Holland here we come!!

Friday morning i was woken up by our 4 yr old in tears and then big snuggles and hugs. He wasn't ready for us to leave on our trip.   Big brother came rolling in to encourage him that he was going to get to play he role of big brother for the next few days and how super exciting that was going to be.  But this big brother too soon came down with tears as well. And so my heart was a little bit torn with sadness as I was leaving them behind. Thankfully I know they would be under fantastic care and all will be fine. 

D worked from home in the morning and I finished up the last of the house cleaning and packing my suitcase while being questioned by the little guy (it's hard to get things done with a million questions). 😊

By 11amish we said good bye to all the kiddos and by noon we drove uneventfully to the airport. No stopping at the Lindt store this time. 🤔

We arrived and sauntered through the airport all with uneventful happenings. The plane ride was even pretty boring. Well 8.5hrs of flying really isn't exciting. And well I'd rather keep it that way. 

Just before we left Vancouver

On the airplane waiting to take off

The cousin who came and greeted us at the airport with hugs, drops and chocolate.  We couldn't ask for a better welcome to the Netherlands.  (My sister and her husband arrive 2hrs. before us)

(We don't look too terrible for lack of sleep do we?)

Saturday morning after minimal  sleep on the plane we arrived in the Netherlands. After barging through the over crowded luggage claim belt and hitting a few people with my hefty suitcase. (They refused to move so what can I say No Canadian spirit left after no sleep??) we passed through customs in a breeze and finally connected up with my sister and her husband and a cousin. Felt good to finally arrive after planning and talking about this trip for a long time!

The men went off to figure things out while the ladies stayed behind in the middle of a major pathway and chatted a lot. The connection you have with family is so fun!! Even if you live thousands of km apart and really don't know each other well it just clicks. We chatted and chatted.  Maybe the chatter doesn't come from my Fathers side....maybe it came from my moms?  Nah! Who am I kidding. 

This is a familiar setting for many I'm sure?

(The moment when you're so tired you just fall asleep while taking notes... so they were a little scattered)

After the car rental is all figured out and the cheap car parking for the city we set out to explore Amsterdam!  You know exploring Holland again with someone who's never been is quite fun. Opens your eyes up again to truly how "Dutch" everything is. Exploring Amsterdam was a good day. The city is nice and clean. Most people are friendly and you get a good waft of "fresh" air. (If you don't know what I mean think leaf)

The brick is everywhere!!! The tilt of the houses in Amsterdam.(you must role out of bed every day)  

We stopped in a little cafe for lunch on some tiny little street in a converted tiny little home. (Actually the owners of the cafe still live here) The trek to the W.C. (toilets) Was your usual  Crazy Dutch stair case (4 flights worth) that your hoping you don't bale on while you make your way down.   We ate some delicious croquet with bread on the side for lunch. Lekker!!  

Inside of the very Dutch cafe

Our next events after eating a delicious lunch was exploring the city of Amsterdam a little.  This was our way of staying awake and trying to get over jet lag as best as possible

In front of the Palace!  (Hang on to your purses tight (Right E!) and wallets, many a pick pocketer in the streets here sometimes disguised)

Hopped on a Canal Tour to see the rest of the city in a more relaxing fashion

Still looking happy and awake!! 

before I fell asleep for a few brief naps....(good thing I've been on this tour before)

The Dutch city....

 After a long day of travel and touring it was time to check into our Airbnb in Oudewater. We arrived to our country living style home here. The smell of animals and cheese outdoors. The sounds of birds and ducks and the smell of fresh cut grass. It's very relaxing here!  We are sleeping above the horse. The cows can be seen through a window down the hallway. Fresh milk, eggs and cheese all to be eaten here. It's great. 

 

Because we just arrived we needed to plan some meals etc. So we drove to the small town of Oudewater and toured around trying to find the best place to eat and purchase groceries. We ended up dining at a quaint little place sitting outdoors (even if was chilly) right beside the canal. We ate a bunch of different things like salmon and smoked meats and what we think was quail . We made the server work extra hard by translating some very difficult words. So thankful the Dutch are willing to speak English to us!

 

Touring more canals...this time in the little town of Oudewater

This town seemed really quiet, but the cars drove right behind E and M as well as the bikes and it was rather close and a little nerve wrecking. but it was a fun place to eat dinner.

We shopped at the Jumbo grocery. Although it's maybe a 1/4 size of superstore. It had everything we needed. Came back to our place and ate sugar bread as a filler for dinner and finally tumbled in to bed. 

Sunday I finally woke up at 1:20pm. Except for 2 small interruptions between 4:30 and 6:30. 6:30 I thought someone was trying to knock down our door. We think maybe it was the horse banging around in his stall...about gave me a heart attack. D was up on BC time and watching a movie with ear plugs and didn't notice a thing!!  (He went back to bed and at 8:30 and slept until 1:20). 

We all managed to eat some sort of brunch and headed off to visit my Oom and some cousins in Woerden. So nice to give them a big hug. The last time I saw them was 3 years ago. We had a pleasant visit before heading to church together. We won't say how much we understood of the sermon, but regardless it's always a beautiful thing to worship with others world wide!!

We headed back to my Ooms where we were treated to a delicious dinner and some vla for dessert. We then reminisced about the good old days. Had an 8:00 dessert and more chatting.  

Our Oom F

Our Cousin who fed us a delicious dinner

We came back to the farmhouse. The power was out. But the farm has a generator!  The power came back on as we were planning for our next day ...but shut off again as we headed to bed thankfully you don't need lights to sleep. 

Hopefully with the nights sleep we would transfer over to the local time.