Holland Holiday

It's Spring Break! So naturally we hit the road to the Netherlands. Normally we would go to Amsterdam (our favorite city) but we wanted to do something more outdoorsy for the boys. I found a farm on Airbnb out in the countryside in southern Holland. It took less than four hours to get there. Not bad.

It was raining for most of the drive and still raining the whole first evening. I was really worried that this would be the forecast for our entire stay and we would be mudbound.

But the next day the sun came out! Or at least it wasn't dumping rain and the boys could go outside.

Doren can't take a nice picture.

Such pretty dishes!

Our place. It sleeps six or seven and is handicap accessible, fyi. It was very cozy and comfortable!

Giving the trampoline a try. Its old and saggy but they got the hang of it. Every house seemed to have an in-ground trampoline.

Dutch breakfast of champions: buttered toast with sprinkles, called Hagel Slag. (Drink some milk when you're congested and then say HHHagel slagHHH). The grocery stores dedicate substantial sections of an aisle for different colors and flavors of Hagel Slag. It's not just for kids either!

An adorable tiny market that somehow has everything you could need about three blocks from the farm.

One of many playgrounds with houses facing towards it. 

We drove to another small town to wander around and see the cuteness.

A working windmill, although it wasn't actually turning at the time. We got there to find out that tours are on Saturdays only. Bummer.

Inside the bottom of the windmill where they sell all types of ground grains from tiny bags to huge sacks.

Eating millet stroopwaffels.

Can you stand it?

We (meaning Marc and I) like to walk through the neighborhoods and adore the beautiful Dutch homes and clever neighborhood design. Everywhere in Holland the themes we notice are enabling community togetherness and accessibility by bike. Not one house in all the places we've walked is less than really, really cute. Every scene you lay your eyes upon is SO CHARMING.

Back on the farm...

The daughter of the host took the boys to feed the chickens...

...and huge lop-eared bunnies...

...and those sassy geese. One of them hissed at Doren. You'll be my dinner next Christmas for that! 

A mommy pig and nine wiggly, giggly little piglets!

They kept going under the fence which really concerned the boys, but they never went too far from Mom.

Big Mama in her glorious mud pit. She's a lot bigger than she looks in this photo.

This adorable little piggy sitting there like Wilbur.

This male sheep we named Peeeet! gets this whole field to himself. The other male is in another field across the street. If they were together they would kill each other. Really guys?
All the females and babies have to wait inside a barn until the grass gets longer. Pfffff.

Peeeet! on his mound.

Our host's property has a lot of stuff on it. There's the main house, a couple of barns, the vacation rentals and another building attached to the barn that's mostly windows and looks like a fun Kindergarten from the outside. He told us its a day center for adults with developmental disabilities that his wife opened. They can come Monday through Friday to hang out, play games, do crafts and visit the animals in the area. In fact, they are the ones who feed the chickens, geese and sheep. We saw them going out for walks and to see the horses at the neighbor's farm.

A lil' picnic in the front yard.

They also bought the farm across the street and remodeled it into a beautiful group home for these adults. This is where the female sheep and babies live. He said he sells some of the sheep but they are mostly there as therapy animals. He said we could go over there to see the animals and play.

Our host and all the ladies and babies. It was silent and as soon as he opened the door they were SO loud. It was hysterical.
Just one more week and they can go outside.

This mama has triplets!

The hens and their scrawny boyfriend.
He wakes up everyone at 5:30am.

Really cute one-year old cows.

These in-ground trampolines are brilliant.

Now he's in heaven.

Races in the courtyard.

 

I need this tricycle.

We went for a nice bike ride/walk around a lake and came across what else but a herd of Shetland ponies.

This fella got out but didn't seem too upset. He could just as easily get back in.

He really appreciated Marc's pettings.

One of days there we drove to Nijmegen (Nay-MAY-HHHHen, obviously). I mean, what a gorgeous town! I sound like a broken record everywhere we go in Europe, but especially in Holland...

"Look!
It's so cute!
Oh my gosh!
Look! Stop it. Look!
Would you look at this?
Look!
What??
Adorable!
Wow.    Wow.
Look at this.
I can't! Look."

ALL. DAY. EVERY. DAY. IN. HOLLAND.

I should stop this constant monologue but I can't because everything is so adorable. I already knew this because Amsterdam and other places in Holland are so wonderful, but the cuteness never ceases! How can it be this cute everywhere??

Nijmegen was no exception. Its a good thing we stopped in a city because we needed to buy new pants for the boys. We had no washing machine to use and they got really dirty on the farm and went through all the pants we brought.

So many cute shops and then this big church tucked in behind the buildings.

Jonah needed a new backpack.

In the square.

They were actually really good walking around!

Some interesting piece of history in a park. 

Back on the farm...

Later that day we had the pleasure of a visit from Marc's Aunt and Uncle who drove down from Amsterdam. It is always good to be with them.

Peeeet!

Richard painted egg renderings of the boys.

 

And they brought hard-boiled eggs to paint! Why didn't I think of that??

And they brought books.

We walked across the street to the other farm to show them all the fun stuff.

We checked on the sheepies, too.

Richard is always ready for fun!
They could only stay a few hours but we'll take what we can get.

The next morning the Easter Bunny came.

Comparing the spoils.

And then out of nowhere Marc said we should stay an extra day. You don't have to ask me twice. Fortunately, they weren't booked for that day so we just got to hang out. While the boys did paint-by-numbers paintings that the Bunny so cleverly thought to bring, I got to watch TWO movies on my iPad and eat way too much Easter chocolate and cheese! It was a terrific day.

Later we figured we should get out of the house and move our bodies so Marc picked a nearby town. Again, everything was incredible, charming, adorable and all the other good words. When we parked we could see the top of a windmill over the houses. We walked over to it and (Easter miracle) the blades were spinning and the door was open! The guys inside said we could go up! There were so many moving parts, I'm surprised they didn't have to come with us to make sure we didn't touch or stand on the wrong thing. We climbed probably four ladder-staircases to the deck.

Built in 1857 which doesn't seem that old for Holland.

Spinning action!

There were deep grooves in these stairs carved out by years of climbing feet.

On the deck with the blades.

One of the millstones.

We continued walking through the residential streets and came to this little field. Six little baby lambs came leaping and bounding out of the hut to greet us. It was so cute!

Each mom has three babies.

It was a delightful Easter! The whole trip turned out even better than I hoped. The sun came out plenty but we still had some rain for cozy time in the apartment. And, being Spring, we got to see all the cute baby animals. The boys had a hard time saying goodbye to these animals, especially Peeeet! He probably had more human contact from us in the last five days than he has in the last five years.

You know that feeling when you've had a dozen or so glazed donuts and like five cups of quality coffee in a row and its so delicious and yummy but then you realize you just have to stop because its too much sweet goodness? That's how I feel about Holland. At one point I told Marc I just have to get out before I overdose on charm. I mean we live in Germany for Peeeet's! sake. Its wonderful and gorgeous! But Holland...Holland...Holland. It's all that and a bag of chips with a cherry on top. And a generous spoonful of Hagel Slag.