Last few days

On Wednesday Matt went into work to get his phone, to print some paperwork and to time how long it would take him to get there. The tram takes about 20 minutes and then he has walk another 15-20 to get to the office. He said it is a really nice office. PwC has the whole building rather than 2 floors that he was used to in Milwaukee.

That night we went over to Matt's collegue Aaron and his wife Sara's apartment for dinner. They have an 11 month old son and have been here for about a year. Sara is also apart of AWCA and will be hosting the Mom and Tots group on Monday. We had a great time and are looking forward to spending time with them on Monday.

On Thursday I went to Amstelveen to have lunch with some of the women in the American Women's Club of Amsterdam, AWCA. It was really nice and I met about 10 of the women all with various experiences to share. Some have only been here a short time and others starting to get ready to leave. After lunch we went to the grocery store and they showed me some of the things they found useful...what butter is best, differences in cheese, good crackers, coffee and laundry detergent etc. It was very helpful! I took the tram and got off a little early so I wandered around a bit and then asked for directions!

Friday we walked around and went to one of the main shopping streets in Amsterdam. Lots of fun! I really was looking for Hema which is the closest thing to Target. Much smaller, but has some kids stuff and other general items.

Saturday we went to the largest market in the Netherlands, some say the largest in Europe. There are over 350 venders. Fresh vegetables, fruit, fish, cheese, clothes, linnens you name it and it is probobly there. It was a lot of fun, but VERY busy. It averages 20,000 visitors a day and could double on the weekends. I believe it. We'll try again during the week. After that we planned on going to the Heineken Tour, but it was under construction and will open again in early November, so we'll try again then.

Today, we went on a search for a craft store because I can't find the crochet needle that I need. Unfortunantly the store was not open, so I hope to go back tomorrow or Tuesday.

We also go to the grocery store about every other day.

Tomorrow is our first playgroup and Matt's first day of work. It kind of feels like the vacation is over and now we are going to settle into everyday life.

Shane found his feet the other day so he has been hanging onto them quite a bit!

Zaanse Schans

Yesterday we took our first trip out of Amsterdam. We went to Zaanse Schans which is a recreated 17-18th century village. It has 6 working windmills, a clog factory, and a cheese factory among many other buildings. We took the tram to the Central Station and then took the train 20 min to Zaandam. This was Kaylin and Shane's first train ride. Shane slept and Kaylin really was excited. The look on her face when the train first started to go was adorable. It was like she couldn't even believe what was going on. To get to the village we also had to take a ferry. It was free and came every 10 minutes.

Zaanse Schans is a great little village and once there I remember that it was a place we went when I was here for school. It reminds me a bit of Old World Wisconsin but smaller. I remembered it by the big yellow wooden shoe. We walked around a little bit had a lunch of pancakes with meat and cheese. Sounds strange, but it was really good. (The pancake is similar to a crepe.) We then walked through the cheese house and the house where wooden shoes were being made. The cheese was FANTASTIC!!! With Kaylin having a bit of a shoe fetish, she enjoyed looking at all of the wooden ones. We wouldn't let her put any on because we knew we would never get them off of her. I am still tempted to buy each of the kids a pair. They are VERY cute! Kaylin fell asleep in the stroller and slept until we were almost home on the tram.

The people here have been extremelly friendly and we have had quite a bit of help with the stroller and directions.

The kids were great and aside from a whole bottle of chocolate milk spilling into the stroller (BOOOO) it was a great day!

Park Days

We have been spending most of our time walking around the city and hanging out at the park.

We have had great weather so far, sunny and mid 50's.

