Gouda

Our last day in Holland, we went to Gouda, which is where my uncle Fred was born and also the town where my dad used to go to school. And of course, it is where Gouda cheese originated.
It was a nice relaxing day, strolling through the streets of the old town. It has a canal running through it (like almost every town we visited) and a really nice town hall square. We also visited St Jan's Church, which has gorgeous huge stained glass windows. It was a perfect last day.

Amsterdam

After Luxembourg, we travelled to Nieuwerkerk aan den Ijssel, near Rotterdam, which is where my aunt and uncle live. They were the most amazing hosts ever!!!! Here we met up with my sister and her family, and also my parents. Our first day, we had a family reunion brunch, where I met many of my relatives and some that haven't seen me since I was 6 years old (not so many years ago...). The next two days, my parents watched Jack and Maddy, so that Andrew, Adam, Rose and I could go to Amsterdam. Poor Charlie had to tag along with us but we had a great time in Amsterdam.
We visited the Anne Frank House, Rembrandthouse, the Rijksmuseum, Vondelpark, the Dam Square, the Red Light District, Oude Kerk, Nieuwe Kerk, the Heineken Experience, and of course a canal tour to top it all off! I've always wanted to go to Amsterdam, and although it was a bit dirtier than I expected and the red light district made me sad for the girls, it was a great city!!! And it was fun to practice a little bit of Dutch (although everywhere was English too).
Thanks to Oma and Opa for watching the kids, it would have been more difficult to see all these things if we had all of them with us.

Luxembourg

Our next visit was Luxembourg, which was a country different from all others. It's a tiny country and the city was basically built on a fortress surrounded by the valley. It was very clean! It was also our hottest day of our entire trip. Maddy was a huge poser while in Luxembourg, so we have a vast collection of model poses. We rode on a small train ride through the valley (the Petrusse Express), we saw the town hall, the Grand Ducal Palace, and had a nice steak dinner. We also did the famous "Wenzel Walk", which is a self-guided tour through the caves and fortress of the Bock Casemates. Maddy loved running through the caves, and it was also a nice way to cool down a little bit! A great stop along the way!

Bruges and Ghent

One of the days in Brussels, we took a guided bus tour to Bruges and Ghent. I was very hesitant to book it, as we were travelling with two young kids and didn't want to disturb the rest of the group too much. But it was a lovely day!
We got to ride from Brussels through the Flemish countryside to Ghent. Ghent is a smaller town filled with many churches and canals running through it.


















From Ghent we drove to Bruges, which was a beautiful city! Many canals running through it, and adorable little shops. We had Belgian waffles, Belgian beer, and Belgian chocolates for lunch, the three highlights of the country. And yes, Belgian waffles really are that good.

Brussels

The first stop of our big Europe trip in June was Brussels. It was beautiful. Our hotel was a few minutes from the Grand Place so that was lovely. The Belgians were extremely nice people, we had several people just stop and ask us if we needed help (we did kinda look lost a few times...). We visited the Atomium and Mini Europe one day, which was a fun stop for Maddy. Grand Place is gorgeous, you walk into the square and it literally takes your breath away. We also saw the Royal Palace, the Palais de Justice, the Koekelberg Cathedral, and the head buildings of the European Union. It was a fabulous start to our fabulous trip.

Charlie Version 0.75

So Charlie just turned 9 months old and things are really starting to fall into place. Although he is definitely a momma's boy (I don't mind all the snuggles, but sometimes it's a bit much), we've made quite a bit of progress in the past month.
I stopped nursing! Woo hoo! I'm glad the milk factory has closed, it kinda feels like I get ownership of my body back. (would prefer if body was about 10 pounds lighter but that's a story for another day). Charlie is the most stubborn baby ever, I literally had to starve him for three days before he figured out that the bottle was the way to go. Day one was 16 hours of absolutely no food before he finally took a bottle for Andrew, it was heartbreaking for me. But it had to be done, as I'm leaving him for a week and wasn't going to pump an entire extra week's of milk and ship it from Finland.
We had a rough go with the sleeping after I stopped nursing, since he was missing his cuddle time with Momma. Back to baby bootcamp we went, and after a few nights he realized I'm still there but he doesn't need to be held. So he is now sleeping through the night or very close to it (poor guy still thinks that 5:45am is a wake-up time rather than a pee break time) and I'm feeling like I have a bit more energy.
Andrew was nice enough to point out that we finally got him sleeping through the night just days before we fly to Canada and he'll get all jetlagged. Ah well, what can you do? Better late than never, I say.
I think the next three weeks will be good for him, as there will be ample opportunity for attention from many other people other than just mommy and daddy, and hopefully he will be a bit more social and less attached to me.
He's babbling a lot more and is really starting to play with his toys. I'm excited to see what the next few months will bring.

Madison Version 3.5

So Maddy is three and a half right now, and I have to say that she is at an amazing age!!!!! What a hoot!!!!! True, it's exhausting, and I don't know how many times a day I have to remind her to pick up her toys or be a bit more gentle with her hugs to Charlie. But her heart is in the right place and she is a big ball of wonderfulness.
I am really being careful with what I say around her because she will take things literally, and may also be apt to copy my words. Like the other morning, she said "Mommy, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you." I may have said that a few times to her in the past two weeks....
Her playground skills have impressed me, as she can now climb a lot of the toys herself and doesn't really need me anymore. Yesterday I almost cried when she climbed into the swings and started pumping her legs and didn't need me to push her anymore on the swings.
She's also getting a bit more interested in crafts, as she's been happy to do some colouring, drawing, painting, or making little craft kits that Grandma mails over. Below is a picture that she drew on her easel the other day.
Her memory is really what amazes me the most. If you say that she can have a certain snack or do a certain thing in the future, she will not forget. And during conversations, she will easily make reference to things that happened many many months ago.
As tiring as it's been having both kids at home the past two weeks, I've enjoyed the extra time I've had with Maddy, as she's really beginning to shine and become more independent and before I know it, she won't need her momma anymore.

School's Out!

Every year the daycares in Finland are closed for the month of July, so that the staff can have a month off. Plus most of the country spends July at their summer cottages anyways and daycare isn't needed. This means that from July 1st until the day we leave for Canada, I am home with two kids.
Looking back, I'm not really sure how I survived October, November and December being home with a newborn and Maddy. Because it's been two weeks and I'm finding myself in desperate need of a vacation.
Lucky for me, we leave tomorrow for Canada ("we" meaning the kids and I). Yes, I am travelling on a 9-hour flight with two kids by myself. Call me crazy? That might be, but I know two sets of grandparents in Canada who are dying to see their babies, and a very beautiful bride-to-be who has asked me to partake in her festivities.
I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends in the County, but am also looking forward to spending a week in Banff with Alison and the girls for her wedding. Still not quite sure how I will look in a grey bridesmaids dress but that's not really the point. I will have a week without a husband and kids. I think I'm kinda excited to have the opportunity to sleep in and have uninterrupted nights. Whether my body wakes me up at 5am every morning instead? We'll have to see.
And hopefully the kids aren't too awful for their grandparents....