Spring Sports

Spring sports are in full swing here!

Cormac is playing soccer (#3 blue striped jersey in the picture).  He is having a really good time but his favorite is playing in games.  He also is very social, saying "hi" to all his classmates on the opposing teams.

Cadel is on his first team!  He is playing t-ball and is already very good at throwing and batting.  He is so happy to finally have his own team sport.

Maggie happily goes along for the ride.  We have various practices four days a week so she gets lots of time to dig in the dirt.

During one of Gus' practices Cormac really sat down and read a book, no kidding (and, yes!, he is really reading).

That's Cadel up at the top in the blue coat.  Gus' practice field has a small park next to it so all the other kids have a blast climbing around for an hour.

Gus is playing coach-pitch baseball again this year.  He was really excited for the season to start.  At his first practice he was mad when it was over and time to go home.  This picture is from his first game.  He didn't want to play in the outfield but he ended up having 4 great stops.

Maggie's first haircut

Yesterday Maggie had her first haircut.  She doesn't have much to begin with but I wanted to get rid of the whispy baby hair in the hopes that it will fill in.  She was SO excited.  All the kids were getting haircuts yesterday but she readily volunteered to go first.  She jumped right up in the chair and sat so nicely the entire time.

Everyone with their haircuts.  Lookin' good!

The rest of Amsterdam

When we arrived in Amsterdam we left the car at a park and ride. We walked but to get to a couple of places we bought passes on the Hop on/Hop off canal boats.  With headphones you could get a good dose of history of Amsterdam or you could just enjoy the view.  But it mainly got us places without kids complaining about too much walking.

The second day Cormac decided that his Lego figure Admiral Ackbar would be joining us.  So we had to take pictures of him at different locations.  Here he is having a snack and coffee.

Navigating on the canal boat.

Viewing the sights from the boat.

Waiting for pancakes.  Admiral Ackbar is now well acquainted with Amsterdam (and I am happy to report we didn't lose him on his adventures).

The Pancake Bakery

Dutch pancakes are like big, flat, unfolded crepes topped or filled with whatever you can dream up.  Delicious.  We went to The Pancake Bakery to try them out.  The Pancake Bakery has been around since the 1970s and is located in an 18th century warehouse.  It is always packed and we had a short wait but it was SO worth it.  The pancakes were delicious.

Gus got a pancake topped with ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream, because why not?

The rest of the kids ordered off of the kids menu.  It was a basic pancake with powdered sugar.  But the best part was the "surprise" that came with each order.  Cormac and Cadel ordered the Animal Pancake and each got little stuffed animals.

Maggie ordered the Princess Pancake and got a little set of princess jewelry.

The Heineken Experience

After NEMO we decided it was time for mom and dad to get a pick.  Naturally, we chose the Heineken Experience.  The original brewery was turned into a museum in 1991, then revamped in the early 2000s and renamed the Heineken Experience.  

It is a self-guided tour and takes about and hour and a half depending on how much time you spend on each section.  The beginning was all of the history.  The kids were super bored so we didn't spend much time there.

After all of the history, brewery equipment, etc., comes the Brew You Ride.  We weren't sure what to expect but this made believers out of the kids for sure.  It was an interactive ride where you are basically treated like a beer and taken through the whole brewing experience by a goofy guy on a video.  There were water drops, bubbles, blowing air and moving around.  The kids (and Pat and I) loved it!   Once you finish the ride you get to all of these really cool interactive exhibits for the rest of the tour.  We all had so much fun and spent lots of time on this part.

On one exhibit you get on bikes in front of a green screen.  The people on the other side can watch as it shows you driving through Amsterdam with Dutch music going.

This is what they saw.  At first they had no idea that it was taking a video with a background.  There were also virtual rugby and soccer games, a fussball table and lots of neat stuff to look at.

Of course the tour ends in the bar where everyone gets two drinks.  Beer for mom and dad and orange soda for the kids.  This place was an enormous hit with us all.  I am not sure who had more fun, the kids or the grown-ups.