First Day of School

 Last Thursday was the first day of the new school year, though still just half-days for the first week as in past years. We have a very excited Owl and Shark this year! Both kids are with a few friends from last year. In addition, Maeve has her assistant from last year in her class and Jude has one of my friends as one of his teachers! So we feel the kids are in good hands and hoping that they make some good new friends this year, too!

This is Pete's 15th year teaching and first as the head of the science department. To help ease the stress of the new responsibility, we have signed the kids up for the school "bus," quite easily the most luxurious service out there. At 7:45am a 9 passenger Mercedes van picks the kids up from our house, delivers them to school where they are taken to a supervised area and then walked to their classes at the start of the day. At the end of the day, the kids are walked to their bus and delivered home just after 4. The service is costly, but is a benefit for teachers. It allows Pete to get into school early and to stay late instead of rushing with the drop offs and pick ups. It also saves me from the hassle and stress of pick ups on the days when Pete has meetings after school. Needless to say, we are very pleased and life is that much easier. I love welcoming the kids off the bus and having quiet time at home with them. I've adjusted my work schedule accordingly and we're all settling into the new routine. 

Can't wait to see how much these kids learn and grow this year!

First morning on the bus, smiles all around! 

Maeve in heaven with all of the things to make projects! 

August in Amstelveen

We returned from France on July 31st and spent all of August at home. The summer flew by while we were traveling and then once we were back, it went sooo slow! We managed to do a lot of fun things on our list, while also counting down the days until the kids could return to creche at school when Pete went back mid-August.

On our first day home from vacation, some fine Dutch summer weather.  😂 

This seemed like a fun idea, but did not end well! 

A trip to a goat farm with friends under clearer skies. The kids decided that they would like a kid for a pet! I see pros and cons... 

 

Being home allowed us to reconnect with friends before the craziness of the school year gets underway.

We spruced up our garden, which was fried in the two summer heat waves, despite our neighbors' help watering plants while we were away.

Mother nature helped water the new plants! 

A Sunday spent in Amstelpark, gathering together friends from all parts of our life here. The kids spent most of the day in the woods with their friends unsupervised. We felt like true Dutch parents. All was well except for their discovery of a dead rabbit.

Another heatwave this weekend so we headed to the beach, with friends and everyone else in the Netherlands, and probably half of Germany! I hadn't seen the beach so crowded here. And I even went swimming in the ocean here for the first time!

Den Haag Day Trip: Kinderboekenmuseum and the Noordeinde Palace

While social media has its downsides, it is very good at keeping me informed of local events. Earlier this summer someone shared that the Noordeinde Palace, the King's working palace in the Hague, would be open during the weekends in August while the Royal Family was on holiday. This was only the 4th time the palace has been open to the public so not surprisingly, tickets sold out within hours. I was on it and booked tickets to go with our friends, who unfortunately couldn't join at the last minute.

There were two tours available: of the palace and of the Royal Stables. My friend and I planned to tour the palace together in the morning while the dads and kids went to a local museum we had on our list, the Kinderboekenmuseum. In the end, Pete went to the museum on his own, but met up with our friends, Jill and Matt from Delft there. I met them afterwards, we had lunch at Five Guys :) and then we toured the stables in the afternoon.

Pete's pics from the museum:

Meanwhile... I was given an English language booklet, explaining everything about the palace and stables, which was helpful as there were docents in each room, but they were only speaking in Dutch. The palace was built in 1640 and is right in the middle of the Hague, sandwiched between other buildings. Royals lived there in the past, but when King Willem-Alexander took the throne, he turned the palace into his workplace. In typical Dutch fashion, it is rather understated compared to Royal Palaces in other, more showy, European countries. I've seen enough palaces to not be particularly wowed by this one (didn't know I was a palace snob until I just wrote that!). It was still very special to get a glimpse into the grand building and get a sense of the workings of the King.

The most spectacular room, the East Indies Room, which was built as a wedding gift  for Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik in 1901. All of the wood pieces (over 1000) were hand carved from the indigenous jati tree in Indonesia. The pieces were then shipped to the Netherlands in rough form, where they were finished and pieced together without screws or nails so the panels can warp without cracking. 

The beautiful simplicity of the ceiling mural above the Queen's Staircase was quite a surprise. It was painted in 1980. There were a number of more modern art and decorations throughout the palace.

The Marot Dining Room used by guests staying in the adjacent wing.  

The red room below is the Putti Room. The furnishings have changed a lot over the years, but the current red silk wallpaper depicting naked cherubs (aka putti) was originally from 1861 (and rewoven between 1976-1984 during a restoration. The King and Queen use the room for weekly meetings with their staff

The Great Ballroom,

The Green Antechamber was cozy and sleek

One of the many family portraits in the Gallery Room, the second largest room used regularly for dinners. 

The small ballroom  

Goofing around on our walk to lunch

The stables are actually an entire city block and includes all of the King's transportation operations. So in addition to the Royal horses that are used in the weekly horse drawn carriage rides bringing VIPs to the palace, all of the King's vehicles, buses, etc. are there. The kids were given a quiz to complete for a little prize so we had to learn some facts as we went. Thankfully we had to ask a guard which seat was the coachman's seat on the carriages on display. The guard answered our question and told us that the kids could get in the carriage (we assumed it was off limits) and then he offered to take a family photo!

The inner courtyard was huge

Royal Jeep