24 days left until departure

our trip is winding down and we are starting to think about home and things that need to be done there - the boat lift and pier are being put in the water this week, activities for the kids are being chosen, and we are thinking about what is coming home with us vs going in the garbage.. sad that the trip is coming to an end - it has been wonderful and exciting to live here.

spring is absolutely beautiful. the temps have been in the 60's and 70's every day for the past 2 or 3 weeks. trees and flowers are in full bloom. canal boat traffic is very busy. when we arrived in february we rarely saw a boat go by the house except for a few boats rowing crew - now there is a current stream of boats that pass within feet of our windows. i have to remember to shut the bathroom door bc there is a window directly across from it...

i feel like i am finally hitting my stride with meeting and getting together with people - just in time to leave... our babysitter's father is taking us to a tulip parade next weekend in a town about 45 minutes from here.

this is mike's final week of heavy travel! next week we will travel with him to belgium for 2 days and then have a few days off for queen's day, april 30th. it is supposed to be absolute madness for a day or two so i suspect i will have many blogs posts about it. then a quick trip to heidelberg for him and then he gets to relax here for the remainder of our stay.

we have been out to several museums thanks to our museum card - jewish historical museum, amsterdam historical museum, rijksmuseum (which is in the middle of a renovation and frankly, not worth a visit right now...), and NEMO. we still have the van gogh museum to hit before we leave and the tropenmuseum for the kids.

but i know that wisconsin is coming into the best time of year when we return, so i am focusing on that. i am looking forward to seeing my friends again and having the kids play with theirs. i am looking forward to wearing different clothes, too...