Huisjeboompjebeesje

Move over, "Yah whore," I have a new favorite Dutch expression!

Huisjeboompjebeesje. Pronounced roughly Housha-Boomsha-Baysha. Translation: Little house, little garden, little pet. In other words, living the Dutch dream.

On our first night out after Maeve was born, we were chatting with some of Pete's co-workers about having 2 kids, one boy and one girl. Someone mentioned that there was a Dutch term for that, but couldn't remember what it was. He asked our server if he knew and the server replied, "huisjeboompjebeesje?" Post-pregnancy, tipsy-after-one-glass-of-wine-me thought that was the funniest thing I had ever heard and I couldn't get it out of my mind. Meanwhile, it is not the correct term for a boy-girl combo. That is something like a Kings Pair, though I haven't been able to track down the exact expression.

Fast forward 6 weeks and we have just signed on for our 30 year mortgage with the Dutch bank! Huisje- check!, boompje- check! beesje... Actually, there is a neighbor cat who apparently likes to sun itself in our backyard and come into the house to be pet! A pet that we don't actually have to care for! Beesje- check!

So what are Dutch houses like? Being one of the most densely populated countries, the Dutch standard homes are attached row houses. Most are 3 stories and it is typical for dormers to be added to the top floor to make more space. There are no basements. We are already below sea-level! As with most homes, we have a powder room on the ground floor and a full bath on the 1st floor. Our realtor said that the Dutch find it is unusual to have more than 1 full bath for the family.

So here is a sneak peek of our huisje! We can't wait to get the keys and start moving in!

Huisje!

Woonkamer

Keuken

Boompje

Tourist Time at the Edam Cheese Market and Zaanse Schans

Having visitors in town is always a good excuse to go and do Dutch touristy things. They are things that are on our Dutch "to-do" list, but then we get too busy or just too lazy to go and do! 

On Wednesdays in the summer, the town of Edam has their traditional cheese market. Farmers arrive with their cheese by boat or horseback and bring it to the town square. The men who deal with the cheese (official name??) are dressed in white with colorful ribboned hats. The cheese is tossed two at a time and loaded onto what looks like a cheese stretcher. The cheese men strap themselves to said cheese stretcher and run it across the square to the tasting area. It is a spectacle! The cheese is then tossed again and laid out on the ground. An official cheese taster comes around and pierces into one of the balls with a corer. Then the taster gets to bartering with the farmer for the price per kilo. The two slap hands back and forth as this negotiation takes place. I don't know where the cheese goes from there! It was a hot, hot day so Pete stayed home with Maeve while Rach and I checked out the scene and wandered the cute streets of Edam. 

The cheese arriving

Cheese tossing

Cheese tossing

Farmers

Cheese running

The idea was to wear his hat, but that got lost in translation

On Thursday, we all headed out to Zaanse Schans, an attraction that boasts a large collection of preserved working windmills and houses. Rach compared it to Colonial Williamsburg, which is very accurate! Attractions included a clog making house, cheese making house, chocolate factory, diamond shop, lots of ice cream stands and of course the windmills along the water.

Bugging out over the sheer number of clogs!

We're windmills!

Maeve and the windmill

Meeting Uncle Matt at Schiphol

We expected it to be some time before Maeve got to meet her aunts and uncles so we were really surprised and excited when uncle Matt told us that he got a work assignment in Germany and would be passing through the Amsterdam airport 2 weeks ago. We drove straight from Maeve's 2 month shots and enjoyed lunch together in the airport terminal. It was a short and sweet visit, but so special to share 2 month old Maeve with Matt! 

Meeting our little smush

Lucky girl to have the love of these guys

Don't Leave us Auntie Rach!

Auntie Rach just left us after a great 2 week visit. Rach's visit seemed really long in a good way. We did a lot! We had beers at Brouwerij 'Ij, a playdate at the Ouderkerkplaas lake, an outing to the goat farm, an afternoon at the Westerpark Sunday Market, drinks out in the city, a visit to the Royal palace followed by a pancake lunch, a day trip to the cheese market in Edam and a trip to see the windmills at Zaanse Schans. And our week long trip to France and Spain of course. We closed on our house the day she arrived. A good omen for a great visit!

Rach had come to stay with me in Brooklyn when Jude was 2 months old and Pete was in Amsterdam apartment hunting. It felt like we came full circle with her visit coinciding with Maeve's 2nd month birthday! Rach loves taking pictures as much as I do, so we got lots of great family shots and photos of the kiddos being ridiculous and cute.

Ouderkerkerplaas 

Maeve's first bike ride- 8 weeks

Sunday Market

Royal Palace

Pancakes bigger than Maeve!

Rach was really hands on with Maeve and Jude as she works with kids and has nannied in the past. Her help was greatly appreciated! She would take Maeve to put her to bed, take Jude out so we could rest and invented lots of new games with our toys. She is missed already!

On a morning walk with Rach in his jammies :)

She captured lots of great family moments

Selfie with Maeve in Vondelpark while we went to Jude's montessori class