On Thursday Matt had to figure out how to get to Den Haag to register with immigration. He had to navigate the tram to a stop where he was going to get onto the train for a 45 minute ride to Den Haag. Sounds simple, but it takes some figuring out! He had no problems which was a relief to us both. On Thursday Matt was able to meet quite a few of his colleagues. They were having a going away party for one of the couples and they invited him to come along and tonight he is a one of their houses watching a college football game ( They either have a sling box or satellite.) I am glad he is able to get together with them before he starts working. I admit I am a little jealous that he gets to spend time with some new friends, but my time is to come! On November 6th I am going to a meeting for the American Women's Club of Amsterdam and am really looking forward to joining and especially getting involved in the playgroups. We miss our MOMs Club friends from home! This Wednesday we are going to have dinner with one of the guys Matt will be working with. He and his wife have an 11 month old son, so hopefully we will make a friend there!

Today in the canal right outside our window there was a race going on. Kaylin LOVED watching the boats going by. It was really very neat.

I really can't wait for all of our stuff to arrive and to get into our place. I am really getting frustrated with living out of our suitcases. I think it is really going to be tough for me when Matt goes back to work because I am not sure how I am going to take Kaylin and Shane out. It probably sounds crazy, but for example to get out of our building we have to go up some steps- I have to get the stroller up the steps while carrying Shane and then try to convince Kaylin to get into the stroller (!!!) and also bringing what ever else we need or on the way back taking the stroller and the kids down the steps with our groceries and then convincing Kaylin to come with me into the building and telling her no she can't stay outside...or once we get in having Kaylin walk up two flights of stairs while carrying Shane and the groceries...just rambling...the area we are going to live in is much more kid friendly than this part. There is just SO much going on...cars, bikes and more bikes, trams and buses and lots of people, not a good combination with a busy 2 year (almost) old.

OK enough rambling for today!

Stairs Stairs and more Stairs!

We went on our apartment search yesterday and have found a place. I went in the morning and looked at 9 places and narrowed them down to 4 and then Matt went in the afternoon and looked at the 4. Almost every place had steep narrow staircases that I could see myself falling down while carrying Shane!

The first one we decided on, which is the one I told mom, dad and Jane about, is no longer available. The landlord only wanted to rent it short term and then sell it. So, we went with our second choice which is still a great choice. We had a hard time deciding between the two anyway. I met the landlord and he is really nice. The previous tenants were terrible and left the place a mess so he will be repainting everything and replacing the fixtures, so we can't get in until Nov 15. In the pictures you can still see a lot of the junk they left behind. It is 4 bedrooms, 2 are a good size and then 2 are pretty small. There is a garden and a basement which is really what sold us on the house. Plenty of room for the kids to play. We are also 10 minutes from the Vondelpark, which is the biggest park in Amsterdam and a block or so from a small park with playground equipment. I will post a video once we move in.

Kaylin is doing a little better with sleeping. She is now taking an afternoon nap, but still is waking up at about 9:30 pm. She didn't get out of be last night, she just tossed and turned for a couple of hours. We have a CD of lullabies that she listens to, but she still needs one of us to be with her.

We went to the Vondelpark yesterday...here is Kaylin and Shane enjoying the day.

Thanks for all of your support and comments! We really enjoy reading them!

Still Awake

It is 11:41 pm local time and Kaylin is wide awake. She was ready for bed at 7:30 and at 9:30 she was up and ready to play. Her body thinks it was nap time- 7:30 here would be 12:30 at home. Matt is in with her now and I hope she falls asleep soon.

I have also noticed that neither Kaylin nor Shane wants to sleep alone...so many new changes must be pretty scary for them.

We made it!!

We are here safe and sound! We were picked up at 1:30 Saturday afternoon by a limo- that's right a limo! It was a great way to go to the airport. We had so much luggage! 2 strollers, 2 car seats, 1 car seat base, 1 diaper bag, 1 Tinkerbell suitcase for Kaylin and 6 other suitcases along with 2 carry on bags.

We arrived at the airport at about 3:00, checked our bags and then went to the gate. Once we got there we were told that we were upgraded to business class because they had switched planes and there were 3 other families that they were also trying to sit together. No Complaints from us.

