Queen's Day has come and gone and we survived - it actually was not as crazy as i thought it would be. i expected it to be very loud throughout the night but once it got dark the traffic on the water died down quickly. i am sure the streets were still crazy but we didn't venture out past 5pm or so, as managing the streets was nearly impossible. and forget bringing kids out in that mess of humanity. but alas, i am getting ahead of myself.
our local park, amstelveld, is designated as a kids only sale. young merchants sold all their old toys and clothes to make money for new stuff. they also sold baked goods and set up games to make money. our neighbor's children sold cupcakes and had a manicure station as their money making scheme. my kids had been saving their (well MY) money for weeks and circled the park over and over again with their banks in hand searching for stuff to buy. i indulged them in basically anything they wanted since we had been hyping it soo much. the photo here was taken early in the morning - the park got much more crowded and busy by mid morning.
by the time we got out of vondel park the canal streets were incredibly crowded and it took us quite some time to go the short distance home. music and people were spilling out of bars congesting the intersections and mini raves popped up with very loud music. and let me tell you, techno is alive and well in europe.
the canal boat traffic was also incredible. we enjoyed watching it from the safety of our terrace as were not NOT about to navigate the boat in the sea of watercraft. we saw some pretty stupid things, too, like 2 large boats roped together which caused a traffic jam which caused both boats to be hit and one of them almost slamming into our house. boats were jammed with people and had large sound systems blarring techno music. it was quite a site to experience. every canal in the area probably looked like this.
a few weeks ago, upon returning our babysitter home, our babysitter's father suggested we accompany them to the tulip parade in Lisse. Jan grew up in the bulb district and his father and other family members were in the flower business for many years. we certainly didn't want to pass up this opportunity to be guided by a local to see one of Holland's most famous events!
the day started by a well executed rental car pick up, so horray for that! and we even got car seats this time, so horray for good parenting! we set off around noon with our guides in the car in front of us. Jan would call us and point out sights to us along the way and pulled over once to show us a very important dike. 
we arrived into the town of Lisse which was inundated with large tour buses. clearly, this was a big deal! people were arranged on the parade route for what seemed like miles. since we had about 90 minutes before the parade started, jan took us into the flower fields and told us about the flower industry - the money you can make on bulbs vs cut flowers, how to tend to the bulb fields, etc. the kids enjoyed running through the never-ending tulip beds. 
we headed back into town for the parade but could not get where Jan wanted to be - it was sooo crowded and walking through the crowd was just not possible. we took a spot in the town square and enjoyed the parade and some beers. we also tore into the bread and cheese we had been carrying around but unable to eat until now. the parade is like the tournament of roses parade - the floats are all made of plant material. david, who was pressed up against the barrier, was about 1 foot from the action, while we stood on a picnic 
table to see what was going on.
however, the teen section was perhaps one of the most unexpected things i have seen during my time here in europe. it contained a 'peep show' exhibit that was for ages 12 and up. it was a very frank, honest, and explicit exhibit that explained that all people and animals have sex - complete with video and other props. you can see here the display case of anatomical models showing a variety of sexual positions as well a collection of condoms, birth control options, and other aids.. they also had quizes which tested your knowledge on HIV, masterbation, and homosexuality.
it also had little peep show booths with curtains that showed even more explicit sexual information. it showed proper oral sex techniques for both men and women (props were used), proper handling of womens' breasts, and a heat map visual during an erection.
a few weeks ago our neighbor asked us if we would consider enrolling david in the local public (dutch) school. i had never seriously thought about school for him bc i heard getting into schools was very difficult and bc, well, we don't live here. but we inquired with the school administrator and they said it was no problem! he is now a Group 1 student at De Kleine Reus (The Little Giant) Basisschool. he is in a mixed class of groups 1&2 (4 and 5 year olds) and it is equivalent of 2 years of american style kindergarten. so starts the routine of setting an alarm every morning and starting our day early!
the afternoon routine is a bit different - parents are not allowed in school (probably bc of the mayhem - in the morning they have a 15 minutes window in which the school is open for drop-off). all the parents wait outside and each teacher brings her class down and, one by one, sends the children off to their parent. it is hectic and crazy but fun at the same time.
on saturday we went to watch the changing of the Royal Guard. we gathered right before noon and waited for the guards and their band to march into the palace grounds. the kids got a kick out of that. after walking and more walking i set off to find a laundromat for mike's upcoming week of continued travel. $10 later i had 1 load of washed and dried clothes.
sunday was departure day but we had plenty of time to go to the National Museum of Denmark. the cherry on top was that it had free admission! finally, some value for the VAT we have been paying! we spent most of the time in the large children's section where the kids could play with swords and shields on a viking ship, play in a pakistani kitchen, build a brick wall by hoisting up baskets full of bricks, and draw pictures. we then had about and hour to zip through the regular exhibits of both national and international artifacts. at that point we were all completely exhausted and mentally preparing for the upcoming journey. we certainly did not do the museum justice as we flew through the exhibits.
Among the local users are many social security recipients, pensioners, immigrants and clients from social institutions. Single mothers also visit here, not to mention the many homeless and jobless young people. Greenlanders, street people and vagabonds, all find a sanctuary here.
The people in Christiania have developed their own set of rules, independently of the Danish government. The rules forbid stealing, violence, guns, knives, bulletproof vests, hard drugs and bikers' colors.
Famous for its main drag, known as Pusher Street, where hash and Skunk weed were sold openly from permanent stands until 2004, it nevertheless does have rules forbidding hard drugs, such as cocaine, amphetamine, ecstasy and heroin.
we started at Boerderij Meerzicht, a massive pancake house which boasts 43 types of pancakes, or pannenkoeken in dutch. luckily we got 2 savory pancakes in addition to 2 sweet ones - which after a while was sugar overload. pictured is the pancake making setup - a rotating conveyor belt which takes the pancakes through the oven. as they come out they are flipped and allowed about 20 seconds in the hot pan before taken out.
luckily we went on a weekday because looking at the amount of seating they had and the deli number system for retrieving you pancakes, it looked like it was possible to wait a very very long time for the delicious circles of syrup and powdered sugar.
i read that no visit to the Bos would be complete without a visit to Ridammerhoeve, a beautiful organic goat farm. with a brilliant blue sky as a backdrop the kids got to wander around the goat pens and feed the young goats from bottles. there were roosters and chickens everywhere as well as some pigs and cows. 
we finished up another great week here. i am really amazed at how well we can get around and that i almost always know where i am in this city. although, i really dont know many street names since they tend to be complex like Raadhuisstraat, Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat, and Gills van Lendenberghstraat. not exactly numbered streets and avenues.
we took the first sunny day opportunity to go to the Artis, the amsterdam zoo, only a 5 minute bike ride from our place, and got membership cards. they pay for themselves on the 3rd visit so it seemed well worth it. the zoo is nice, not fabulous, but has a variety of nice animals and playgrounds. it also has an aquarium and a planetarium included in the admission price. i looked up some reviews of the zoo on tripadvisor and some people HATE it because some of the animal enclosures are small - especially the large cat exhibits. i am surprised at how close you can get to some of the animals. they have a great large bird habitat and you can have large heron swoop over your head at regular intervals.
reason #2 is because they are cold.
