Travel Daze

Well, I must say, that our journey here went without a hitch. Well. Maybe not without any hitches, but certainly not with any major hitches. The flight to Amsterdam was pretty much a dream. Go Lufthansa! In-seat, personal entertainment even in the economy seats. Happy kids. Happy parents.

We had two nights in Amsterdam, in a Marriot hotel. So, it didn't exactly ooze old-world charm. But, it was pretty damn spacious and the price was right. For old-world charm we spent a day in "downtown" Amsterdam. It was freakin' cold and we were really not prepared for it (we had fleeces & rain jackets). But we really had to get the kids out of the hotel room. We would have driven each other crazy. Or at least I can assure you, they would have driven me crazy.

Since we weren't really dressed for the cold, and we didn't want to hear the kids complaining -- about the cold, & about walking -- we opted to take a canal cruise. I thought it would be perfect: It's a boat, it is covered and warm & we would get to see the beauty of Amsterdam. I quite loved it. The kids were squirrelly and kept asking when we could go back to the hotel room. Sheesh. Lord knows what they thought would be fun about *that*! Anyway, when they got too squirrelly, we played rock-paper-scissors. They loved it and giggled madly. Later that day, Jasper said that was the best part of the whole day. I guess we should have saved our euros and stayed in the hotel and played rock-paper-scissors all day. Screw it. I loved Amsterdam and was glad to have seen it. Squirrelly kids be damned.

One of my favorite memories from our time in Amsterdam was our first dinner there. We went down to the restaurant. We were all exhausted, starving and a little bit nauseated in that way that only jetlag can make you. We chose a few things from the menu that we thought the kids would eat. Maddox had been wiggling around in his chair and Mark and I were taking turns chastizing him and trying to get him to sit the way one is supposed to sit in a restaurant. And then we realized he was doing it! He was sitting still! Ha. He had fallen asleep. He slept straight through dinner. He was so cute slumped down in his chair with his little hoody pulled up. One look and any residual irritation evaporates at the site of the curve of his back. Sweet.