I'm coming home?!?!!

Hello! I am so far behind on bloggin' and still need to do the rest of our trip to Holland before I post about Paris (...which, by the way, was A-MAZING!). So here is a quick run-down of what we did in this fabulous country before we left:

One thing I had really been looking forward to was the Anne Frank Museum. Holy cowzers! It was honestly one of the coolest things I've ever done! Taking the tour of her actual house put the whole book into reality. I suddenly understood how truly tiny and confined the secret annex was, and how miserable and scary it must've been. It was really interesting and cool to go into all of the rooms, to see her actual diary, and learn more history about it all. Em and I took turns going in, while the other one of us played with the kids at the park.

After the the Anne Frank Museum and the park, we headed over to the beach... THIS is why I love Holland! It is everything you could ever possibly want all in one country... big city, small farms, history, art, food, and even my favorite thing in the world... the beach! We had so much fun building sand castles, playing in the waves, and just soaking up the sweet summer rays!

Afterwards, we went across the street to a delicious restaurant and enjoyed the view while eating salad and real Italain pizza! Mmm...

The last morning we woke up and went to the Ten Boom Museum. The Hiding Place is seriously one of my very favorite books ever, and it was SO INCREDIBLE to actually go into this house and be there where it all happened. I even got to crawl through and go into the 2' by 10' hiding place they hid the Jews in.

Before heading out of Holland, we stopped by this random, amazing museum that is in the middle of the woods! You can totally just ride a bike into the forest and go see some Picasso... no big deal or anything! ;)

Holland was so awesome. I am so happy I had the chance to go with Emily and the cute kids, and it has been an experience that I'll never ever forget!

I am coming home in just a few days! It is soo crazy that the time is already here! After my tooth troubles ended, the time flew by, and I can't believe I. am. coming. home. I am so excited to see everyone... I've missed you soo much! But I am also so sad to say goodbye to Emily, Claire, Jackson, and all of the other friends I've made here in Europe. I am really going to miss them. I just want to say thanks to Em and the kids for making my time here so wonderful, for making me feel at home, and for helping me learn and grow so much. I love you guys so much!

To everyone else, I'll see you SOON, and I can't wait!

Here it goes... I'm on my way!

Holland: Part One

Hey iedereen, we hebben het veilig naar Nederland en ik hou hier! :)

That's Dutch for: Hey everyone! We made it safely to Holland and I love it here! :)

Here we are in this little town right outside Amsterdam. We are staying on a cute little cow farm! I've never really been the super outdoor-sy type, but I can't get enough of it!!!

This is right outside our place:

The main bedroom/living area:

The colorful kitchen space with random, mismatched dishes:

And the cheery entrance to the humble abode:

Really though, I think I've found my cup of tea! Everyone here is willing to help you with just about anything you'd imagine! I mean ANYTHING! Once we got to our bed-and-breakfast (which is attached to a Dutch/Bohemian/surfer/river guiding couple's house), Em and I found this friendly little note they left for us in the Amsterdam City Guide book:

I am lovin' the easy-going, matter-of-fact vibe here! I could totally get used to this (hahaha)!

On our way in, we stopped at Burgers' Zoo to take a break from driving for a bit. We had a lot of fun, and we were all super excited for more fun to come! Well... at least most of us... ;)

It was good to finally get there after a long day of driving though. After we unpacked and I got my massage from Maurits (haha totally kidding... don't worry, Dad!), we made a delicious dinner with Dutch butter, cheese, and of course, chocolate. I know, terrible, right?! It's ok, it was totally worth it...

Yesterday morning, we took the kids to the Nemo science museum in Amsterdam and had a BALL! There were so many fun things to do there, in fact, I learned a lot myself! :)

After the museum, we went into Haarlem, which is home of Corrie Ten Boom from the book, The Hiding Place (one of my all-time fav's!). We are taking a tour of her house/watch shop on Tuesday morning... I am so excited! But Haarlem is just so cute and quaint--definately my favorite city we've been to! There was a fun farmers' market going on, and everyone just rides their little bikes around! Words can't describe the unique CHARM of Haarlem!

This morning, we woke up early and cruised on over to Amsterdam. There, Emily and I took turns going into museums. First was the Rijksmuseum, which is where painters including Vermeer and Rembrandt are! I was in complete awe and loved being able to see these renowned artists' works.

Claire, Jackson, and I had a great time doing some "still life painting for kids" outside the museum while Emily went in. Claire loved being an artist and making her very own masterpiece! How cute is she??!

Afterwards, we walked down the street to the Van Gogh Museum. I had no idea this guy was such a stud! I mean, I roughly knew a little background info, but seeing this man's work was prodigious beyond the imagination! I fell in love with everything about him!

After getting a little museum-ed out, Emily took the kids back to the cow farm, and I decided to stick around in Amsterdam for a bit longer. I had quite the adventure here! I ate the most amazing macaroon (a tribute to my mom and g-ma and our NY trip earlier this summer), watched a super cool Dutchman play the flute while doing extreme yoga poses, and just enjoyed the busy but picturesque city of Amsterdam!

