Amsterdam Pride 2023

The pride parade was the day after the kids got home from camp and the day before we left for Austria. So while I'd wanted to go together as a family, I understood their desire to stay home and thankfully, Pete offered to stay back so I could enjoy the day with friends. 

It was a cold dreary day (the theme for the second half of July/early August), but that didn't dampen the joyful mood that Pride brings to the city. We walked the length of Prinsengracht, ending at Beth and Rory's to escape the rain and use a bathroom! 

The armed forces. A Dutch Prince was aboard this float. 

Vuurtoreneiland Dining Experience

The highlight of our kid-free week was our evening spent dining on Vuurtoreneiland. It is a culinary experience I'd wanted to do for a number of years. It has to be booked two months out (and you have to be ON it) and it is a big time commitment (6 hours not including the 40-minute travel time to and from the boat dock). I was thrilled to book a night when the kids would be away so that we could make this happen. 

We boarded the boat east of Central Station in front of the Lloyd hotel and sailed an hour to the island, which is in the Ijmeer. We passed through locks to leave the Ij river, which was really cool. 

Snacks and drinks on board.

The island in sight! 

Vuur- Fire

Toren- Tower

Eiland- Island

After arriving on the island, we were given time to explore and then find our table in the glass restaurant. 

Very happy to be seated facing the tower (and Pete of course ;)) with the sunset on my right.

Let the 6 courses begin! The food is prepared over open flames.

There is a herd of mangy wild sheep on the island.

The changing sky was enchanting.

The star course- mullet

Between courses, we were encouraged to come and go freely from the restaurant to admire the scenery.

Nearing the end.

Goodbye Vuurtoren! 

While the Kids are Away, the Parents Will Play

I'm not going to lie, I was the most excited for the kids' 6 days and 6 nights away at summer camp. Love them to pieces, but parenting breaks are so important, especially after spending every day of the previous 6 weeks with the kids.  

We took full advantage of our free time, fitting in work, house projects, a day trip to hike in the dunes, hosting friends for dinner, seeing the Barbie movie, and spending 4 nights out on the town. 

Night one- dinner at Sjefietshé (pronounced Ceviche) and drinks with friends at Bar Mokum, a cocktail bar that's been on our list for a long time. 

Day 2- Hiking in Schoorl. I'd done the hike to the beach cafe 2 years ago with friends and was excited to do it with Pete. It was a beautiful day and only when we reached the cafe did a short storm pass through. 

Hiking through pine forest, heather fields, and sand dunes.

Beautiful, moody skies over the beach

And we saved the best for last, dining on Vuurtoreneiland the night before the kids came home!  Fingers crossed the dates of camp next year work out with our Olympics plans! 

Dutch Sleep Away Summer Camp

After we returned home from the US, it was back to work for me after a long hiatus. Pete kept the kids busy with playdates and outings. And we all prepared to send the kids off to their first sleep-away camp the following week! 

First up, long overdue haircuts! Sorry to everyone in the US who didn't get to see this cute face behind the mop of hair. 

Maeve planted a vegetable garden as a group project in 1st grade. She was looking forward to returning to school with Pete over the summer to check on her crops. This one has a natural green thumb! 

Having had such a positive experience myself as both a camper and camp counselor at a sleepaway camp, it was an experience I wanted for the kids. I hadn't heard much about overnight summer camps in the Netherlands until speaking to a neighbor a year ago who sent her kids to a camp an hour and a half away. Her daughter is one of our babysitters and we found out that she was going to be going to the camp as a counselor. We thought with her there, the kids would feel more comfortable. First overnight camp in a language not their own; it was a lot to ask of the kids. We didn't let any of our own apprehension show and excitement levels were high as we prepped for the camp over the week. 

Christmas in July ;)

The camp is a non-profit that gives kids a camp experience who may not otherwise get the opportunity. Those who can pay help offset the costs for those who cannot. Exposing our kids to socioeconomic diversity is really important to us to counter what they see through their private school experience. After we expressed our interest in attending the camp, a social worker through the program came to our house to meet the kids and give them a glimpse of camp life through a power point presentation. That also helped put us all at ease. There were some 30+ kids at the camp and 15+ volunteer grownups during the week. 

The kids were all bused from Amsterdam Zuidoost on a Saturday afternoon. We awkwardly stood around with the other nervous kids and parents. Maeve was one of the youngest kids there, but I noticed another girl her age and learned that she spoke English. We hugged the kids and they bravely got on the bus. A few minutes later, I looked in and saw Maeve crying. The little girl who spoke English was seated behind her so I told her to sit with her and a minute later, Maeve was happily chatting away with her new friend. We felt a lot better waving them off. 

Brave kiddo. Best big brother. I don't know if I would have sent Maeve off to camp if he wasn't there with her. 

The kids loaded up boats with their belongings and boated over to the camp on the Belterwijde. The forecast for the week was terrible, but they made the most of it. 

They sent a group text each evening with some photos and a description of the day. I anxiously awaited the nightly updates, hoping things were going well. My stomach dropped when we got our first photo with Jude in it on night 2. The descriptions were upbeat so we hoped for the best. 

Shell shocked :(

The kids were able to call us if they wanted to, but we were still surprised to get a call from Maeve on the 4th night (of 6). Worried that she was calling to ask us to come get here, we were very pleased that she just wanted to chat (and chat and chat) all about camp. It was super cute. Jude got on at the end and told us about his experience as well. Both kids were homesick day 1, but were having a good time. Such sweet relief. 

And then the week was over and we were back at the bus stop, excited to see the kiddos and hear about their time at camp! 

