Amsterdam? Check!

Back to the bucket list.  After all, that is the reason for this blog, right?

This past weekend we took a trip to Amsterdam.  It is actually our second trip there in about two months, but since the first was just to get J#4's passport and American citizenship set up, I wasn't going to "count" that.

This time, we headed to Amsterdam on Thursday night, spent Friday walking and touring around the city, and headed to the beautiful Keukenhof Gardens on Saturday.

We started our jammed packed Friday taking care of some business.  J#1 actually had to get more pages added to his passport, so while he headed to the consulate, J#3 did some...

climbing...

 and sliding. 

Then we headed to the Van Gogh Museum.  We are not big art museum folks (I know, gasp, right?), but seeing has how Van Gogh was born here in the Netherlands, we thought it would be prudent to check out the museum.  Since they aren't able to put a lot of his work on display, there was actually just one floor of Van Gogh pieces, so we weren't there for a very long time--which was probably a good thing since two-year-olds generally don't have a lot of patience for looking at pictures (that they can't touch) on the wall.

The line at the museum 10 minutes before opening

Waiting for the museum to open, before we decided to wait
and come back later in the day

The museum.  You know, since you can't take photos inside.

We actually got there before it opened, and there was a huge line waiting already to get in.  We decided we wouldn't have time to make the trip worth--and thought lines would be shorter-- it at that point before J#1s appointment, so we came back after he was done.  Low and behold, the lines were STILL long.  No worries, though, I had bought tickets online before we headed out of town.  Would wholeheartedly recommend that to anyone.  It was awesome skipping the line, and just walking right up to the entrance.

After the museum, we stopped for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, because that is just what we do when we are in a city with a Hard Rock Cafe.  Then headed out walking around town.

Of course, had to get the obligatory canal photo. 

Our plan was to check out the Anne Frank Museum.  The wait to enter there is generally about an hour or more, so I had tried to buy tickets online for that as well--but they were all sold out!!  That will teach me to wait until the week of the trip to buy tickets.  But we did walk over there, just so that we knew we had seen it.

The actual house is the 2nd building from the left;
the museum is on the far right.

After that, we walked back towards our hotel, which was in the Centrum, and did some shopping.  Yes, I bought J#3 a wooden clog coin bank.  I mean, she was born here, right?

 More on the Keukenhof Gardens tomorrow.  The Gardens deserve their very own post.  Here is a bit of a preview: