Visiting the Palace in Amsterdam, Delft, Haarlem and the coast.

We took a couple of days off early this week and watched Parliamentary Day on t.v. Tuesday. The kids enjoyed watching the King and Queen ride in the golden carriage to Parliament and looking at all the outfits for the ladies (especially the hats!) We went to the Coast on Wednesday, Delft on Thursday, Friday to the Palace in Amsterdam and Saturday we headed into Haarlem. Today (Sunday) is another day off for laundry and packing, as we head to the south part of the country on Monday.

We were happy to play at the beach on Wednesday as the weather was warm and the water was a nice temperature. Much different than at home! At home the water tends to be very cold all year long (so is the temperature so we don't get to just lay about most of the time)!

 

 



Dominic got over his dislike of sand and had a ball getting wet and dirty! The girls were pretty happy with playing in the waves most of the time we were there. We were there early enough that while there was a bit of people enjoying the sand, surf and sun it wasn't overly crowded. I have to say I do love the amount of open air restaurants in The Netherlands! So nice to sit out in the sun for a bit to eat! We also drove through some beautiful scenery on the way and I would love to go back to the area and walk around taking a lot of pictures! May have to do that with just the hubby should we have a day we need to kill towards the end of the trip!
Delft is a fun place to visit as well, and not so crowded as trying to get around in Amsterdam most of the time. I haven't been there the last few trips so in reality it's been almost 12 years since the last time I was there! We visited the old church and the new church (which is still very old, just not as old as the old church!).

 

My husband of course is very good about sharing his knowledge of  Dutch history with the girls and enjoyed going around in side the churches and explaining what everything is. In the Old church we found ourselves followed by one gentleman who was a bit older but seemed to enjoy getting a "tour" from Hans while he explained to the girls what things were. In the New Church I was approached by another gentleman who said that he could follow Hans around all afternoon and listen to him explain what everything was and thought my husband would make a good tour guide! So if  the science business goes bust there is always guiding tours in his future! I have more pictures of Delft but they are actually on the ipad so I'll add those in later!

Friday we walked around the Palace in Amsterdam while the girls did their "treasure hunt" for it as well. I'm so glad to see that the places we are visiting are now getting an idea of things to do to keep the kids busy while exploring and learning about the exhibits. The girls really loved listening to the information given by the "prince" as we walked around. They were able to find all the clues for the treasure hunt and have a fun little memory of visiting. All of those pictures are also on the Ipad so those will be added soon as well.

The next day we took the Bus into Haarlem, a trip we do every time we are in the area. A favorite place for me and I hope for the kids as well! We got there grabbed a couple of coffee's for the hubby and I, A cookie for the girls and off we went! With it being Saturday I was thinking we would be there for their open air market and we were!

We had a fun time walking around the open air market and bought a few things. Including a fun purse for me, a bracelet and necklace for Kaitlyn and a bracelet for Arianna from a Turkish merchant.

I'll take a better picture of the purse later and add in the pictures of the girls new things as well. We got home to have dinner and celebrate Kailtyn's birthday a little early. Next weekend we celebrate Arianna's birthday either a little late or right on time, I'm not sure! LOL.

We have a busy week coming up with a trip to the south and a short jaunt into Germany as well. Looking forward to seeing some new area's!