Chinese Lights at the Botanical Gardens

Two weekends ago, the Botanical gardens in Utrecht opened a winter display called Chinese Lights. We knew we had busy weekends coming up so we made sure to go opening weekend. It was pretty cool and a lot bigger than we thought it would be. It was so fun to watch Elliot take in all the lights. He kept looking and saying oooo, so sweet! We took a ton of pictures so here a just a few!

The entrance

So excited

All he wanted to do was touch them

Holland scene

So cool. The reflection was awesome 

Sinterklaas

We've had so many events lately that I need to write up about and really hope to get a bunch of them down this weekend! But I have to jump ahead of all of those and write about last night.

While we were eating dinner last night we heard a loud banging on our window. We were all a bit startled and so B went to check it out and when he opened the door he was greeted by quite the surprise. His employees dressed up as Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet(Black Pete) as a surprise for us and Elliot. It was seriously so funny and super sweet of all of them to do that for us. Elliot was a little unsure of them at first but as soon as they started giving him pepernoten(traditional little such cookies that Zwarte Piet throws around) he was ok with them all. There is a lot of controversy right now over the Zwarte Piet and if it should be changed. I'm not going to weigh in on my thoughts but we definitely got the true Dutch experience last night. Hopefully, the pictures don't offend anyone and keep in mind it is the norm here.

Approaching Sinterklaas

A little unsure

Presents for Zwarte Piet

He loves his train set 

Finally a smile!

Group shot

I can truly say I think we have experienced just about every "Dutch" thing now!

Weekend Fun

Happy Monday I mean Tuesday! We did quite a bit this weekend but it still felt like a relaxing weekend. Isn't that the best? We had been planning on driving up to Northern Holland on Saturday but the weather was terrible and there would not have been much to do indoors. Since we were all ready to go early in the day, we headed into the center so we were there right when everything opened. We did some Christmas shopping, ate lunch and then made our way over to the train museum. Elliot and I have been multiple times but Brent was a first timer.

Playing with the gears

Hi Mama!

My little conductor

Playing outside 

On Sunday it was Sinterklaas parade time. I've written about our previous parades here and here. The weather was really rainy and gross but with this being our last holiday season living here we were determined to go. We went with a few other expats and their kids. Elliot didn't quite know what to think about it all. Or maybe he was just tired because it was nap time :) 

Zwarte Piete

Trying to stay dry and warm

Elliot waving at Sinterklaas

Lots of people braving the rain

We Own the Night 10k

On Saturday night I ran the Nike We Own the Night 10k with 2 of my friends. The race was scheduled to start at 10:30 pm in Amsterdam. I was thinking I was going to be exhausted by that time but thankfully being with friends kept my energy level up! The race ended up starting about 20 minutes late which was frustrating but once we were on the course we could understand why things got delayed. The course was through the Vondelpark area and Museumplein which are two really busy areas so coordinating the road closures etc. must have taken some time. The course was really nice and considering it was a late race there was a lot of crowd support. The hardest part about the race was the heat. It had been about 85 all day and did not cool down much at night. Because of the heat they thankfully added some extra water stops which we all ended pouring over us instead of drinking. We all really enjoyed doing this race and are already looking into doing other Nike women's runs throughout Europe!

Pre race photo at Daina's house

        

My name on the runners wall

The race started and ended in the olympic stadium. Pre race warm up

Waiting to start

Running through the Rijksmuseum 

Showing off our race bling!

Instead of getting a race medal we got a necklace. It is actually a really cute necklace! We also got Dutch chocolate, coconut water(one of the sponsors), frozen yogurt and the dry fit shirts that we al had to wear

I'm looking forward to doing this race again next year along with hopefully some other women's runs!

Delft

In our quest to see as much of the Netherlands as we can while we live here, we ventured to Delft a couple Saturdays ago. Delft is located just north of Rotterdam and is know for the Delft blue pottery, also called Delftware. Of course, I didn't end up buying any Delftware but intend to before we move home. We spent most of the time just walking around the city, had lunch and toured one of the churches in town.

Cold and windy when we got there. We could definitely could feel we were closer to the ocean.  Thankfully it warmed up while we were there. 

The first picture of my alone in I don't know 11ish months :) 

Trying to keep E busy while waiting for lunch

I couldn't believe how close to the canal the shops/home were

My two Dutch Boys

Beautiful city

Had to take a picture of the William and Mary window for my parents. This is in the new church in Delft where they have the tombs and mausoleum of the Dutch royal family

Using an old bike as a flower planter

Kingsday 2014

This past weekend we celebrated Kingsday. I've talked about our celebrating Queensday the past two years here and here. This year we celebrated with friends of ours at a park in the city. The weather was wonderful and Elliot loved spending the days outside with everyone. We parked ourselves right on an open piece of grass right across from the packed park. It was the perfect mix, we got to see all of the action but had plenty of room to relax.

I had no orange so thankfully Elliot and Brent pulled the weight for our family

Celebrating Kingsday and our sleeping babies

Part of our group

Elliot and Auntie Mel

Loving Kingsday!

Bente was going in for a kiss

Family in the city

Don't worry, it wasn't open :) 

The men and their babies