his cousins enjoying their time "op de strand"