Bruges, Belgium

A little overnight stay in Bruges, Belgium

After a two game visit to Brussels for Maya's basketball team, we headed on over to Bruges for the night. We had heard that Bruges was gorgeous, mid evil, exceptional...so we had to take a visit. Even on a cold, windy Saturday/Sunday, we enjoyed the sites. We were lucky enough to experience it with our new friends, the Lewis Family (Eric, Holli, Lilli, Lucy and Eliza), spending the day walking, eating chocolate, climbing towers, taking canal tours and just plain taking in the breathtaking city of Bruges.

Hanna's 9th Birthday!

Hanna's 9th Birthday

Happy 9th Birthday Hanna!

I can't believe that Hanna is 9! I think about the life that she has led to this point and it amazes me. She has lived in 3 countries, started to learn 2 other languages, moved multiple times (twice across the world), has attended 8 different schools (including her preschools), made friends from all over the world, does not see color, language, culture or any other differences as a barrier to keep her from becoming friends with someone, and has adapted to the uncomfortable. Her personality is hard nosed, stubborn, self reliant, confident, kind, loving and caring. She has a hard exterior, but a soft interior. She is smart, really funny, athletic... a good friend, a great daughter and an overall special girl. For her birthday this year, she chose a visit to the zoo, a jump at the indoor trampoline place,  a dinner out with family and a joint birthday trip with Maya to Paris, France (instead of a party- I think we all won!). We love you Hanna- thank you for all you add to our family- keep being exactly who you are! 

Artis Zoo- pretty sure there are monkeys somewhere back there!

Jumpers, the Indoor Trampoline park

Her favorite birthday gift- an electric toothbrush

Ireland...the land of Rainbows, green grass, castles and RAIN, WIND and COLD!

Ireland, December 15-22, 2015

Ireland...a place I have DREAMED about going to basically my entire adult life.  Scott ended up having to go to Cork, Ireland for work for a few days during the girls' winter break, so we decided to revolve our Christmas trip around those few days, and extend it longer so we could be tourists. We planned a weeks vacation, with the help of an Ireland travel expert named Jody, around Ireland, including the Counties of Cork, Limerick, Clare and Waterford. Though the weather was not awesome (rained some, but cold and VERY windy the whole trip), the trip itself, and the things we got to see and do were amazing.  

Maya kissing the Blarney Stone

Hanna kissing the Blarney Stone

Ringing the Shandon Bells at St. Anne's Church

Cork/Cork County- we stayed at the Fota Island Resort, right outside of Cork. We stayed in a small duplex, with a full kitchen, two full baths, two large bedrooms...VERY good for a family of four. It gave us some good privacy and space, plus it had a nice Spa that the girls got to swim at a few mornings after Scott went to work. While in Cork, we visited the city, including the shopping streets and rang the Shandon Bells at the Church of St. Anne's. The girls LOVED the bells- they had a music book for them to ring the bells in song...I basically had to drag them out!

Cliffs of Moher- by FAR our favorite part of the trip. The cliffs are a natural wonder- beautiful, scary, great hike, phenomenal views....it was an active day, and we have found our family does better when we are active!

Maya and Hanna- Cliffs of Moher

 

Adare- we visited the Adare Manor in Adare, Ireland and went on a Hawk Walk. We got to hold all different types of birds- Hawks, owls, eagles....it was amazing. We also got to fly an American Bald Eagle (did you know that they do not get the white feathers on their head until they reach maturity at 4-5 years old?), and take a Hawk on a walk (he would fly back to us and land on our arms/hands). Aside from the cold weather, the experience was amazing and educational!

Hanna at the Hawk Walk

Maya at the Hawk Walk

Bruff- we stayed at The Old Bank bed and breakfast in Bruff- a tiny little town between some of the sites that we hoped to visit while in Ireland. Miriam, the owner, was quite animated, full of stories and actually offered to babysit the kids so Scott and I could go out for a drink one night. The bed and breakfast was wonderful. We went to church at the very old Catholic church down the road which was also super cool, and then Miriam recommended a little bar called Mary's Place right down the street as a place to stop and have a drink. I kid you not, Mary's place was a big as my living room, with a bar in it, including a trough outside in the back for the Gentleman to go to the bathroom. When we walked in, everyone turned around to stare, and by the time we walked out, everyone was yelling Good night! Has to be the friendliest European country- would love to go back!

Waterford- we took an overnight trip to Waterford. While a beautiful town, we went for the Wintervale- a Christmas festival that was supposed to turn the town into a winter wonderland....a cheesy, 1970's plastic winter wonderland. We visited the Waterford Crystal store (no factory tour), but all the other things we did their were very cheeseball! We did have some good food, and took a really nice horse driven sleigh ride through the town, so all was not lost.

