One thing I should mention is that when we arrived at the airport we realized that we had forgotten the umbrella stroller. It was a minor hassle that first day, but we just thought we would buy another one while sightseeing.
Another thing I'll mention is that we've really become accustomed to English weather. I think we had one day this summer that made us want to have air conditioning, but otherwise it just doesn't get highly uncomfortable (especially like St Louis summers). I believe our average high temps were somewhere around 25C (~ 77F), and on our first full day in Amsterdam it was at least 28C (~82F). I know, you US residents are thinking, "That's not too bad," but adding in the forgotten stroller made it a bigger deal.
And we had decided to walk everywhere. We had discussed getting a pass for the tram, but it sounded like a great idea to walk so that we could really experience the city. Matt had been there before, did quite a lot of walking, and loved it. But we really hadn't taken into consideration the heat, lack of stroller, and just that being with three young kids will make everything take three times as long.
Basically all of this to explain why we only did one thing this day.
So we walked.
One thing all of the adults had wanted to see was the Van Gogh Museum, so we decided to do that first. As we made our way there, we saw the I amsterdam letters, which were also on the list of interests, so we stopped to take a few pictures.
As I had a much needed coffee, and my parents had fun striking a pose, poor Matt was trying to wrangle the children. They had found a little pond with a giant inflatable duck, and just jumped right in. I came over to help.
We weren't far from the museum at this point, but we couldn't very well drag three soaked children through, so we decided to have lunch at one of the outdoor cafes.
The kids were dry by the time we finished, so we went on to the museum.
Of course, we weren't able to take pictures inside the museum, but don't worry, we weren't in there very long anyway. The kids apparently do not like culture, and were not well behaved. After the first floor, the adults basically took quick turns walking through while one or two watched the children. I was happy that we did get to see it, but disappointed that we weren't able to linger. (If anyone has tips on getting kids to appreciate art more, I am all ears.)
Once we left, we let the kids burn off some energy before walking some more.
We were still a bit grumpy at this point, so we made our way back to the apartment to rest. We stopped at a market and bought fruit, crackers, and hummus to snack on.
The children were still full of energy, and we didn't think they would behave nicely at a restaurant. My parents watched them while Matt and I wandered to find takeaway for everyone. We ended up with some Italian food that wasn't great, but after a long and stressful day, we did find a small amount of peace.
I do feel like I've glossed over how difficult of a day it was. It just felt like one thing after another, and the kids were acting absolutely feral some of the time. There were times that I thought maybe getting away was a mistake, and I'm guessing Matt had some similar thoughts. Oh, and if you haven't guessed, we weren't able to find a stroller to save our lives. The entire weekend was spent googling and searching, and we came up empty handed. Clara walked when she could, and we did pass her around, but she became heavy really quickly.
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| This. This is the feeling I was hoping for with our trip. |
After dinner, the kids had a spontaneous dance party before bed, and we all settled in for a good night's rest. The next day had to be better, right?
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