Family weekend in Amsterdam ♥

We just got back home to the UK from a trip to Amsterdam. Our first day in Amsterdam, we just spent a low key morning/afternoon roaming around, while I took photos of the architecture and scenery. It was a grey day, but as it was dry, we spent as much time outdoors. Over the next couple days, I took other photos of Amsterdam – which I’ll include in this blog post too.

We walked and walked… though we did ride on the tram, at the kids request and as expected, they were in heaven! When we walked through the Oosterpark, we saw the green parrots who now make that park their home. Not sure how they got there, some say they escaped from the nearby zoo … I joked that a mad scientist from the Tropenmuseum let them loose as an experiment.

Boat ride to Artis Zoo

This lady cracked me up… tons of junk hanging from her bike.

This poor guy was having a Stag weekend with all his buddies sitting in a wagon, complete with kegs of beer. They were making him walk around and get hugs from everyone!

I stopped in shops like Hema and Blokker for a quick browse and bought a few small bits for Christmas. I stayed out of the large cheese shops, which appear to be a new craze in Amsterdam. Why, as I’d buy everything!

We popped over to the Dappermarkt, nearby the atelier, where the kids ate warm stroopwaffels, smoothies and got them hooked on lompias. I wondered to the various stalls snapping photos of the cheeses, fish and meats.

Around 4 pm, we headed over to Lise & Mark’s place for dinner. Marcia & Todd, Mark’s parents were in Amsterdam for the weekend after spending a month in Italy, so it was extra special to join them, along with Nils’ siblings and their partners/children. 12 adults & 7 little ones!The kids really enjoyed playing with each other. Maebh was crazy about her big cousin Vaughn and was so happy to dress up with her & play with her play kitchen. Morrison even got in on the dressing up.

Soren took a liking to the scoot bike and spent so much time going up and down trying to balance.

After some pannenkoeken and bosse bols, they all played with the toys and the kids watch some stuff on the computer, but they were all so exhausted.

The adults enjoyed some lovely steaks cooked by Todd & pasta dish from Marcia. It was really great that we all got to be together in one place… as this year we will not all be together at Christmas.

I really love Amsterdam – full of so many cultures, history and scenery, but I can’t say I long to live there with the kids. It’s a bit like New York City, unless you have tons of money, it’s not affordable and you’d have to live way out in the burbs and not the city center, the area which I like best.Having spent the last year in quiet, North Norfolk, UK, you really forget the hustle and bustle of the big cities! Hard to believe me, the city girl in me, actually prefers this quieter lifestyle now. Ask me this in a year, I might be dying to get out of it!

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