Sint Maarten and the Arrival of Sinterklaas

Two Dutch holidays and the accompanying festive spirit have been a welcome distraction from the events of this week. 

On Friday, we celebrated Sint Maarten with friends in Amstelveen. This was our first year participating in this sweet evening with Jude. Children make lanterns, attach light sticks and go door to door singing Sint Maarten songs in exchange for sweets. Jude had made a lantern at school and practiced the song. Here he is walking the halls of ISA at the end of the day singing the one song we know well. 

                                  

Since our time here, it seems that God smiles upon the Dutch. For almost every major holiday and time when you would want to have good weather, there is good weather. Never mind that it was grey and rainy all week, come Friday, the sun was shining in time for the children to have their night. 

We joined my two Sarah friends and their children. First for a picnic tea/playdate and then for walking around their neighborhood.

Jude would march up to the doors, singing the song. The owners wait 'til the song is done and then present the treats, a bit different from Halloween where the candy is immediately available. Jude would turn to me and ask, "where is my treat?" The usual Halloween-type candy was given out as were mandarins, marshmallows and licorice (a Dutch staple that I can't get into).

Back at home, there were still some children going around our neighborhood and Jude was equally excited for them to come to the house and sing to us.

After the kid-centered evening, I took some me time and went into the city to hear Zadie Smith read from her new book, Swing Time. She is currently living in NYC and said how glad she was to be away from there and in Amsterdam. Right now, me too.

Yesterday, Sinterklaas arrived in Amstelveen and someone was a wee bit excited :) It snuck up on me this year and I am mentally preparing for the next 3 weeks of Sint mania. Our friends came up from Delft to see some of the Northern European soccer tournament at Pete's school and then join us for the Amstelveen parade. Every year I wait to see if things will be different with the zwarte piets in light of the media attention they receive, but black face prevailed again this year in Amstelveen.

Jumping on the sofa wearing boots is not generally allowed around here...

Power cord, not tail :)

The piets were literally throwing kruidnoten and candies at Maeve in her stroller!

He's here! Riding on his horse, Amerigo, accompanied by the Swiss Guard (??)

Baby smiles to brighten any dark day

Weekend in London Town

Last weekend, we went to London to visit our friends Sarah, James and Isabel. We wanted to squeeze in another visit with them before their son arrives in a few weeks time. Jude and I went solo the last time and Pete was happy to get to join this time around. He'd only spent 2 days in the city on his way to visit me the summer after college back in 2005. We didn't make it to Abbey Road as he'd wanted- next visit! 

The flight time couldn't be shorter (45 minutes once you are in the air), but the whole journey was quite tiring both ways. We are in week 3 of Jude's new disagreeable phase. He thinks that telling us "no," not listening and running away are hilarious. We were long overdue for this toddler phase, but it is hard to welcome it none the less. 

We had a heck of an immigration line to wait in once we arrived at Heathrow. To keep Jude from running away, we let him go to town with the queue ropes. Other passengers were given us looks, but the official seemed not to care so we let him at it. 

Thankfully with the late bedtime from travel, the kiddos slept in Saturday morning so we felt refreshed and ready to do some sightseeing. Two different Amsterdam friends suggested a visit to Borough Market combined with a stroll along the South Bank so that is what we set out to do. 

Waiting for the tube

Mind the Gap

Not to be left out. 

Fueled up on crepes

St. Paul's cathedral with Millennium bridge in the foreground. The church that was the scene of my "Thanksgiving Day miracle" in 2002. My high school friend, Aimee, was studying abroad in London and a group of us went to visit her. We got separated while sightseeing after our plans to meet at Big Ben failed. So I spent the day wandering the city on my own, wondering how I would get back to the apartment, would they be there to let me in? As I was walking to visit St. Paul's cathedral, I ran into my friends! We ran to each other and hugged like we hadn't seen each other in years. Passersby must have been very confused at our dramatic reunion. 

The last time Pete was crossing Millennium bridge, he was donning a massive backpackers pack, it was 2am and he found himself on the wrong side of the Thames from his hostel. He literally is lost when traveling without me. 

A different kind of "pack"

Both kids were sleeping peacefully until we walked under a bridge with a busker blaring reggae music. A second later, Jude jolts awake, careens out of the stroller and demands, "go back to the tunnel. I want to dance." 

Borough Market did not disappoint. It was a scene and hard to push our way through, but we were rewarded with mulled wine, a sandwich stuffed full of duck confit and a delicious, creamy donut. 

Jude was getting very antsy as we stopped in a cafe to feed Maeve. We kept him in control with talks of going to see "London Bridge Falling Down." He was a bit disappointed to find that the bridge is in fact not falling down. 

We were all happy to get back to Sarah and James' where the kids could play and the adults could get ready for our dinner out after the babysitter came. Saturday was Guy Fawkes Day (AKA Bonfire Night) in the UK. A day to celebrate the foiling of a plot by Guy Fawkes to blow up parliment. In addition to bonfires where effigies of Guy Fawkes are burned, this is celebrated with fireworks all over the city, including in the next door neighbor's garden. This unfortunately made bedtime with Maeve a bit difficult, though it was great for Jude and Isabel as it was dark early enough that they got to see some from the windows.

