Strawberry Jam with Grandma

My grandmother passed away when I was three and there are very few pictures of us together. One of them is of me helping her make strawberry jam when I was about two. We know almost my exact age since you can see my baby brother sitting in his carseat in the background. One of the reasons we went berry picking was so I could have pictures of Hadley making jam with my mother at about the same age.

Hadley helped wash the strawberries

She mostly just transferred the water and the berries from one sink to the next

Elise just liked to be included!

Hadley got a little wet and my Mom threw her in an apron, it is blurry but I love this running action shot!

She took a well deserved break while Grandma finished chopping the strawberries

She came back to help with the sugar

The jam turned out amazing, like candy, and we have basically put it on every baked good we could get our hands on! And I am so happy to have my Mom around to make jam with my little girl. I love the photos!

Sweet Berry Farms

My Mom and I took the girls berry picking last week at a nearby farm. It was sunny, warm and so much fun!

She wanted to pick the berries where there were the least amount of plants...

She was great at holding the basket while Elise had fun being carried around

And stepping over the rows and onto the plants, we were hoping nobody that owned the place could see us!

Filling up the basket

She called it a cow, but enjoyed petting the donkey with Grandma

Finishing it all with homemade strawberry ice cream!

Amsterdam, Netherlands - The City

We flew in late Monday, spent the day at the gardens on Tuesday and then Wednesday we went to the museums in the morning and since our flight was that night we wandered around the city in the late afternoon. 

The canals were really gorgeous. 

We didn't get to sample much of the food - we ended up ordering room service since it was the same price as the restaurant and we returned so late and needed get the kids to bed. The street food we found was not great - at the gardens the cafes served gouda on a roll, it literally as a sliced piece of cheese like you would find at the supermarket, on a hamburger bun! I am sure there is good food, we just didn't find it. We did find pickled herring...but passed. There were these waffles though, belgium waffles with sugar balls that caramelized when cooked, they were divine!!

We did find this classy place - basically a McDonalds type vending machine. We did not eat here, but we did eat breakfast at the self proclaimed Largest Burger King in the World located in the airport!!! So exciting!

I thought we were crazy to fly out last minute to Amsterdam and returning 4 days before moving back International! The girls did great. We were exhausted but it was definitely worth it.

Amsterdam, Netherlands - Art

When asked in my college Art History class what my favorite style was, I answered "Dutch". I love the light, the composition and the realism. To go see Vermeer, De Heem, Rembrandt and their pupils actually in Holland was amazing. We were able to go to the Rijksmuseum and it was under construction, this meant that they took the best paintings and put them in a smaller location - perfect for the family with two kids to quickly see the highlights!

Vermeer, it looked like the milk was actually moving and it was so serene

Rembrandt's "Night Watch"

This is one of our favorites, to keep Hadley occupied while I gushed over paintings we let her watch Winnie the Pooh on my phone. She was thrilled but I cannot wait to show her that she chose to watch cartoons instead of viewing the Masters when she complains we never take her anywhere!

This was the most awe inspiring, looked like you could touch it

The roll looks edible and I hear glass and water is one of the hardest things to paint - this looks effortless.

Our new books! I realize that the Vermeer book is a bit dry so we got this darling dutch children's book.

We then went over to the Van Gogh Museum, he was born in the Netherlands so they had a modified collection. Most of his masterpieces are in France where he did most of his work. Like the other artist museums we have seen, this one did a timeline of his development. It was fascinating to see the evolution of the artist. He was completely self taught and actually started out in the dutch style, he was wildly talented. When he spent time with other impressionists his work took a dramatic turn and you could see the influence of his peers. Unfortunately, like the other museums, this one did not allow pictures. Our last stop was the Dutch Flower Collection at the airport before catching our flight, with the museum under construction they had a collection located after the gates. Jamie took the girls while I wandered looking at pictures I had only seen in textbooks.

Elise and the Tulips

Hi, Mom!

These are pretty...

Let me get a little closer...

Face Plant!!!

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Before we had Elise I told Jamie I wanted to travel to one last place. I wanted to have pictures of Elise in another country and I think in some way I wanted to prove I could travel with two. I had planned on Paris since it was my favorite and I thought it would be easier to go to somewhere familiar. I then realized what I really wanted to do was return to the museums, and that would be significantly less fun with two and one of them walking. I decided to leave Paris as a perfect memory and we started brainstorming another location. Amsterdam came up and I realized it was tulip season, visiting Holland in tulip season was one of those things that you hear about and I told myself I would love to do one day...never thinking it would actually happen!! I was so excited, it was the perfect trip - a 50 minute flight and the middle of the flower season! We decided to just stay in a Marriott since it was easy to book and we knew it would be a safe bet. Jamie flew in Monday morning from California and we drove back to the airport that evening. We returned on Wednesday night so it was a fast but really fun trip.

On Tuesday we went to Keukenhof Gardens. It is entirely bulbs and is only open 2 months a year. It was insanely gorgeous, we literally walked around until we could not walk any more. It is about a 20 minute bus ride outside Amsterdam and on the way you pass fields and fields of tulips and then the actual gardens are beds of bulbs and displays of bred flowers. It was chilly and overcast but was beautiful and our pictures cannot do it justice!

The entire area smelled of Hyacinths. We couldn't stop sniffing.

There were tons of pathways to run around for our energetic girl

She loved it, much better than wandering museums!

The fields, amazing. And I look tired because I am.

The "Hadley" tulip. A salmon color tipped in yellow.

The "fur Elise" tulip. There were not many blooms yet but it was a soft lemon color.

My favorite were these pink on pink and red on red striped. The pink is called "Rosy Delight".