Beautiful Maine Summer 2023

We'd really been missing Maine and were very happy to include almost a week in the Vacation State into our plans this summer. We'd only made it to Maine on 1 previous summer trip in 2018 so it was time! 

After driving through torrential rain from Western Mass, we stopped as soon as we entered Maine to get lobster rolls at Bob's Clam Hut, before continuing on to Falmouth, where we spent two nights with Tapan, Korinne, and kids. The skies had cleared and we had a nice outside dinner at their club followed by some playground time. 

The next day, we all drove to Bowdoin to see the campus and the new Artic museum. And to visit Big Top deli of course. I loved being back! Sadly, the Union was closed on the weekend so we couldn't hit up the book store, but made sure to stop later in the week on our way back to Boston. 

B. Mills (our president) now has his own building! 

The new museum is very well done. 

After lunch, we drove to Bowdoin's Coastal Studies Center to get our Maine coast fix. There were lots of beautiful hiking trails and we picked one that led down to the water. 

On one side of these rocks was a protected cove with an echo effect. 

We went back to campus to wander around a bit more before heading back to Falmouth. 

Dinner out at Portland Pie Co. followed by ice cream at Super Scoops- delish! Back at the house, we watched fellow alumn, Hari Kondabolu's hilarious YouTube special. 

The next rainy morning, we picked up donuts from Eighty 8s and headed to SoPo to visit Erin and meet her partner and baby! Then we had another drive in torrential rain up the coast to Bar Harbor for the last 5 nights of our trip! 

The first stop in Bar Harbor was Dodge Point, where we crashed yet another Ferguson family vacation! Cory's family has been coming to this part of Mount Desert Island for decades and after a few days, it was easy to see why. They had a very relaxed approach with daily morning hikes in Acadia and then chill time at the house in the afternoons. The weather wasn't great while we were there, but the hikes and scenery were still gorgeous, and the company was great. We filled the days with kickball games, low tide tidal bed exploration, games, and a challenging puzzle.

 

Ship Harbor hike (a great view somewhere out there beyond the fog).

View from the dock to the freezing sea water pool.

Delicious dinner at Sweet Pea's Farm Kitchen

Beech Mountain Hike- Super impressed with the kids and how little they complained! 

Ben's enthusiasm and all of the fresh blueberries helped.

Again, a great view out there somewhere (but completely fogged in!)

From Beech Mountain, we stopped for lunch in Southwest Harbor and then drove to the East side of the island to drive the Park Loop Road. 

Sandy Beach

Cool to watch the fog rolling in.

Sand Beach Overlook.

We also stopped at Seal Harbor beach, but there was nothing to see but a wall of fog (a total contrast to our views there a few days later!).

We went in search of lobster for our last night with the Fergusons. Archie's Lobster was the perfect spot with a large area with games for the kids to run around.  

We packed up for the second to last time and drove into downtown Bar Harbor for a day with the Hastings. They've moved into a former B&B and have a dreamy backyard. I'd seen lots of their social media posts where they host parties and roll out this huge tarp for a gigantic slip-and-slide down the hill behind their house. I was so happy our kids got to experience it. 

After lunch, we walked to the Ivy Manor Inn, one of the properties they own, which has a beautiful front garden and live music every afternoon. 

When their oldest was back from summer camp, we drove out to the Bar Harbor Yacht Club and took their boat out for the afternoon. The first job, catch fish to put in their lobster trap. At the lake, we threw back the fish we caught, and Maeve was really upset that we let these fish die. 

Headed to the trap with bets placed about whether or not there would be a lobster in it.... 

There was! Mr. Lobster came home with us as a parting gift and was delicious. 

We then boated over to Egg Rock Lighthouse to see the massive seal colony that lives there. We passed some beautiful islands with dramatic cliffs on the way. Many seals left the rocks and swam towards our boat! 

We said goodbye to our gracious hosts and drove a short distance to Laurel and Brian's new house. They moved up from Brooklyn during Covid times and have found the good life in Maine! 

They didn't get the best of us as I had discovered a rash suspicious for Lyme disease under my arm that evening and spent a good deal of time fretting, googling, calling in a favor to a family friend for an antibiotic RX, picking up the Rx, and subsequently feeling rotten from it. Pete had found a number of ticks on himself after a run earlier in the week so it was on our radar to check our skin. I'm so very grateful that the rash developed as I never saw the tick and was totally fine after a full course of antibiotics. 

Meanwhile, however, we enjoyed their scenic spot around the fire. 

We returned to Seal Harbor Beach, this time with gorgeous weather and an entire flotilla of water vessels! 

This was a very happy core memory made, sea kayaking around the harbor with my girl. Such fond memories of trips in college, sea kayaking along the coast. 

We picked up dinner (and my Rx) and went back to the Ocean Path in Acadia. This time, we had full visibility! I took the double dose antibiotic on an empty stomach and was down for the count for about 30 minutes until the nausea passed. Thankfully it passed in time for some nice group photos and then professional family photos. Check out Laurel and Brian's photography business! 

As we drove home, the sun was setting and we stopped for a beautiful show over Eagle Lake. 

A perfect end to our last evening in America!

On our last day, we meticulously packed and then hit the road down to Boston for our evening flight home. We stopped off in Brunswick for lunch at the Pub and a visit to the bookstore. 

Oma and Opa met us at Logan to get their car back and thankfully it was just "see you very soon" as we were returning the following month for Pete's grandpa's memorial service. 

Another wonderful US summer trip is in the books! Thanks again to all of our hosts this year!