The Castle Home: Amsterdam

August 7 - 12, 2014

Between the afternoon of August 7 and the morning of August 8 all 13 of us arrived in Amsterdam. Why? So we could spend a little more time together, celebrate John's birthday, and the girls and I had never been.

Ben, Gabby, Audra, Zeke, Sofia, Ella in Amsterdam

While waiting for Lynda, Jen and me to arrive the morning of August 8 John, Ben and Gabby attempted to go to the Anne Frank House (long line) while Gordon took Audra, Sofia, Ella and Zeke out to explore Amsterdam...

'My dad would never make us do this' - Zeke

Once we were all united our first stop was lunch (involving Belgian fries of course)...

Second stop canal boat tour...

Happy Birthday John!

John, Gordon, Ben and Gabby rented bikes for an afternoon and found the bench used in the movie Fault in Our Stars. Yes, the bench has been stolen once or twice but is currently in place. Gabby and Ben refused to do the movie pose.

movie photo - top... Ben and Gabby - below

Lynda and I, without a plan, scrambled to entertain Audra, Sofia, Ella and Zeke for a few hours.

making a game of map reading - called orienteering at school!

the kids found this creepy... can't say I blame them!

destination - ice cream! We ran into Dan and O'Jer doing their own thing

No Boys Allowed!

The obligatory photos in over-sized wooden shoes...

we spent a lot of time playing on this see-saw outside a children's shop

John's birthday dinner was adult's only at Blue Pepper while Gabby and Ben were in charge and the kids watched a movie at the hotel. Dinner was so amazing it warrants it's own separate blog post (stay tuned)! Breakfast the next morning was across the street from the hotel at the kids' favorite restaurant - nutella/banana crepes!

last morning together, a little chilly!

huge Nutella/banana crepes

goodbye until next time!!

goodbye O'Jer!

...and they're off, back to the USA (sigh)

We have visited many cities in the past year but Amsterdam is Gabby's favorite because we saw it with friends. We'll have to coordinate more of our vacations to keep the peace!

After spending roughly three weeks together 24/7 the blow of saying goodbye to such good friends was softened by the fact that we still had a lot of city to explore.

National Maritime Museum - wings devoted to ship decorations, navigation instruments, yacht models and a real ship to explore. The girls liked the yacht models and exploring the real ship the best.

roof of the National Maritime Museum

maritime museum

Eye film museum - basically a glorified movie theater with special themed showings (i.e. Alfred Hitchcock, David Cronenberg). This was Sofia's favorite museum because the basement has interactive exhibits - green screen, stop motion to make a flip book, area to sample 100's of movie clips, etc.

the Eye film museum

playing on the green screen

large sculpture on the way to the Eye

The Art of the Brick (Lego exhibit) at the Amsterdam Expo - very cool, I'll cover this in a separate blog post as well.

Van Gogh Museum - Gabby liked this museum because Van Gogh has a story 'he's not just some artist'. Even though the line was long the wait was only about 30 minutes. Traditional art museum, sometimes a bit crowded for viewing artwork.

Anne Frank House - is a must see in Amsterdam even though the wait for entrance is approximately two hours thanks to the popularity of the movie Fault in Our Stars. From hiding in the 'Secret Annex' from1942-44, The Diary of Anne Frank, first published June 25, 1947, has been translated into 60 different languages. The Secret Annex rooms in the house have been left empty, as they were after everyone in hiding was arrested and their belongings carted off, to represent the void left by the millions of people who perished. Sofia (7 years) comprehended the serious nature of the museum but not all the significance of the history of WWII. An important piece of history that resonates today.

Anne Frank statue

cold, windy, wet wait in line

fancy lamp post by the Anne Frank House

Trying to introduce the girls to new food we ate at Indrapura, an Indonesia restaurant just off Rembrandt plaza, they were too tired to try much of the rice table. The next night we went with a sure thing, burgers and fries at the Burger Bar.