Sunday
Payton and Corinne kindly hosted us in Houston overnight and then took us to the airport Sunday morning. We scoped out our gate and then ate at Papadeaux before getting on the airplane.
We were excited to be on our way! We had three seats together and one across the aisle, so we were all sitting together on the flight.
Monday
We arrived safely in Schiphol, with all our luggage but lacking sleep. Kamy slept for about 3 hours, Caden managed to get about 2 hours of sleep, and Keller and I were lucky to count one hour. Barbara graciously picked us up at the airport and brought us back to Posterenk.
Our arrival was on Easter Monday, which is a national holiday in The Netherlands. Traditionally the family would get together on Easter, but they pushed it back to Monday so we could be there. It was a great chance to sit and visit with almost all of the family, even if we were a little groggy. Kamy and Caden hit it off with their cousins right off the bat — they have been fast friends. Keller had a hard time staying awake and was literally falling asleep standing up. We sent him to bed early and the kids and I managed to stay up until almost dark.
We all slept long and well that night. Tuesday morning Kamy woke up about 11:15 am, while I woke Caden up at 12:15 pm! Since they’d gone to bed at 8 pm, they each had 15+ hours of sleep.
Tuesday
Today was our recovery day and it was much needed. We’re grateful that we are able to spend this week with family in Posterenk and be able to adjust to the time zone difference before hitting the ground running and being tourists in Amsterdam. Since the kids slept in, they skipped breakfast altogether. After eating, the four of us took our borrowed bicycles down to the lake Bussloo. We only went about a quarter of the way around the lake, but I wanted to take it easy and not get stuck on the other side of the lake with little tired legs. =) Caden had one mishap on a hill and not using the brakes, but once he practiced he was good to go.
After school, Gijs, Britt, and Loes came over to play. We had beautiful weather (highs in the low 60s) and they were complaining about it being too hot outside to play! Who are you?! =P Everyone has been enjoying the paint by sticker books we brought with us — especially Gijs. Gijs is very good at speaking basic English, so he and Barbara are acting as translators for the younger kids.
That evening Kamy started feeling poorly. I think the jet lag caught up to her. She’s been struggling to feel good enough to eat and spent most of the evening asleep. I am hoping she’ll recover in the next day or two.
Later Tuesday night we were invited over to Greet’s house to celebrate Marloes and Viktor’s birthdays. Since Kamy was feeling sick, we took turns visiting next door and staying with Kamy. Caden was the life of the party and played Connect Four with Linda. She was very surprised to find he’d legitimately beat her! Linda is now his 4th favorite person.
Wednesday
Today both kids slept in again. We went over to Greet’s house in the morning for tea and cake since Kamy missed out on the party the night before. Both kids played Connect Four and Greet taught me how scoring works for Yahtzee.
Barbara then picked us up to take us to Twello. She had arranged with Gijs’ teacher for us to visit the school and see the cousins’ classrooms at school. It was a little overwhelming for Kamy and Caden, but they were troopers and enjoyed spending time with everyone. From there we went to their home for lunch. The kids were amused to learn that chocolate sprinkle sandwiches were on the “menu”! Caden tried many different iterations, including bread with a nutella and vanilla swirl spread, topped with chocolate sprinkles. What could be better for a kid?! And this counts as lunch?!
Kamy was still feeling weak and nauseous, so I stayed at the house while she napped and everyone else went to the local indoor pool. Caden LOVED it! There were many different sections, including a large slide. Caden collected quite a following too — a group of 6-10 older girls found his english and accent cute and formed his little entourage. The photos Keller sent me were hilarious! Caden’s pretty outgoing and not shy, so he happily answered their questions and played with them until it was time to go.
As soon as Barbara dropped us back at Roelof’s house, Caden asked if he could go next door to Greet. We made him wait until after dinner and then messaged Greet to see if she was available and wanted company. She said yes, so Caden helped Greet and Ap with some chores and then played Connect Four, Tic Tac Toe, and Zilch until it was time to come back for bed.
Thursday
Thursday was a more typical Dutch weather day — colder and raining off and on all day long. We stayed at Roelof’s home all day and took it easy. Kamy is still feeling down, but a little better than on Wednesday. Caden has been a bit restless, but they are both interested in playing Zelda on the Switch, so that’s been a convenient distraction for colder days.
Friday
Keller arranged to borrow a car from Barbara and Pierre Friday morning to go to a local theme park called Walibi. Since Kamy was still not 100%, he just took Caden with him while Kamy and I stayed home. Kamy was not a fan of this decision, but we need her back to normal before we hit the ground running in Amsterdam next week.
Keller and Caden had a blast! They biked to Twello first thing in the morning and then Pierre drove them to Walibi. It was right at freezing for their bike ride, so they had to bundle up! The weather did warm up through the day, but it was still pretty cold when they did the log flume and got wet!
Keller and Caden took turns choosing what to ride, but since it was not very busy, they were able to ride everything they wanted to in the time they spent there.
They had doner kebabs for lunch, while Keller choose poffertjes (small pancakes cooked in round griddles with powdered sugar and chocolate) and Caden choose a waffle with whipped cream and chocolate candies.
Keller talked Caden into trying the big wooden roller coaster, Robin Hood. I’m so glad he did it because it was his favorite ride of the day and he chose to ride it a second time! Keller’s favorite was Goliath, a smaller similar roller coaster to the Millennium Force coaster at Cedar Point in Ohio.
They then drove Barbara’s car back to Twello and then biked to Roelof’s house just in time for dinner. Friday was the first day that Kamy had eaten dinner since arriving in The Netherlands, so she was definitely feeling better. Keller and Kamy then took the bikes to Twello in search of ice cream. Unfortunately they just missed the ice cream store closing time, so they went to the Jumbo super market instead and picked out some chocolate instead.
Saturday
Saturday morning, all four of us went to the pool Schaeck in Twello (via bicycle) to swim! Since Kamy missed swimming on Wednesday and the amusement park on Friday, we wanted to make a special point of getting to the pool. They had open swim from 10:30-12, and Barbara met us there with Gijs, Britt, and Loes. Kamy loved the big slide and spent most of the time playing in the water with Gijs. Caden found a group of 4 girls who followed him around for a while. Keller has a new friend in Loes. Her nickname was Loes Poes Appelmoes, but Keller changed it to Loes Goose Appelmoes, which she thought was hilarious!
After swimming we stopped at the windmill in town. Windmills and bicycles, very Dutch indeed!
We also stopped at a little store in Posterenk for ice cream. Both kids chose bubble gum flavored ice cream, while I chose strawberry and Keller had vanilla with chocolate bits. We were the first American guests since it changed ownership, so they were excited to see us and wanted to take our pictures too. =)
Later that afternoon we took the bikes to Janny and Frans’ home in Bussloo for the family barbecue! Family cookouts are one of Keller’s favorite Dutch traditions, and since we had such nice weather, we were able to fit it in! The weather was perfect too — 70* with a light breeze and mostly sunny. Nearly everyone in the family was able to come and we all had a great time. Keller loves the social aspect of standing around to cook your meat, so he is hoping we can replicate it at home at some point. =)
The cousins all played together and had a blast!
At the end of the barbecue, we said goodbye “until next time” to all the family and then biked back to Roelof’s home.
It had been four years since our prior trip to Holland and three years the time before, so if that trend holds we’ll be back around 2021 or 2022. We’ll see! We had a wonderful time with family, the kids loved playing with Gijs, Britt, and Loes, and it was a great way to kick off our Europe adventure!