Amsterdam - part 2

OK, where was I ...

We decided we had to see some tulips, what with being in Holland and all, so we drove (my Mom was a good sport despite being squashed between the kids' enormo Britax carseats in the back seat that still smelled faintly of barf) to Keukenhof, about 20 minutes from Amsterdam, which is apparently THE place to go to see tulips. It was a little pricey and a lot cold, but it was fun to see all the different varieties of tulips (and the plethora of Japanese tourists taking lots of close-ups of flowers):

If you're in Amsterdam you have to get on a bike (without a helmet of course)! Merel and Dennis took us on a great ride around town with the kids in bike boxes (you, too, can own one for about $2700). I know Julian looks a little skeptical, but he and Ava loved it (you could tell because they were oddly silent most of the way, even though they got a bit wet):
You also MUST eat bitterballen, deep fried balls of creamy potato and veal served with mustard dip. Oh, I love a country that loves fried foods!

We also continued our tour of European zoos and went to Artis, where the kids investigated the natural world:
By the way, I highly recommend having a grandparent along for trips with kids, especially one as cute as my Mom. It was a treat to be able to go out with Merel and Dennis for an Indonesian feast without Julian yelling about having green things on his plate and asking for noodles and butter:
I think those are the highlights of the trip. Mom and I did go to the Van Gogh Museum, which left me pretty cold, and I went by myself to the Anne Frank House, which was almost visible from our apartment and really moving. I was happy I didn't take Ava, which I considered for about 5 minutes. No way was she old enough for some of those pictures. Come to think of it, I may not be either.

And if you're ever in Bremen (hey, it could happen) the Best Western Zur Post is awesome for kids. It was actually really nice to stop over in Germany for a night. I am always slightly paranoid about speaking German because I've lost a lot of my vocabulary but not my accent, so I sound, well ... slow. Oh well, I sound a lot worse than that in Swedish. Herregud!