Sunday March 30

Yesterday our friends, Jim, Julie and their son Ben, who live near The Hague came and visited us in Amsterdam. My mom made us all some very yummy fajitas for lunch.  After lunch we all went on a walk around Amsterdam.  The first place we went was Dam Square.  We walked around Dam Square for a few minutes.  We saw the WWII memorial and walked past the royal palace and the  Nieuwe Kerk (New Church).  Then we went for a walk around the surrounding area.  The area around there is the red light district.  At the center of the red light district is the Oude Kerk (Old Church).  The Oude Kerk is the oldest building in Amsterdam and over 800 years old.  Inside there is a huge pipe organ, and pretty stained glass windows.  Also the floor is made up of large stones, many of which are graves of the wealthy.  

After visiting the church we went to an art market.  At the art market we bought a beautiful water color painting of a canal in Amsterdam.  Next we went to the flower market.  The flower market has lots of different types of flowers for sale.  You can find tulip bulbs of every kind for sale there.  There are also fresh cut flowers there to purchase.  

After going to the markets we went to Leidseplein to have a drink.  At the center of Leidseplein there are tons of outdoor tables that you can sit at.  They have heating lamps that they turn on in the evening and when the weather is chilly.  We all sat at these tables and watched all the people walk around.  There were also some street dancers that we saw.  They were doing hand stands and head spins and such. It was a lot of fun to watch.  

This is the inside of the Oude Kerk.

This is one of the grave stones in the Oude
Kerk.

This is the water color painting that we bought.

This is Julie and Ellie sitting at Leidseplein.

This is Ben, Jim, and my dad. 

Keukenhof

Today we went to Keukenhof Holland.  It is an amazing spring garden, where there is supposed to be 4 million flowers.  There are hundreds of different types of flowers there including tulips, orchids, lilies, hydrangeas, daffodils, and much more.  There are lots of trails to walk around in the gardens, there are also huge green houses that you can go inside.  There was even a play ground and petting zoo for little kids.  We had a really fun time!!!

Flower Market

Today we went to the flower market in Amsterdam.  There are thousands and thousands of fresh flowers that you can buy there.  They also have tulip and other flower bulbs that you can plant.  

These are hand made wooden tulips that I bought at the
 flower market today.

Hello everyone! Im sorry that I  have not posted anything in a while.  All of us have have been sick.  Dad was the first to get it last weekend.  Then Ellie got it.  And then I caught it on Thursday evening.  We all have a really bad cough and sore throat. 

 We have not been doing all that much the past week because we have been trying to get better.  However on Thursday night we went and saw one of dads friends play in a cafe.  We had a really good time!

Then last night we went over to that same friends house for dinner.  He is French so he made us some traditional french food.  We had chicken cooked with bacon and mushrooms and other yummy stuff in it. It was delicious.  I made cookies that we brought for dessert.  Baking here is very difficult.  Finding all of the ingredients is a challenge.  You have to search in special stores to find baking soda and powder.  Also it is impossible to find chocolate chips here.  I had to substitute in M&Ms.  Also the oven in our apartment is tiny.  It looks like someone put a toaster oven into the wall.  The oven also is the microwave. 

My cookies

This is our lovely oven/microwave.

Also yesterday afternoon we got a huge box in the mail sent from the lovely people that work at the Water Court (where my mom works).  Inside there were lots of wonderful things such as: chocolate, Mexican food, pub mix, a crocheting book, some coffee, some cadbury eggs, some different spices, ranch dressing mix, a monkey statue, some movies and much more.  I would like to say Thank You to all of the people from the Water Court who sent that to us!!!!

Paris Day 7 Thursday March 13

On Thursday Morning the four of us went to the Notre Dame Cathedral.  It is am absolutely incredible building.  It was completed in 1345.  The inside it just as impressive as the outside.  The stained glass and architecture are so beautiful. 

After visiting the inside of Notre Dame Mom and Ellie went to Trocadero.  Dad and I went to the Musee d'Orsay.  The Musee d'Orsay has the largest collection of impressionist paintings in the Entire world. In the museum they had probably close to 50 paintings by Monet.  They also have paintings by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Manet, Degas and many more of the impressionists.  The museum is in a renovated train station, which was really cool.  The museum does not let visitors take photos so I found some of my favorites online so you all could see.

Edgar Dagas Dancer

Claude Monet Poppies

Vincent van Gogh Starry Night Over the Rhone

After visiting the museums we went to see the Eiffel tower at night.  It is even more amazing at night than it is in the day.  Every hour is has lights that flash on it making it look like is is glittering.  It was a perfect way to spend our las night in Paris.

Paris day 6 Wednesday March 12

On Wednesday we all went to the Louvre.  It is the worlds largest museum.  It contains so many things that if you were too look at each piece of art for one minute each it would take you 6 straight months. Night and day.  The entrance to the Louvre is right below the glass pyramid that you see in some of the pictures.  The Louvre building its self is an old royal palace.  French Kings and Queens used live there up until Louis XIV decided to live at the Chateau de Versailles.  

We had a really wonderful time at the museum.  We were there for about 5 hours looking at the art and stopping for a quick bite of lunch.  The paintings were Dad and my favorite parts.  Moms favorite part was seeing the statues.  Im not sure what Ellie liked best, but I know she had a really wonderful time.  By the time we left I was so tired I could hardly walk.  I would have loved to stay longer but our bodies were too worn out to do anymore.  

This is the Venus de Milo.  It is a marble
statue of Aphrodite.  It was carved by
 Alexandros of Antioch between the years of
130 and 100 BC

This is the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci.

These are more of Da Vinci's paintings.

This is one of my favorite paintings.
 It was painted by Ghirlandaio in 1490.

This is Raphael's painting of
 The Virgin with the baby and the little Saint Jean Baptist
(La Vierge a l'enfant avec le petit jean baptiste)

This is one of the Four seasons paintings
by arcimb