We have been turning up the good times around here, enjoying all the fun & funky holidays that Holland has to offer!  There are Sinterklass parades & suprises left in your shoes!  There are parties & shopping & ice skating around every corner of Amsterdam during this season!  The food is warmer & sweeter & covered in sugar!   Events & festivals of light, music, dance & cinema are so plentiful it is impossible to keep up... Take a look at the photo on this page... yes that is what a boat full of Zwarte Piets looks like on the day that Sinterklaas arrives.

After the arrival of Sinterklaas, which was around the third week of November, kids leave their shoes out for surprises every night until December 5th which is the actual Sinterklaas Day. . . there are lots of stories surrounding these traditions so read along if you care to learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas

Now that Sinterklaas has left The Netherlands & gone back to sunny Spain, the Christmas season has arrived in the city!  It seems like overnight the face of Sinterklaas & the presence of his controversial helpers (the "Zwarte Piete" or "Black Petes") vanishes from the scene & the jolly old Santa Clauss (looks sorta same...sounds sorta same...) arrives to get you shopping all over again!  The streets are absolutely FILLED to the brim with visitors & locals.  Everyone is bundled up almost identically (although divided into two groups)   The locals are in long coats/ hats/ scarves /boots / gloves.  The tourists are all in sweats & leather jackets with Amsterdam hats.  Apparently they didn't check the weather report before they packed. 

Thanks for hanging on through our first three months!  I am really amazed at how quickly time has flown by & that we have managed to feel a little bit like locals in these 11 weeks. 

Random observations & conclusions: 

I am totally used to rain & getting all dressed in layers to stay warm/dry is a normal part of each day.  Putting an extra few articles of clothing in my backpack is de rigueur. Love me my rubber Hunter boots...

The kids are completely dialed-in on riding bikes everywhere, sometimes even without me.  Sure they still make bad judgement calls every once in a while which freaks me out... I try to breathe... 

The paper map is out; the iPhone GPS always works, even if I have no wifi...hey, BONUS!  Almost daily trips to the grocery keep us stocked with the most amazing fresh ingredients for each meal.  My kids think I'm a better cook than I used to be but I'm just realizing the over-preserved food in USA is krrrraaaap...

A good SCARF is as essential as underwear.  Mine are getting beefier & taller & now cover my ears. mmmm yummy coziness...A couple months ago, I was soooo going to make a funny post about how the girls here bring scarf-wearing to a new level (see photo: some gals appear to be wearing the blanket off their sofa, wrapped & wrapped & wrapped until just this little bit of head sticks out the top of the soft-serve ice cream looking swirl...) but I HAVE BECOME THIS SCARF-WEARING tiny bit of head poking out of three tons of wool.  It is not such a bad idea really...

Kai & Sabrina really miss their dogs (I do too) and we obsessively observe & comment on all the dogs around us.  We are trying to figure out a way to get a really tiny dog-thing that nobody will notice in our apartment or in our purse when we hop on planes or trains...

Christmas is a whole other animal here & I am going to do a totally seperate blog post dedicated to the key elements of the season...which seems to seamlessly tie Halloween to New Years Day!!