Modern Momma Moving: International Edition: November 2013

We took the kids to Amsterdam this weekend. Three days, two nights and we're exhausted! It's a beautiful city - the canals, fall leaves, architecture, house boats, bicycles everywhere… We stayed right in the center, on Herengracht - an Embassy Row type beautiful street/canal. The shopping was amazing - brand names, boutiques, cafes, restaurants and the ubiquitous coffee shops.
This was a very different weekend then when we have the chance to getaway without the kids but we had a different type of fun. We got soaked as we ran through a rainstorm after dinner the first night (I carried Caroline and Jesse had Lauren - Cole was our big trooper!). We walked hand-in-hand with the kids through the Red Light District, at 9:30 a.m. We didn't see any Rembrandts or Van Goghs but we did visit Nemo, the Netherlands' largest science center for kids. It was fantastic and even Caroline was amused. We had the most delicious Starbucks lattes along the harbor.
We ate in a converted water pumping station near Westerpark (Cafe Restaurant Amsterdam), a tiny luncheonette and a cozy brasserie (Luden) in the historic district and an amazing pancake house (Pancakes! Amsterdam). For whatever reason, all four meals were orderly and although not quite relaxing, they were absent of screaming, crying or anyone leaving their seats before it was time to go. Whew!
We walked all over town, over to Vondelpark which is a beautiful green space but the playground left a lot to be desired, by the Anne Frank House so we can remind the kids they saw it when they learn about it later, and rode a canal ferry through the beautiful waterways of the city. This last trip (which was actually our first excursion) proved to be the most painful as Caroline lost interest about half-way through the ride and we couldn't get off until it finished. Luckily, although she proved to be very vocal at various times throughout the long weekend, she regained composure (or wore herself out as it might be) and we really did enjoy the trip. Next time though, we want to try it on our own!

Ready for a canal ride

Nemo Science Center

Tonight's our last night on our own. Jesse's been traveling for almost 3 weeks, back home in Washington. We miss him terribly and are so excited to welcome him home tomorrow and celebrate his birthday on Sunday. Otherwise, it hasn't been that bad.
We found an amazing babysitter, Emilia. She's Argentinian, speaks Spanish, French and English and loves kids. I've been so lucky to have her help these last few weeks that it actually felt relaxing at times (not the times Caroline kept screaming, but the other times).
The first weekend we spent Saturday night at our close friends, Kate & Jonas Hannestad, and their kids, August & Aksel, for movie night and Asian take-out. Kate's from Baltimore, Jonas is from Norway and the kids were born in New Haven, CT (Yale U). We've ended up spending many a weekend night hanging out together and it's the best thing to have something as normal as real friends.
Following up on that we were invited to Cole & Lauren's classmates James & Alice's house on Sunday morning since their "mum" Victoria (England) said she understood weekends were the worst when her spouse was traveling. It was a cozy rainy morning.
The next weekend, I went out to dinner Friday eve with Kate & Jonas and their friend Caro (France) and had a fabulous three-hour dinner event. Saturday was a miserable experience stocking a full grocery cart at a new bulk grocery store only to learn they only accepted cash or debit, neither of which I had on my person.
Both weekends we visited the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History. It's free, it's an airplane hangar and it's actually pretty awesome. The second Sunday we ran into Kate & Jonas there and ended up planning a pool party and dinner for the afternoon before they took off to the South of France for the holiday.
This week was La Toussaint, or half-term, or week off in the middle of the fall when Europeans take more vacation. It was actually much easier not to take the kids to school and pick them up again then to have two of them gone for six hours a day. Monday I took Cole & Lauren to Oceade, an indoor watermark by the Atomium. Although they were both a little young for the all the sections, it was a lot of fun and we especially enjoyed the wave pool and hot tubs. Tuesday was Ikea day and then playdate at Lauren's classmates Rory & Vera's house with a few other great moms and three year olds.
Wednesday we tried the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. As Cole said, the museum is just not for us. Although everyone raves about the largest dinosaur bone exhibit in Europe (and it is amazing, putting the National History Museum exhibit to shame), my kids don't love dinos and therefore, all they noticed was the lack of elevators and me huffing and puffing with Caroline and her stroller on the stairs. At least we rode the bus there and back - yea public transportation…
Thursday was probably the best day yet, we stayed home and went swimming in the morning, then in the afternoon, we went to a friend of a friend's house for a little Halloween party. Belgians don't really celebrate Halloween, though they want to. Luckily for us, the hosts were Belgian/American and knew what they were doing. The kids even got to go trick-or-treating around Uccle, the neighborhood to our south, though the absence of chocolate treats is a bit ironic in the land of chocolate, isn't it?
Today, Friday, Emilia came to spend the morning with the kids and I went on a long run through the Bois de la Cambre. I've started running again when I can get out and it feels really good, plus the park is beautiful. This morning was odd as a strange woman called my attention, struck up a conversation about visiting Brussels and asked if she could run with me. Sure, I don't treasure this hour of solitude at all, come along! Luckily I don't think she was too crazy, though she did want to grab coffee and meet for lunch later, but I dodged that one fast. I managed to spend the rest of my morning wandering my neighborhood looking for an open coffee shop but being that it was a Belgian National Holiday (All Saints Day), I spent a long time wandering and ended up grabbing sushi and hot tea and reading my Kindle all by myself - glorious! Later the kids and I napped, we went for a walk to scrounge up some dinner and everyone went to bed by 8.
Tomorrow night Jesse & I will go out to celebrate his 40th birthday!