On April 27th, the Netherlands celebrates Kings Day wishing King Willem-Alexander a happy birthday. The holiday has a reputation for being one big crazy party, but my experience here in Delft was quite different. The reputation may hold true in Amsterdam, and perhaps even in the evenings in a student dominated town like Delft. The …
I love books. If you read this blog regularly you know I’m constantly trying to find great books that go along with our adventures. Queue a brilliant program I accidentally discovered here in the Netherlands – Wandering Books! We were sitting in a cafe in Breda when H found a whole stack of fun kids …
We love the playgrounds in Europe. I daily have to shove all the feelings of danger that (a) being American and (b) having taken a few tort classes has instilled in me. The Dutch way is to let kids experience some danger and if they get hurt then they learn from it. You won’t find …
Let me start by saying, I do not think it is a “Dutch” thing to have a farm where one buys all their diary, eggs and vegetables. I think we just got lucky. Hoeve Biesland is a family owned dairy farm that sits tucked into the woods just behind an old windmill foundation. Closer to us than any …
Last week the Washington Post parenting section published an article “Are they the world’s most relaxed moms? What we can learn from the Dutch.” My Facebook feed and e-mail exploded with people asking if the article’s premise was true. Yes. Dutch moms are incredibly relaxed. Just like the author of this article, I’m living in the Netherlands with …
We’ve had a run of bad lucky lately around here. In the course of a month we have endured the breaking of an iPhone, a computer, a car, a train and a baby. I’m really hoping we are done. Here though is a run-down of how we weathered the storm and the lessons to be learned …
I’ve been dreading Thanksgiving since we moved Holidays always seem to mark the passing of time for me. We celebrated our last Fourth of July in the states, got lost in the details of the move and before I knew it Halloween came and went. (Here is a refresher on how we celebrated.) Thanksgiving has …
We were pleasantly surprised to discover our neighborhood would be hosting an “American Style Halloween.” The Dutch, always ones to adopt the best of other cultures, have adopted Halloween and are starting to celebrate more and more. In Delft we live in one of the only neighborhoods that held a full-scale trick-or-treat on Halloween. The neighbors …
When we arrived in the Netherlands my top priority was to get us digitally connected. Jeff’s top priority was finding good places to eat. Go figure! The week on the QMII was a good digital break for the whole family. When the QMII pulled into port I was ready to get myself back up and …
If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you know I love my bike. It is currently the most Dutch thing about me. In Dutch it’s called a Mamafiets, a bike for moms. The “new to me” mamafiets, complete with two bike seats was a gift from Jeff for our seventh anniversary. He got himself a …