Fights over who got to rock Maeve

Jude was introduced to The Wiggles

The week after day lights savings, the kids' normal 6am wake up became 5am and with the hour difference to London, this was 4am :( So Sunday morning was off to a rough start after a late night out for the adults and then a ridiculously early morning. We had plans to meet up with my (second) cousin, Sam and family who also live in London. Knowing that Jude was going to crash well before noon, we convinced them to come to us and met for brunch at Pizza East in Notting Hill. Jude managed to stay awake and enjoyed meeting his (third?) cousins.

We all got a much needed afternoon rest and headed to the playground before the rain *forced* us into a nearby pub. I think Pete would have been disappointed if his visit to England didn't include a pub visit.

Pub sillies

Then it was back to Pizza East for a dinner with all of the kids. Maeve only slightly lost it when the evening became too much for her. Thankfully we had a lot of adults to pacifier her until the bigger munchkins were done eating.

Isabel refusing to hold Jude's hand. Learning about rejection early. Also, thank goodness for the cross walk signs. All weekend, I had no idea where to look and crossed every street with my head whipping left and right, right and left not knowing where cars would be coming from!

Jude with Sarah and James. 

We had an afternoon flight on Monday so there was time for a morning outing sans kids thanks to Sarah's nanny. The adults walked through Notting Hill while the kids hit the playground. 

Isabel shares Jude's love of Peppa

When we were planning our trip, I thought it would be fun to see some of the sights from Love Actually, especially with the holiday season coming up. Google informed me that the sweet scene of Mark "caroling" at Juliet's house was in Notting Hill on St. Luke's Mews so we took a stroll through this utterly charming street. 

Then it was time to say goodbye to our friends. We look forward to seeing them again with their new edition!

Jude loved this lemur at Heathrow. He tried to convince him to come on our flight to Amsterdam!

Tears from Across the Ocean

I woke up with Maeve at 4am (10pm EST). I came back to bed, ready to check my phone for an update, but Pete was already awake and told me that it was not looking good and that he wished he hadn't looked because he knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. I slept fitfully from 4:30-6 and had nightmares about Trump being elected President. Only when I awoke at 6 and saw the news updates did I realize the nightmare is our new reality. I sat watching BBC live as the Presidency was called at 8:45am, in shock and in tears. Maeve was up from her nap and I walked her over to day care and sobbed to her nanny about the sadness of today.

It can not be a coincidence that today is 9/11/16 (the euro way), that a black cat we have never seen before ran across the street and into our home and that Pete broke two of our plates making breakfast. It is a dark day in history and I only pray that my worst fears about what a Trump Presidency means do not come to pass.

I am in need of a real hug from some fellow Americans this morning, but will settle for all of the "virtual" hugs in the form of others' shock, sadness and disbelief being expressed on facebook. At least all of my friends feel the way that I do today. And while you all have to live in a country with a President you are unhappy about, we will have to apologize again and again to all those we meet. It makes me shudder thinking about presenting our US Passports at border crossings and the open disdain people are going have for us. How long will it take until I am proud to be an American again??

Every fall in the Netherlands, there is a ceremonial "Prinsjesdag" or Budget Day. In addition to announcements on the changes in laws and budget, the King makes a speech. When I read it a few months ago, a section at the end really stuck with me and I wanted to share it with you (google translated, so not the best English).

"In the Netherlands, long fought for a number of democratic values, including the separation of church and state, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. In our country men and women are equal before the law and we make no distinction as to race, creed or sexual orientation. Anyone who wants to live in our country, should respect these values and comply. No one is asked to deny their own origin or culture, but the constitutionally defined standards can not be questioned and against intimidation and violence crackdown."

And yes, for those angry enough to considerate an exodus from the US, the Netherlands is an amazing place to live. I come across job openings daily from international companies with headquarters here. You can join the facebook group Amsterdam Business Mamas to see openings if you really want to contemplate a move. 

Peace and Love to everyone today. This too shall pass. 

Election Night Bedtime Story

As we were driving home from visiting a friend this afternoon, the Dutch radio station began giving the news... "blah, blah, blah, Amerikaans, blah, blah Hillary Clinton, blah, New York." "They said New York," says a very attentive Jude in the back seat. "Why?" We had yet to talk to him about the election back home and figured tonight was as good a night as any!

Our simplified story began like this:

"Today in America where Nana, Pops, Oma and Opa live, everyone is voting to see who will be the next President. The person who will make important decisions for America and for the world. There is a lady running named Hillary Clinton and she is a nice, smart, kind lady with good ideas. Then there is a man named Donald Trump who is rude, doesn't share his toys and is not nice to people. We really want the lady to win." Daddy chimes in, "The lady is also a mommy and it would be really good to have a mommy as President. Isn't mommy the best?" "Yes. Tell the story again, Mommy. Tell me the story about the lady winning."

Though miles away, we are feeling the anxiety today. It will be strange going to bed a in few hours having no idea the fate of our country. I will likely find out when I'm up to feed Maeve in the middle of the night. I asked Pete if I should wake him. "Only if it's good news," he says. As I put Jude to bed, I lay snuggling him until he was fast asleep, praying that we will awake to good news in the morning especially for his and Maeve's sake.

We have 2 counted absentee ballots for Florida and #Wearewithher! Goodnight and God Bless America!