When it was finally time to go home, I was a bit nervous because it takes so many steps! I had to hop on a street tram back to the central station, get on a ferry to get across the broad canal, and then get on a bus back to the cow farm! But... I rocked Berlin, got a root canal, and jumped off the Alps, so I knew I could easily get home!

Well, I was too cheap to buy a tram ticket, so I took a lonnng walk (and shopped along the way) back to the central station. Once I was there, I hopped on a ferry and lucked out because it was the right one! I didn't know if it was or not, but it was leaving, and I didn't want to wait for another one! Lucky for me, it took me back to the busses and I saw my bus... #110. At least I was pretty sure that was the one...

But it was starting to drive away!!! So I ran off some of the butter, cheese, and chocolate, and tried to stop the bus from leaving without me (Why is it that bus-chasing seems to be a reoccurring event for me?)! The nice Dutch driver saw me and stopped not too far down the road. I was relieved to have caught it and sat down to enjoy the easy, no-big-deal rest of the ride back home.

Well... about twenty minutes later, I wasn't recognizing much. I couldn't tell if we were approaching our town or not because all of Holland looks like this:

I kept asking the driver if he was going to drive past our part of town, but he kept telling me that he couldn't understand what town I was talking about (I later found out that I was saying it completely wrong). But things were NOT looking familiar at all. Half of me was laughing at the situation because it was just soo typical of me to be lost, and half of me was really actually worried that the busses would like shut down or something before I made it home...

After some more time of contemplating what to do, I finally decided I had probably just gotten on the wrong bus, so I told the driver to let me off at the next stop. By this time, the sweet old man and I were buddies, and he was happy to take me wherever I needed to get. Then, all of the sudden, I started seeing the things that Emily had told me to look for! The old Dutch church!? Check! The Texaco station!? Check! And finally... the "Cheese and Clogs" shop!? CHECK!!! The bus driver and I were both soo relieved and happy, we shouted for joy together (literally)! It was a moment. I gave him a big high-five and a "Thank you so much, you're amazing!" and hopped off the bus to get back to our cow farm house.

I know it seems like finding my way home shouldn't be that hard, but with my bad luck (and sense of direction), it was a big accomplishment for me! But even then, it's more than that. It's the fact that I can be here in beautiful Holland, "feel the love and joy here," and share it with my adorable cousins and awesome aunt. And whether "I find myself making every possible mistake," or simply breeze on by with the help of the fantastic Dutch people, it doesn't really matter because I'm NEW to this, and it's all part of the experience!

I love it.

Enjoying the Ride

Wow! We just got back from Berlin yesterday afternoon, and I am so glad we were still able to go after everything with my tooth dilemma. It was a long ride there but so worth it to see all of the amazing art, learn about different histories and cultures, and just have fun together! We didn't have much time there, but we rocked that city! With serious planning and lots of energy, we were able to see just about everything our hearts desired! ;)

The first thing we visited once we got there was Potsdamer Platz, the "Times Square" of old Berlin. We sat down and had a lovely dinner here in the Sony Center... so cool!

Early the next morning, we went to the Egyptian Museum and saw the famous Bust of Queen Nefertiti! Seeing something that's over 3,000 years old was so surreal!

We also did the Pergamon and loved it! The audio guide was key for me because I didn't know very much history on the subject matter...

Claire and I went to a fancy organ concert in the Dom (Berlin's Cathedral)... it was so beautiful!

We also went to the upper dome of the Reichstag, which is Germany's old Parliament building.

We took turns going to the Jewish Museum, which was interesting and good to experience

but quite sad...

Although this was air-conditioned and clean, it is a model of what a claustrophobic cell in a concentration camp might've felt like:

I fell in LOVE with art when we went to the Gamaldegalerie. It was so interesting and inspiring to see these works from artists like Raphael, Rubens, and Caravaggio. I loved making my own interpretations of the paintings and then comparing what I thought with others' interpretations.

We also had a chance to see the Holocaust memorial to the murdered Jews

(about 3,000 pillars here).

We even took a minute or two (literally) at the Wall at Checkpoint Charlie!

We did ALL of that in about two and a half days... isn't that awesome?!! I was totally proud of us for being able to get it all in! While driving to and from Berlin, we stopped at this disco-fabulous German hotel because the drive was so long with all the construction and World Cup traffic. It was so sweet... disco balls EVERYWHERE, orange walls with lime green chairs, and animal print furniture = a good time in Germany! Claire and I had a blast in our room painting nails and doing other girl stuff. :)

For the next two weeks, our calendar is jam-packed full of our travel plans. Our next destination: Holland! It will be roughly four and a half hours to drive there, but the drive will be beautiful, and the kids are excited! Everyone is very excited to what the country has to offer!

As for me...

I'm just taking it all in, learning from my experiences here in Europe, and

enjoying the ride.

P.S. It's my amazing dad's birthday today! I feel so blessed to have a dad who takes such good care of us all and is the best example in the whole world. I hope you have a good one, Daddy! I love and miss you so much!