Spring Break (European style)

We are seriously so spoiled.  When we were trying to decide where to go for spring break, the possibilities were endless.  

Since Jude has been somewhat of a, ehem, difficult child, we thought we would do something close and somewhat relaxing.  

So we decided on...(does this pic. give you a clue?)

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Holland!

We left on Monday and came back on Saturday-a whole week of fun! 

We almost canceled because the forecast said rain ALL week, thankfully we decided to go ahead and only had rain on Monday.  The rest of the week was beautiful!

The first day we headed into Zaanse Schans.  It is a historical Holland village with working windmills, shops, etc. (aka a tourist trap, but we loved it!).

 It was about 40 degrees so we headed to get some ice cream.

Micah had a little mishap with his and it started sliding down the cone.  The whole thing was going, so he just started eating as fast as he could.  Memories.

 The first pic (cheese) was at the cheese shop.  They had samples all through the store.  Needless to say, we had a lot of cheese...and left with a lot too.

 Wooden shoe shop.  

So fun and really interesting.  We got to watch the shoes being made too.

 Wooden shoes for all occassions.  Above are Sunday clogs.  I'm not sure what the ones below were used for, but I thought they were fun!

 We headed to Amsterdam for the first two days of the trip.  I have just reread "The Diary of Anne Frank,"  "The Hiding Place," and for the first time "Night."

There were two thing I really wanted to do while in Amsterdam-The Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh museum.  Unfortunately the Anne Frank house was sold out of tickets on line, so I just thought I'd go super early and get my tickets.  Um, no.  We got there early and the line was already about a 2-3hour wait.  Dudi had already been on a previous trip, so Micah and I were the only ones going to do it, but we just couldn't wait that long.  Dudi promised we would come back and I'll do it next time.  We did get to see the church right next to the house.  If you read the book, you know she kept track of time by hearing the bells of a church...this church.  We did get to hear the bells while there, so that was really cool.

 

I did get online tickets to the Van Gogh museum though.  It was fabulous!! They give out scavenger hunts for the kids, so even they were entertained.

 Favorite pieces.

Micah's-Van Gogh's self portrait

Asher's-The Apples (obscure painting, but really neat)

Olivia's-anything with flowers/the blossoms

Mine-Van Gogh's self portrait

Dudi's-Van Gogh's self portrait and The Harvest

 I've never been a huge fan of Van Gogh's self portrait...until seeing it in person. AMAZING. No replica does it justice.  He was such a talented artist.  The museum was awesome.  I couldn't believe I was seeing the real deal.  I studied these things in art history courses, but now I was actually seeing them in person!!  Sorry, art gets me excited.

After the museum we headed to the city park.  

I love how the big cities have gorgeous parks all over!

 We do a lot of walking on our trips. Like, A LOT.  

What can I say, we are sightseers.

Most people don't do that much while they are here because it's hard with kids.  We are going the other direction and figure if we do it enough, they'll get use to it.  

We can hope anyways!

Sometimes they need a break though, and then they climb on Dudi.

 Everything was so picturesque.

There are more canals here than in Venice.  It's gorgeous.  Too bad it really is a Godless city.  I actual took a wrong turn down into the redlight district.  Um, lets just say I saw more than I wanted to, and hurried and back tracked before the kids followed!  Where is the self dignity people?!  Coffee shops there are also legalized drug depots.  

Seriously.

It's free pot use.

Gorgeous city, but probably one of the first to go before the Second Coming.  Just my opinion.

 The kids on "the" sign.

 A "Harry Potter" sized chess game in the middle of the square.

 The local cuisine.  

Friet=yummy fries with a mayo sauce (not like our mayo).

 Olivia's favorite pastime.

We ended our trip with a canal boat ride.  It was a great time.  I love how EVERYONE bikes around there.  They even have bike parking garages-there are really that many!

Next up...the Windmills and the rest of the trip!