Getting on the plane was difficult just because of all the stuff we were trying to carry along with carrying the kids. The flight was long but good. Kaylin slept for about 4 hours and Shane slept off and on through out the flight. It was a little hectic once we landed-trying to get all of our luggage out into the arrivals hall which is were our ride was picking us up. We actually had two drivers waiting for us. The US firm hired someone and so did the Dutch firm...at least 2 showed up rather than no one.

We loaded everything up and were off to our temporary housing. On the ride here Kaylin got sick...I think it was a combination of being overtired and the stress of so much going on in the last week or so.

One we settled in a bit I went to the grocery store and then we all took naps.

Last night was a little rough. Both kids were wide eyed at midnight! Kaylin watched a movie and I walked around the apartment with Shane to try and get him to sleep. Finally everyone was asleep and we woke up at about 11:00. Hopefully tonight will be better!
We walked around the city a bit today. It is beautiful!

We have had problems trying to figure out the washing machine. It is a combined washer and drier and we can't get the drier to work, so the clothes have been washed a few times.

Tomorrow at 9:30 I am going with the realtor to look for an apartment

Time to go; dinner is ready- sausage and potatoes.

I will try and post again tomorrow.

A few more days...

I am sitting in our empty house waiting for the carpet cleaners to come. It is such an odd feeling to be able to hear the echo of my feet while I walk in a normally noisy house. The movers have come and gone as have the painters. We give the keys to the renters tomorrow.

I thought last Thursday, the day the movers came, would be difficult. To my surprise it was a huge relief that everything was out of my control. They came in and had the whole house packed in one day (including my cell phone which was found after they left by Matt calling it and me listening to the boxes!) Everything that was going by air left on Thursday, everything going in storage left on Friday and everything that was going by sea went on Monday. That was the hardest day for me... seeing the house empty and knowing there really is absolutely no turning back. Tears have been easier to come the past few days, but if I keep busy there is less time to think.

So, let me think back to where I left off at the beginning of the month...

The house has been rented to a couple with 4 kids, the two youngest are 16 and 18 and live at home. The seem to be very nice and we hope everything goes smoothly.

We have received all of our paperwork; Matt's visa was the last thing we were waiting on which came yesterday.

Kaylin was able to spend some time with her cousin Asher. They have SO much fun together and on almost a daily basis she asks about him. I will have to get some of the pics of them from that weekend. I am sad that they are going to miss out on spending time together the next two years, but look forward to how much fun they are going to have when we get back.

We had some AWESOME going away parties. The first was with my friends from MOMs club. We went out for dinner and drinks to La Chimenea. It was very fun and I will miss those ladies SO much!!!

On Sunday the 21st our families threw us a party in Waukesha which most of you were able to attend. It was perfect! The time flew by though and we wish we had more time to spend with all of you .

The following Friday, PWC threw a party at Bootleggers on Old World Third Street in Milwaukee. It is a great bar and we had so much fun with some of our friends!

We spent Thursday -Tuesday with Bud and Jane and are spending Tuesday -Saturday with my parents. It has been really nice being able to spend these last few days with family and Kaylin really does enjoy being at their houses. I just feel really unorganized with our stuff all over the place. We are planning on having breakfast together on Saturday.

On Sunday we took Kaylin back to the house so we could say good bye to all of the rooms. We told her that all of her toys were in the boxes and that when we get to our new house she can open them up like presents. She wouldn't walk through the house, but wanted to be carried and then went outside to play while I cleaned up a few things. She seemed fine after that until yesterday morning when she said "home" a couple of times. I wasn't really sure if she was putting it all together until today when out of the blue she started crying and saying, "Home now, home now". It took everything I had not to start crying! I just told her that we will be going to find our new home in a couple of days. I really hope we find one quickly so we can get back into our routine. So, she definitely a bit confused. We go apartment hunting at 9:30 Tuesday morning.

Matt received an e-mail from a guy he will be working with in Amsterdam- he invited us to dinner on Sunday night. I thought that was so nice that they are trying to make us feel comfortable right away.

I had to add this cute picture of Shane- 4 months already!

That's all for now...

Thanks to Kate and Janelle for helping me with the pics!!