Marc and Malin's Thanksgiving Visit!

This year, we didn't have plans for Thanksgiving Day itself. Pete would be working and there was no cousin Jessie or auntie Gia around to celebrate with us. We made plans to celebrate on Saturday with friends so that we could get our turkey fix, but I was feeling sad about being alone on the actual day. Then our friends Marc and Malin, who are notorious for making last minute plans, decided to come and spend the holiday with us! We had just enough time to order a turkey from our local butcher. Marc is one of Pete's oldest friends and has been living with his Swedish girlfriend for years now in Stockholm so thankfully they didn't have far to travel. We were so excited to have friends to celebrate with!

They brought some Syrian appetizers and desserts to represent Marc's family traditions and lingonberry sauce to replace cranberry sauce and give us a taste of Sweden. Otherwise, it was straight-up American style with Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn bread, green beans and apple pie. Yum! Our Dutch neighbors joined us for dessert to get a small taste of the holiday. 

Jude's little hands. I will treasure these! 

Keurslager Stronkhorst (our local butcher) did it again! Another delicious turkey served warm with our own stuffing. 

Cheers, Prost, Skal! 

Malin's birthday was on Friday and we went for a 4 and 1/2 hour marathon dinner at trendy Bak! I don't think I've ever had a 4 and 1/2 hour meal, though it didn't seem that long at all, catching up with friends. It sounded scary, but the Jerusalem artichoke ice cream dessert was amazing! 

Facetiming with Malin's nieces in Sweden.

The sun came out on Saturday. We took a meandering driving tour and ended up in de Pijp. Marc and Malin got to try the dutch version of herring (not fans) and see Jude in action at the playground. 

In the end, Jude and I went to one of our planned Saturday Thanksgivings hosted by an American mom friend. What a feast and gathering of some really special people. While we were chowing down, Pete, Marc and Malin were throwing some (a lot) back at the nearby Brouwerij 't Ij. They were certainly a merry crew to pick up and drive home :) 

Kid's table. Jude lasted about 5 minutes before demanding to sit at the adult table with mommy. 

Jen's Dutch Vacay

It's been quiet here on the blog because we've been busy having fun with my college friend Jen. Jen arrived last week from Maine and left on Tuesday. We fit in a lot of sightseeing and also lots of down time to play with Jude. Jen is an auntie to two little boys and was so great with Jude. Two afternoons, when Jen was out on her own, Jude was inconsolable that she wasn't around to play with him. We explained when she left that Jen had to go home on an airplane and now he walks around saying, "Jen. Airplane." Bless him!

On Wednesday, I kept Jude in day care and took the day off work so that we could sightsee together. Wonderful day with pancakes, walking the canals, cheese tasting, shopping and the Munch/Van Gogh museum exhibit.

A gorgeous day to introduce Jen to the city.

On Friday, we showed Jen around the goat farm. A few goats escaped, but it added to the excitement.

And in the evening, we went to Oudekerk aan de Amstel for dinner and their Sinterklaas parade. Sint arrived on boat and then hopped on his horse, Amerigo, before parading the town with the Piets. Jude is pretty obsessed with Sinterklaas these days and was psyched to see him!

On Saturday, we day tripped to Den Haag (The Hague). Pete had yet to go and it had been over a year since I went with Nana and Pops. We hit up the Mauritshuis Museum to take in the great works of art, walked the streets and visited the peace palace. Then we drove to de Molen brewery, 30 minutes away. Only to find out that it is closed in November for renovations. Pete fail.

Pointing out the animals.

Jen was so great to take family photos of us!

Jude with the Pearl Earring :) 

On Sunday, Jen day tripped to Haarlem while the Durneys went to ISA's Winter Carnival and caught up on work and sleep.

Monday morning, we visited the Willet-Holthuysen Museum and enjoyed another beautiful, brisk day.

Winter blossoms!

Thanks for visiting, Aunt Jen! We hope to see you soon!

Welkom Sinterklass!

Obviously a lot changes when you have kids. Pete and I used to love to entertain in New York and have friends over for games, to help drink Pete's home brew and socialize. We've lived in the Netherlands over a year now and we had yet to throw a proper party apart from one afternoon when Pete had a bunch of coworkers over to brew beer. That had to change!

Sinterklaas arrived once again on his steamboat from Spain and paraded through our neighborhood Saturday afternoon. It was the perfect opportunity to invite my toddler group over to play and catch the action together. Sint would be arriving the following day into Amsterdam, which is a much more elaborate and crowded event. Amstelveen's parade has more small town charm, which is perfect for this age group I think.  

It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning with friends. And our apartment was back in order by nap time! There is something to be said for morning parties! 

Modeling his Sint Hat

I love this toddler stage!

Off to the parade!

Bring on the holiday season! We are so ready!

Resort Life in Greece

When booking our 7:30am flight from Istanbul to Thessaloniki, Greece, I didn't take into account that we'd need to be at the airport 2 hours early for a 1 hour flight. So we all had a very early 4:30am wakeup call to get to the airport. 

Sleepy baby ready to board.

We arrived to our destination, Ikos Oceania bright and early and before check-in. Thankfully it was a beautiful day, so we had the morning to play at the beach.

Which led to a long afternoon nap for Jude...

 And some me time by the adults-only pool...

The resort is the #1 All Inclusive in Europe on Trip Advisor. It is a very beautiful property and extreme value for the money. We got an off season rate of 120 euros/ night for our family of three. All meals, all drinks, everything included! Minibar, room service, dinners at their four a la carte themed restaurants. All included.

We enjoyed the free room service a lot.

Our first afternoon continued to be beautiful and we took advantage of their outdoor kid splash pools. Yes, it was freezing, but Jude didn't care and Oma and Opa were good sports. 

Cheers! All you can drink water, Jude :)

Oma and Opa headed to the tennis courts and we headed to beach to catch the sunset before dinner. 

Day two had a rocky start. Jude had gotten sick during the night and the following morning. I was close behind with a severe stomach bug that lasted two days. Despite our beautiful first day, cold weather and rain came in and stuck around for three days. Not the sunny beach vacation we hoped for.

It was Oma and Opa to the rescue, entertaining Jude indoors while I spent the next two days in bed. So much for the all inclusive!

Story time

Hanging out in the indoor playground, which was a big hit. 

Go away clouds!

Indoor pool time.

A sick mom and vacation was excuse enough to let Jude watch television. We watched a Winnie the Pooh episode again and again and again..

By Saturday, I was starting to feel better. Just in time for Pete and I to celebrate our 6 year wedding anniversary toddler-free at the resort's Italian restaurant.

Anniversary flowers. 

We woke to a beautiful sunrise on our final morning in Greece. The sky cleared and it actually felt hot. We soaked up our last few hours of sun at the outdoor playground and at the beach. It was so nice to be feeling better again! 

This was our first time in Greece and we had aspirations to rent a car and see some sites. In the end, the crew minus myself walked into town one day and I didn't leave the resort at all in 5 days. Not the cultural trip we are used to taking. We definitely need to go back and I hope it will not be too long!