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kavu adventures in holland
By: Tyler Lee
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My wife Kati and I like to save up work related credit card points and when we have enough we pick somewhere.....anywhere in the world to fly for free.
Then do it again!
This round, we picked Holland. We saved the points a little longer to buy one more seat for our 21 month old kiddo, Rayno Robin.
Looking at our options, we found 3 seats from Seattle to Amsterdam for......
120,000 points + $1= SLAM DUNK! We pulled the trigger :)
I knew my Tante “Aunt” Martje lived near Amsterdam and she could help us solve the little issues which come about by traveling with a toddler like; a car seat, crib, and the essential items needed to keep Rayno styled out and not loosing his mind :)
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My mom is full Dutch and we have extended family in Holland. I've been to Holland myself a few times but, really wanted Kati and Rayno to meet my family and experience the Dutch style. #LocalWorldwide
We asked my mom if she wanted to come along and she said, "I would love to"!
I mean lets be real.... having Oma along for Rayno back-up is seriously needed! He's as busy as the energizer bunny....a ball of laughing joy with light up drum sticks. Besides, 3 is better than 2 to help with a toddler when jet leg and international travel is going down. She was BEYOND helpful with Rayno many, many, times...... as well as being our Dutch translator.
HilleGom
For the first half we got to stay with my Tante Martje and Oom Theo. Martje and Theo live in Hillegom which is a beautiful rural spot out in the country side about 20 minutes by train and 30 minutes by car from Amsterdam. Theo owns his own architectural landscaping company. It’s an awesome family operation and Rayno Loved all the BIG TRUCKS and equipment that rolled in and out each day :) They have two daughters..... Nienke and Melissa who Rayno loved. It was wonderful to have dinners and get to know my family in Holland.
Meet Larry The Bunny...
This is Rayno's "pacifier" of sorts...calm's him down, helps him sleep and he just loves Larry with all of his heart. There are 4 Larry's and each one plays an important role on the daily. The key is to keep at least 2-3 of the Larry's feet washed and dry. So when a "Freshie!!" is requested by the little one we need a fresh Larry ready to go! The crazy funny stuff we do as parents :)
keukenhof gardens
Martje lives really close to The KEUKENHOF which is an unbelievable garden full of more types of flowers than I have seen in my life. It was so amazing to hear they replant and change it up every year.
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Amsterdam is full of life with trams, cars, buses, people, bikes, bikes and more bikes going every which way.
We loved walking the streets near all the canals. Kati and I left Rayno with Oma for an afternoon and took a boat ride on the canals. Seeing the buildings from water level was a really cool different angle and perspective.
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The boy LOVED driving the train! He KAVU-crushed all swings, slides and more! He did about 20 laps on the tall orange slide.....definitely a favorite.
We ended up taking him twice and I feel like we had as much fun as he did!! A "must-take your kid there someday" kind of place :)
utrecht
We went to visit My Mom and our friend Josine in the city of Utrecht.
Josine was an au pair with a family that lived next to my parents house in Seattle. She and my Mom became friends over that year and it was great to see them catch up. Kati and I lived near there at the time, and she met Rayno when he was tiny. It was fun to visit her with the whole fam and to see the cool city she lives in.
zandvoort
Next, we went to Zandvoort..... a beach town that my mom remembers taking the bus to with her Oma as kid. It was really fun throwing rocks in the water and watching Rayno draw in the sand with his stick.
I love how the simple things can bring so much joy!
haarlem
Haarlem is a city close by which, had an amazing church with a HUGE organ. It's a lovely smaller city with a beautiful square and great to walk around.
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For the second half of the stay, we went to Tante Inge and Om Ari’s House. It was in Delft just outside of Den Haag or, “The Hague”.
Delft is a city with numerous canals and was super fun to bike around. Inge led the whole family on a bike tour of the city.
Rayno was all about it! He was a happy camper :) I loved biking into the city at night and just taking in life and enjoying.
ghent belgium
Oma and Tante Inge gave us the gift of taking care of Rayno for a night! So, Kati and I fired up the rental car and took off to Ghent Belgium. It was a city Tante Martje had visited and recommended..... and her photos looked awesome.
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So, we snagged a room at the Carlton, with a roof top deck and took in the city. Ghent was a great place to visit just for one night because you could walk across the city in 30 minutes.
Not the “whole” city… but our hotel concierge hooked up this EPIC map where he used multi colored pens to highlight the most unique spots and different things to see. Kati and I looked at Martje’s cool photos, put a finger on a map and went to Ghent so this was the most helpful cool thing to have happen right when we checked in :)
nice view
According to Wikipedia; Its pedestrianized center is "known for medieval architecture such as 12th-century Gravensteen castle and the Graslei". Well it seems like Wiki nailed it.
After visiting I can also say they are known for being the most Vegan/ Vegetarian city in Belgium and have well over 25 different national styles of cuisines represented within the restaurants around the city. Also, the city's architecture was unreal. There was a graffiti alley, full of color and art, to enjoy.
Kati and I also checked out the Het Belfort van Gent, a bell watch tower built between 1313 and 1380. We went to the top and got a marvelous 360 view of the city! Definitely worth the 8 Euros each.
zaanse schans
As our trip was getting closer to ending, we couldn’t miss seeing Windmills in Holland. They are massive, unreal, and hand made..... with four wooden sails ripping in the wind. Inside the windmills, each one has something different happening. The one we visited was making Peanut oil inside. As the wind blew the sails, the wooden mechanics inside crushed peanuts and made oil. It was fascinating that all these wooden, hand made, old parts moved so smooth and consistently. Other windmills included a mustard mill, dye mill, sawmills and oil mills.
den-haag (the hague)
Before we left we had to drive the 20 minutes to see the city of Den Haag. It’s the city where the Government operates for the Netherlands. Much like our "Washington D.C.”
travel home
But, after spending many more wonderful days, nights and dinners with another part of my dutch family..... alas, it was time to head home.
I loved our time in Holland and hope to continue to stay connected with my family "Local Worldwide".
When we got to the airport, we found out our flights home were canceled. Hours of calm, hopeful thoughts and 25 lines later, we boarded the flight out of Amsterdam. The good news was that we got re-routed though Dublin and all snagged a nice passport stamp from Ireland. Ha! We even got home 3 hours earlier than we were suppose to.
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Living and experiencing life on the other side of the world with my family, Dutch style, left me with a deeper appreciation for family. This trip gave me a stronger desire to enjoy family dinners, take life less seriously, relax more, and to enjoy throwing rocks in a pond as much as Rayno does.
It was indeed a KAVU trip full of KAVU days!
Photos by: Tyler, Kati & Corinne Lee
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