Holland Bucket List: Kinderdijk? Check! Rotterdam? Check!

Tell me.  What do you think of when you think of Holland {or the Netherlands}?

Clogs.  For sure.  Tulips?  You bet.  Windmills...of course.

And so we went to the touristy locale known for windmills, Kinderdijk.

 J#4 checking the joint out.  Like father, like son, right?  

According to the Kinderdijk website, this location is home to the most windmills in one location. 

  The 19 windmills were built in 1740 and are still in working order. 

  J#4 excited to be out of the stroller for sight-seeing, finally.   I guess she likes the view. 

Next up on our whirlwind day of touring?

Rotterdam.

The plan was to go to the Euromast (below)...that way we could see the WHOLE city, from high up.  But a certain two year old and a certain seven month old had other thoughts in mind.  They were hungry, and they made sure we knew.  So we decided to head right to the last stop on our itinerary.

The zoo.  Don't be fooled by the raccoon below.  

 Really, we were at the zoo.  And raccoons were the first animal we saw.   

J#1 and I were a bit skeptical. What would be next?  Squirrels???

The interesting thing about the raccoons?  They were right next to the cafe.  So I am left wondering if they let them out in the evening to clean up any mess left from zoo visitors during the day? 

Alright...moving on. 

 J#3 was excited about the raccoons.  And the polar bears.  And the elephants.  Pretty much everything.

 J#4 was a bit more interested in her toes.  

{Evidently J#1 was trying to get my attention from down by the polar bear pool while I was taking these pictures.  Oops.  Guess she distracts me.}

 I had a few photography fails this day.  #1, I didn't bring my zoom lens with.  See those two polar bears on the hill?  I could have gotten MUCH better photos of them playing with that lens.  

 Seriously, the prairie dogs were adorable.  

 Cute enough to get featured twice. 

 J#4 got to sit in the front of the stroller.   She seemed to be "getting the hang of it" here.  

She was a big fan though.  

 This, here, is photography fail #2.  I am evidently not practiced enough to change my settings quickly when in a half inside/half outside location.  Do you see how close this giraffe is?  Would have been an AWESOME photo if I had the settings right. 

And how about this baby giraffe?  Precious.

And then how about this baby?  One of her new faces.  Getting a little personality, I tell you. 

Get ready for it.

The messiest fountain at any zoo I have ever seen.

Ready?

Here you go...

 Eeew...

And J#3 and my favorite animal in the place....the elephants.

It was a bit of a walk to see these guys.  I was told that it was lucky I said that was my favorite.  Hehe...

The animal I was most surprised to see?  A hyena.

But unfortunately, they weren't laughing.

Holland Bucket List: an update & Den Bosche

Okay folks, so lets get real here for a minute.

There are only so many days in a month.  Real life creeps in, with work travel and rainy days.  Moves get a bit more defined, and weekends identified to do this and that.

So a few changes to the Holland Bucket List have to be made.  What's going to change?

1. The Museum of Bags & Purses in Amsterdam.     Headed here on Sept. 23, since we need to be in Amsterdam for our biometric fingerprints that day 
2. The Hague Completed August 2011
3. Madurodam (a.k.a "Holland in a nutshell").   Completed August 2011
4. Den Bosche Completed April 2011
5. Rotterdam  Planned for today, Saturday Sept. 10
6. Maastricht  Maybe, maybe not...
7. Kinderdijk Planned for today, Saturday Sept. 10

So, essentially, we are probably taking Maastricht off the list.

And Den Bosche?  Well, the kids and I have actually been there.  Its a charming town not too far from where we are living, and we wanted to get to spend more time there, but such is life, right?  

The best part of our visit to Den Bosche was that we were with a Netherlands native, so as we toured one of the churches there she was telling us of how she had been baptized there.  Cool, right?  

This is the main market area in Den Bosche.  Their market takes place on Wednesday, and it sounds like it is awesome.  Also, they are supposed to have scrumptios Bosche Bollens (cream puffs), so if you have the chance to visit...make sure to try them. 

