July 4, 2025
I was up early this morning to pack up our stuff to move to a different apartment for the rest of our time in Amsterdam. As I was making coffee I heard a noise nearby but after 5 days on the houseboat, I’ve gotten used to random noises and creaks so didn’t think anything of it. Then I turned around and my heart briefly stopped because I saw a face hiding beneath the kitchen table– Ollie trying to sneak his iPad.
We loaded up all of our luggage and the kids’ bike into the little boat to transport everything to the apartment in the West side of town. We really liked staying in the boat and Ollie especially got emotional when leaving. Kyle and the boys were down in the little boat while I waited on the houseboat for the OK to untie the final rope after the engine started. It took over 15 minutes, a few google searches and 100 pulls for Kyle to get it but he was successful! Apparently he needed to pump more gas into the engine to start it. After our near failure to launch, we set sail (motor?) towards the western side of town. After our recon mission yesterday, we had a plan in mind for how we would dock the boat, unload everything and walk to drop it at the new apartment. To our surprise, this plan went off without a hitch other than the near failure to start the boat motor. The weather was lovely and we mostly enjoyed one final tour of Amsterdam by boat save for Ollie asking, “Can we check if there are any cool Pokemon??” more times than I can count. Eventually the boys took to playing a game of charades back and forth and Lenny kept doing the same actions for all of the different dinosaurs he knows and took great pleasure in telling Ollie, “Nope, WRONG!” whenever he guessed incorrectly.
Back at the houseboat, we tied up the little boat and then got on our bikes to head to lunch. We found a spot near our new apartment called Oliver Green that Ollie especially wanted to try. Kyle entertained the boys with three different boat stories from his youth all on theme of how he almost crashed or ruined boats and the boys were a rapt audience.
We settled into our new apartment where we’ll stay for our next 5 nights in Amsterdam. The stairs are super steep to the 3rd floor, almost like climbing a ladder, and we’re on the corner of the building with a view of the canal. The boys quickly broke out their new legos from Grandma and Nonno and attempted to build without our assistance for a bit. Lenny was being more destructive than supportive, so he and I went to the market for a few groceries so Kyle and Ollie could construct in peace. 90 minutes later, Ollie’s vehicle was complete.
Later in the afternoon, I went to a yoga class while Kyle took the boys to Vondelpark, a huge park we’ve heard a ton about and what we think is the Central Park equivalent of Amsterdam. While at the park, a fully naked ~7 year old boy ran up to Kyle, Ollie, and Lenny in the park. There was a large water area for kids to play in so it wasn’t completely odd but he was the only naked kid Kyle saw the whole time at the park. At first Kyle thought he might have been lost so asked him if he was OK. The boy responded, in English, that he was not coming over to introduce himself but to find out if Kyle was the parent of “two dark skinned kids playing in the fountain”. Kyle told him he was not and the boy continued that they were using water guns and he did not like that they were spraying him even when he asked them to stop so he planned to hunt down their parents. His mother came by shortly after to call him over to put pants on so he could continue his search clothed.
While riding a loop in the park, they noticed a few good climbing trees for kids. On top of climbing, the boys practiced their parkour moves, running to the tree and taking a few steps up the trunk before they jumped off to the ground. They also fit in a game of rugby with Ollie and Lenny vs Kyle. They were both very into it, squealing with joy each time they would score. The kick attempts after each score was them kicking the ball over Kyle while he was bent over on the ground. Somehow he never caught a ball to the face or ribs.
Next it was Lenny’s turn to pick the activity and he headed to the swings where he wanted me to twist a big rope swing so it would spin him. Before we got to that, a young Dutch boy, Dutch Lenny, who was about 3 got on the swing with him. He began to yell at Lenny in Dutch and Lenny yelled back louder in English. His father came over and confirmed to me his son was saying to go higher and faster, the same as Lenny. After Dutch Lenny moved on to another swing Ollie came over and we did the much awaited spin which almost sent both boys flying but they asked to do it multiple times.
Finally they completed challenges. Ollie had to climb a pretty tall tree and then jump off to Kyle. After a few attempts where he needed bail out midway, he did it! He asked if anyone has ever died climbing a tree which did not contribute to a positive mindset while climbing! Lenny opted for a dead hang challenge and set his new personal record of 12 seconds!
The July 4th holiday was entirely lost on us all day but what reminded us most of home today was eating pizza from a food truck for dinner. We were on our way to Foodhallen (a big food hall) when we came across a big kid’s playground surrounded by tables and restaurants. The kids were a mess from playing in the park and we figured they might as well keep it going. Dinner was uneventful save for Lenny, and to some extent also Ollie, getting into a tiff with another boy over zipline etiquette. At one point, we saw Lenny throwing dirt at the other boy and then Ollie pushing Lenny off of the zipline platform.
Dessert tonight for the boys was pavlova (“pagloga” or “padyoga” as they call it) with berries and cream. We are loving the availability of pavlova/meringue shells at European markets. They devoured it and raved that it was their favorite dessert. Kyle and I planned to have some too, but after bathing the kids, putting them to bed and showering ourselves, we ran out of steam and opted instead for book reading and bed.
