Easter Weekend - Day 2

 Saturday morning brought us back to the Tram Station in Den Haag to head to the main train station...

Heading back on the train!:)

 
 And this time, our destination was Amsterdam!:)  Along the way, I had my camera out to capture some pictures of the Dutch countryside rolling past us ...

These little sheds dot all over the countryside.  They are garden sheds and people rent plots of land to grow their own gardens.:)

Lots of cows..for all that Dutch Cheese!

And lots of sheep!

And what train ride wouldn't be complete without a game of Simon Says?!

Love , Love Love all the windmills!:)

 And the best surprise of all was getting to see all of the beautful flowers blooming!!!!

Houseboats along the canals....

 And then we arrived in Amsterdam:)

Pic in front of the station.:)

Saint Nicholas Basilica

Dam Square

Love all the Canal houses:)

stopped to do a bit of shopping ( and snacking ) at an open market:)

 Then, it was a stop at a great Moroccan restaurant..... with a surprise for the kids after lunch...

Then, to the Rijksmuseum...

 Guy found an app called "Family quest" for the Rijksmuseum and downloaded it to all of our electronic devices.  It was a really neat way for the kids to also explore the museum and for all of us to learn a bit of trivia as well!:)

Heading off to see Rembrandt's "The Night Watch"...

 Did you know that there is a trap door that the painting can fall into in case of an emergency so it will not be damaged??!!! We learned that on our quest!:)

 We also learned about a gun that doubled as a sword incase you ran out of gun powder!:)

Elizabeth posing in a remake of vermeer's "The Milkmaid"

 Loved seeing many of vermeer's paintings here.  He was from Delft.  We were able to visit that small town back in November..

One of my favorite paintings done by Vermeer

 Love this picture of Jeremy learning about the real use of what we all thought was a gravy boat!!!:)

 Turns out it is really a chamber pot!!!!!

 Lots of fun pictures at the I Am Amsterdam sign!:)

 Pretty pictures from around Amsterdam...

 Then, a stop off at the Anne Frank House.  The kids were actually here when they were much smaller...you can see them if you click here.  It is such a humbling experience to go there and see where this brave girl lived two years of her life in hiding..

 And then, we were back on the train with some lovely views on our way back to Den Haag...

A wonderful day planned by my very favorite trip planner in the world...my hubby!:)

Easter Weekend- Day One

Good Friday brought us to the Groningen train station and we were off on a long weekend to Den Haag...

All of my travel buddies:)

Arrival in Den Haag

Some interesting artifacts on display in one of the tram stations...Can you tell Jeremy is proud of his Doritos??:)

 Such a pretty city!!:)

A Weekend in Pictures ( Mostly)

Last Friday, Guy had the opportunity to work from home, and we decided at his lunch break to head to De Vismarkt for some fish and chips from one of the food trucks...

Saturday morning, had us heading out to the small Dutch town of Feerwerd for Jeremy's soccer game...

 Sunday brought birthday parties for both Jeremy and Elizabeth. Elizabeth went to an indoor skiing/ sledding party (on carpet!  who knew!!??)

And Jeremy went to a paintball party for a classmate.:)  I have always said that living in a place is completely different than visiting.   We are still enjoying being "tourists" in our town, but have also really started to make some great friends and feel at home here at the same time.:)

Until next time, doei!:)

A Secret

I think I have discovered a secret in Holland that not too many people talk about.  I had no idea (or I had forgotten having lived so many years in southeast Texas and Nigeria) what a transformation spring can really be!  The long dark days of winter are definitely fading away into longer, brighter days with fresh air and the warmer temperatures of spring!  I was never someone who thought the weather affected me, but being out in the bright springtime sunshine here in Holland has really made me realize how long and dark the winter days were.  A few weeks ago, a few friends of mine and myself went walking near Paterswoldsmeer.  It is a beautiful park with a long walking path around the lake.  To read more about its location and history, you can click here.  I wanted to share a few pictures from our walk there...

The weather has been so nice for biking around the city center...

Flowers are coming up all around!:)

My bike loaded with my loot from my shopping trip!:)  Stopped to take a picture of the pretty trees starting to bloom.:)

I even had a chance to do some shopping......for MYSELF!!

Found this pretty dress at the open Market in the city center.:)

 Our tulips that Guy and Jeremy planted a few months ago are coming up in our flower boxes.:)

 And you have to love a country where you can find fresh flowers almost everywhere!:)

Some pretty tulips Guy bought me last week...they are still going!:)

 I wanted to share with you a peek at what I am seeing here every day as the weather is changing and the days are getting longer.  As a transplanted Texas girl, I had almost forgotten what a true change of seasons really looks like!

Tot zeins!:)