Part 2: Amsterdam

I love Amsterdam. It's the epitome of Europe to me; like a bee's nest, crowded with buses and trams and cars and bicycles and pedestrians, art and music and museums and delicious food, and people from all over the world going about their lives in the hive. Mark and I have such fond memories of our trip here together four years ago and we both really enjoyed the familiarity of returning. Claire channeled right into the energy of the city and soaked it all up like a thirsty sponge. She wanted to stay outside walking around all night. Ben did not like it quite so much. Noise and lights and hurried-ness are not his favorite things. He was feeling sick with a headache and developed a fever our first night at the hotel, but he agreed to see the sights the next day while perched upon Papa's shoulders.



Soaking it all up from a bench in front of our hotel.

City lights reflected on our canal.

A view of Prinsengracht, the area where Mark and I stayed before.

Ben chasing pigeons in Dam Square, the heart of the old city.

The kids and I posed outside the Anne Frank House. We took the tour and it was challenging and enlightening for all of us. It was the first time the kids had really seen any kind of documentation of the Holocaust. I was reading Anne Frank's diary while we were there, so the whole experience was really alive for me, like I knew all the people personally and were right in the middle of their story.

Anything goes in Amsterdam and all are welcome.

Us girls delighting in our discovery of pure chocolate bliss. We spent 15 euros on six pieces of chocolate here and we both agree they were worth every penny!

Happy kid soaking up the sunshine.

The canal tour was awesome and we pretty much had the boat to ourselves.

And the trip would not have been complete without strop waffles.

On our way out of the city the kids decided they wanted to pose for one more picture in front of this cool statue. I love giving them this experience. I wonder what their memories will be like.