I’ve gotten a little bit better about planning ahead now that we have limited time left in Holland. Last month I tried to coordinate with our family here in Holland and today day they came to visit us and we explored Amsterdam together. Jeff is a really good tour guide. He knows his way around the city and which trams to take to get us where we need to go. I love this about him! I don’t have a sense of direction at all and my visuo-spatial skills are horrible. Anyway, the weather was perfect and wandering around outside felt great. Pictures are better than words…

Museumplein facing the Rijksmuseum.

Enjoying the sites from the canal cruise boat.

Albert Cuyp Market

Making poffertjes – Charlie’s favorite.

Loved this Buddha in one of the shops at Albert Cuyp. Namaste.

The Amstel Hotel. So pretty in the sunshine.

Dam Square with video monitors, heavy police presence, and roads blocked. Preparing for Remembrance and Liberation Day ceremonies.

Lots of walking and the little ones feet were tired…CJ is such a great big brother.

Our favorite – Indonesian Rijstafel at Sampurna on the Singel. Other pictures didn’t turn out, so here’s just a sample.

Best buddies!

Thank you Gerard, Anita, Kelsi, Raomi, and Rob for spending the day with us. It was perfect.

The highlight for me today was the two minutes of silence at 8pm in remembrance of all the Dutch citizens and members of the armed forces who lost their lives in World War Two and in remembrance of all Dutch citizens who have lost their lives since that time in other wars and peacekeeping missions. The entire nation comes to a complete and silent halt for those two minutes. We were on the bus heading home from Amsterdam and the bus driver pulled over and parked for two minutes of silence. It was quite moving.

Peace and love my friends. Namaste.