There were just so many flowers!!

My MIL loves Amaryllis flowers, these were the biggest we have ever seen!

All the beds were gorgeously designed.

Some with different levels, some with complementary colors and blooms - seriously stunning.

Relaxing after a long day of walking!

Easter!

We flew on Easter and arrived into Austin late in the evening.

This does not include the large bag on Jamie's back or the heavy carry on containing our journals/books we did not want to lose!

It was a brutal flight and I am happy to know we will not have to do it again anytime soon. We were split up and they sell the bulkhead to business and upgrades even though it is where the baby bassinets are located. People who pay extra TOTALLY want to sit next to the infant and nursing mother. We arrived intact though and it was so good to see my family. Since we weren't in the mood to celebrate my Mom saved little eggs to hide for Hadley the next week when Jamie was in town for his 22 hour "layover" before heading to Rome. She caught on pretty quick and had a blast!!

She wanted Dad to join her

She actually didn't love jellybeans, but had fun collecting them!

Basket is empty, still more to find!

She ran from egg to egg, I need to hide them better next year!

Elise had a pretty good seat to observe and plan her attack for next year

Making sure we didn't leave any behind

All done! Happy Easter!

The Plan

If this was an accurate portrayal of our lives I would have a post entitled "The Two Weeks I Lost to Jet Lag, Teething (Hadley) and Sinus Infections (Elise)". I have had less sleep that I thought possible so pretty much the last few weeks have been a blur...actually the last few months are a bit fuzzy to be honest! I realized I never posted what we decided to do when moving back, the plan shifted often so here is the final version.

We were originally supposed to come back the end of February but we decided that extending until the middle of May let us adjust to life with a second child, see a few more places and allowed Jamie to leave his team in the UK in a good spot. We also hoped that it would be a better time to find a home in CA if school was out, fingers are still cross on that point! We would then come to my parents in TX for two weeks and then go to CA where we will be in corporate housing for a month. Our moving shipment will take 6 weeks to get here and we cut it a little close on the way there so the extra two weeks at my parents would give us some cushion and allow us to get over the culture shock a bit. I know it sounds strange but there was definite culture shock on the way there and although it is less drastic I am having to adjust now that I am back in the US.

Plans shifted sometime in March when Jamie was contacted about a new client that the CA office wanted him on. They would need him the end of March, again the first week of April and he then had a business trip to Rome. I have been on my own before but with the move, the fact people were touring our house on a daily basis, the rain and we were also constantly sick we decided that I would fly home to my parents. He ended up on the team and took off to CA while I prepared to head back early. It actually was a blessing because while he was stateside his lovely Grandmother passed away and he was able to attend the funeral in Utah. He would have gone regardless, but it made it easier he was already so close. We had plans to visit her in September so she could meet Elise (who shares a birthday with her) and Hadley, we are sad we will not be able to introduce them but we are so very happy that she and Grandpa are together again.

Jamie returned to the UK after a week and we headed for a quick trip to Amsterdam and then we flew to Texas where he dropped me and the girls off and headed to CA. We miss him a lot, and it is a long time to be separated, but I still think it is the best plan for our family. He is finishing up his time in Rome tomorrow and then will return to the UK for three weeks and then come meet us. We are looking forward to 2 weeks where we don't have to worry about moving and have available babysitters!

My parents are amazing to let us stay with them for a total of 7 weeks! They have not made us feel like a burden at all and I can't say how much I appreciate them. Their house is perfect, their upstairs is basically soundproof and we feel like we have our own space. My parents have been so sweet with the girls and they have an adoring fan club, Hadley can't wait to for Grandpa to come home every night! The extra time here has also allowed me to purchase my car and finish our inventory and other paperwork. There is still a mountain of details to take care of before we are settled, but it is at least a start.

And I can say it is SO good to be back where it is warm and in the sun!! It seems the girls are enjoying themselves as well -

Jamie joins us May 16th and we head to CA the first week of June. Still trying to wrap my head around the fact we are back for good, but the Mexican food and Cherry Limeades seem to be helping. If you see a red car on the wrong side of the road when you are in Austin, please honk. Seriously.

Thoughts on Heading Home

I don't know if it is the fact Jamie is traveling, Elise isn't feeling well or the time change but I have been feeling nostalgic this week. It is killing Jamie since I have been talking about how excited I am to go home since about October...around the time the travel stopped, the reality of having a baby in another country hit and we just kept getting sick. But I will miss this home - just like I posted that I all of a sudden missed my tiny, cramped duplex, I will miss this place with a horrible washer/dryer, no disposal and few friends. It is where we brought home Elise, where she first smiled, where Hadley took her first steps, her first words and where we spent countless days just the two of us.

My children have changed me in so many ways but one is I have become attached to places where I couldn't have cared before. England will always have a special place in my heart, because it gave me Elise - my happy smiley child. It is where Hadley and I got to spend everyday together, I worried she didn't have any little friends to socialize with but the positive is I didn't have to share her days with anyone else. Added to that, England is where I finally slowed down and fell even more in love with Jamie, he has been so supportive and kind and has been hilarious and so fun on adventures that we will remember for a lifetime.

It is the time with my family and the everyday moments that have been so sweet -

I knew we were supposed to move here, I have never questioned that, and now that it is over it is easy to see what I have gained. The obvious is the traveling, it has just been amazing, but we have learned to adjust to a different culture, be more empathetic to those that may be far from family or not understand something we find trivial and I have gained confidence that I can run a home even when it is hard. I know when times are tough we pull together and when times are good we laugh together. I am so very excited to head home in exactly one week, but I cannot help but be thankful for the time we have spent here and my wonderful family.