Adventures in Holland: We are not in Kansas (I mean, Texas) anymore!

I think the title says a lot. Things are very different here. As, of course, they should be. This week we had a lot of fun. But as with any move, their are certain adjustments to be made, and here, a very steep learning curve. Some things that are different here:

1. EVERYTHING takes an appointment. There is no just popping in to the bank to talk to a banker--it requires an appointment...for next week. You don't just open a bank account in a matter of a few minutes. It takes a few weeks. You don't just walk into a car dealership and buy a car the same day. Nope, you have to have all your government paperwork done, which takes a couple different appointments over the course of several weeks. So, if you can't buy a car yet, you rent, right? Right. But everywhere you park requires a permit, which you can't get until you own a car, which means you pay the daily rate of 15 euros just to park your car in front of your house. So, you catch my drift that this is a major lesson in patience for me. New place, new rules.

2. Speaking of new rules. Let's talk about driving. I almost died this week. Several times. I never knew what all the fuss was about with roundabouts. My experience with roundabouts consisted of the roundabout by UVU campus in Orem, Utah. Easy right? I didn't really realize how big Rotterdam is until this week. It's a big city. Driving in a big city can be pretty stressful all by itself. Well, here roundabouts have about 6 lanes, and if you are in a lane that doesn't correspond with the exit you want, you are pretty much screwed. And then, when you end up on a road that is not your intended route, good luck getting back to where you want to go. Add to that all the millions of new road signs that I have absolutely no clue what they mean. They seem to have a LOT of signs. And one way streets. So, when you add up all that with watching for trams, trains, bikes and pedestrians...it's stressful. I may or may not have ended up driving on one of the bike lanes for a short time this week. Like I said, almost died.

3. Tiny refrigerators and freezers. I'm used to going grocery shopping maybe once a week (sometimes two weeks.) I think I've been to the store every day here. Every day. And we have no food in the house. Part of that is because we have been living in temporary housing, so I haven't stocked my pantry yet. So we've been pretty much living on grilled cheese sandwiches and cold cereal. And scrambled eggs.

Despite all the adjustments to get used to, we totally love it. While Trevor was working this week, me and the kids had fun exploring our surroundings.

This is a huge slide that is right by our house.

We went to Madurodam in The Hague. It is basically iconic spots in Netherlands, in miniature. It was a ton of fun. They had a great nautical-themed playground, and lots of interactive areas for the kids.

mini-Amsterdam airport

playing in the sand

They had a miniature Rotterdam port, too

We moved in to our house on Friday. YIPEE! Suitcase living is over! Well, almost.

Do you see the beautiful canal?? This is where we live!

We were so excited to see our container arrive with all our stuff! We spend the whole day directing movers, and unpacking. We moved into this great row house that was built in 1908. It's on a beautiful canal and tree-lined street. As we were moving in, Trevor and I just had smiles on our faces the whole day, and exclaiming, "this is such a cool house!" It's definitely a grandma, and has some crazy steep and scary stairs. But it has a great vibe and oozes with character. I promise I'll post pics. I just need to get out of boxes first!

Corner house, 3 stories

Saturday was our anniversary. 14 years! So, we took a break from unpacking, and took the kids to Brussels, Belgium. It's just two hours by train. Every other August they do a flower carpet in the main square. It's pretty amazing.