Can you tell these photos are from before I took my photography course?

Den Bosche is a charming town, with a truly European feeling to it.  Oh, and J#3 got to visit with some old friends. 

 

 Looks like Arthur might be telling him some sort of secret here, doesn't it?

So there you have it.  Today we are off to Rotterdam and Kinderdijk.  Windmills, here we come.

Merry-go-rounds and jellyfish. So much to "sea".

Our Sunday in Den Haag (or The Hague) continued from all things small (Madurodam's miniature Holland attractions) to all things BIG.  


Big, like the North Sea. 

I made a big deal about how this was J#4's first trip to an ocean or sea.  Insisted on a photo for her to remember it by. 

Hello, wind.  

Then I realized it was J#3's first trip to an ocean or sea too.  Luckily we had plenty of photos of him enjoying the warm breeze (and Daddy's shoulders) too. 

Both kids have me beat.  My first trip to the ocean was when I was nine.  On a trip to Florida and the infamous Disneyworld. 

We saw a couple of jellyfish that had ended up on shore.  I don't think I have ever seen a jellyfish in person (except behind glass at aquariums). 

Whenever I see or hear about jellyfish, I think of that one episode of Friends. You know which one I mean, don't you? 

This is our beautiful Den Haag host, Ruth.  We went to the same grade school and high school.  Both from the same suburb in Minnesota.  And we both ended up across the world in the Netherlands.  Talk about a small world, huh? 

And this is some random Dutch gentleman who evidently felt like he wanted to be featured in my blog.  Ha. Well, here you go sir. 

The boardwalk had a merry-go-round, which any fully equipped boardwalk should have.  J#3 has a love/hate relationship with merry-go-rounds.  For some reason, he HATES being on the horses that go up and down at the same time as he is going around in a circle.  But, luckily this one had a few seats that were stationary.  

He started out really excited about the elephant, but had last minute doubts, evidently.  So he had to wait for the next go around.  That gave him and Daddy some more time to figure out the perfect seat. 

An old fashioned car, it is.  I don't know how he could see where he was going with that foggy windshield.  

And then the ride ended.  You know what is coming, don't you? 

Poor boy.  But at 3 Euros (yes, THREE Euros) a ride, this would be a once in a lifetime experience for him. 

But, he got over it pretty soon.  Cause he got to ride a tram back to our car.  

This was about our fourth or fifth tram ride of the day.  So J#4 was an expert.  And after no nap, finally sat down to take a rest.  

Before heading out we checked out the sites of Den Haag from Ruth and her husband Adam's apartment.  12th floor, lucky girl. 

 That big building?  The Peace Palace.  Beautiful building.  

On a clear day, with this view, you could see the sea.  How awesome is that?? 

Pretty cool, although I think J#3 would probably be more excited about hanging out with their puppy. 

2 out of 7 items completed on the Holland Bucket List.   Guess it is time to make some more plans... 

So, what do you remember about your first trip to the ocean (or sea)?  

Miniature sights, big fun!

We checked off two items on our Holland Bucket List yesterday.   Good multi-tasking, right? 


First up, Madurodam.  


This place was huge.  Most of the well-known Dutch sights all in one place. 

 At a scale of 1:25.  Perfect J#3 size. 

Love the little playground. 

We had to hold him back a few times.  At one point he may have moved around some of the cars. 

This place is a two-year-old boy's dream. 


Planes... 

Trains & trams... 

...and automobiles. 

Check out the size of these fish below.  I think they might be used to being fed by passerby's. 

There was a Mars factory, that for the small price of 10 cents, would deliver you a chocolate.  

And of course we had to get a photo of the only Eindhoven site.  See the UFO type building?  That is a convention center that is here in town.  

Essentially, we could have gotten through most of the places on our Holland Bucket List at Madurodam.  But that just wouldn't be as much fun as the real things, right? 

Heading to Madurodam continues to verify a thought I have.  I am pretty sure little boys are preprogrammed and have radar to locate all planes, trains, trams and construction equipment within their hearing or sight.  Are you with me on that???