Castles

We had the chance to visit two castles while we were in Ireland, and both were fantastic and very different!

Bunratty Castle and Folk Lore Park was built in 1425 on what was originally a Viking Trading camp in 970. It was restored in 1954 to its former medieval splendor and now contains mainly 15th and 16th century funishings, tapestries, and works of art which capture the mood of those times.  It was very neat to see how all the rooms were set up and what they were used for. The skinny, tight cement staircases and you wound your way up to the rooftop of the castle were really neat. The Folk Lore park allowed us to enjoy the sights, sounds tastes, scents, of this time period as you stroll from house to house or around the charming village street complete with school, post office, doctors house, hardware shop, printers and of course McNamara’s pub! For those of our friends in the U.P. it felt like Fort Wilkens, where you could get an active idea of how life was back in the days that the Castle was actually occupied.

Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle- this was a last minute add on- as we were heading back from Waterford, we decided to go check this out before we headed to the airport....simply said, I am SO glad we did. This was one of our favorite things we did while on this trip. The grounds were amazing, and the castle was as is- no recreations or restorations...so we had the opportunity to walk through the castle without furnishings...using out imaginations. We got the chance to kiss the Blarney Stone (upside down, over the edge of the castle...a bit freaky!), walk through the poisonous gardens and take in the beautiful scenery.

Rock of Cashel- A spectacular group of Medieval buildings set on an outcrop of limestone in the Golden Vale including the 12th century round tower, High Cross and Romanesque Chapel, 13th century Gothic cathedral, 15th century Castle and the restored Hall of the Vicars Choral. This Cathedral, cemetary and grounds were simply amazing with a spectacular view of the countryside (exactly how you imagine the countryside of Ireland to be!)

Rock of Cashel

Charles Fort in the POURING Rain

Charles Fort- The Charles Fort is a star shaped fort built on the coast of Ireland. The day we went was the only day that it poured buckets, so we didn't get to stay long, and didn't get to enjoy it as much as we would have liked. I would love to go back and check it out on a nice day, where we could walk the grounds for a longer period of time.

Kinsale

Kinsale- unforunately, this was the same day we visited Charles Fort, and we did not get to enjoy it as we would have liked. That being said, the town reminded me of Newport, Rhode Island- small, cozy, quaint, sailboat filled port that on a great, warm day (if that happens in Ireland!) would be amazing to hang out in. We also took a Heritage tour with Dermot Ryan, which allowed us to learn a little more about the town, it's history and find cute shops and restaurants!

Jameson Experience- Scott and I took a few hours one day, let the girls hang at the Fota and did the Jameson Experience tour. Super cool, plus we got a chance to "try" out quite a few whiskey's! Not normally my thing, but when in Ireland.....

Titanic Experience- on one of the days Scott had to work, I took the girls to Cobh, Ireland- the last port for the Titanic before if headed to sea and to the it's next port in the United States. The girls and I went to the Titanic Experience, and all 3 of us thoroughly enjoyed it. We were given names of actual passengers who were on the ill fated Titanic, and then at the end had a chance to see whether "we" lived or died. All three of us SURVIVED! The crazy thing was that all three of us had the last name of Murphy- my maiden name, and all of those Murphys (two were sisters, the other unrelated) ended up settling in the Michigan/Illinois area....aside from that coincidence, we learned a lot about the ship, the passengers, and the night the ship hit the iceberg. Interesting and sad (and now Hanna claims she will NEVER, EVER go on a ship again). 

Dinner with the Ridderman's

Dinner with friends- we had the chance to meet up with some friends from Kalamazoo, who were finishing up their expat assignment in Cork, and moving back to Kalamazoo a few days later. We had a fantastic dinner at Sage in Middleton, good conversation a an overall great night!

Arriving in Amsterdam - Moving companies and beyond

Arrived @ Schipol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands  October 15, 2014

Crazy amounts of luggage at Schipol Airport

We arrived in Amsterdam the morning of October 15th. It was the girls first time seeing their new city which they were very excited about. When we chose our new home on Willemsparkweg, we were told that the construction was supposed to be completed prior to our moving to Amsterdam. When we arrived, the road in front of our home was completely torn up- no sidewalks, no road, no bike path. There was dirt EVERYWHERE, big trucks and heavy machinery blocking both ends, and no parking allowed. We were supposed to stay one night in the hotel, but ended up having to stay an extra night, because the rental furniture company that was supposed to be dropping our furniture off Wednesday morning, could not figure out how to get the furniture down our street and into the house. Though our relocation company had sent them pictures of the construction and given them warning, they acted like they had no idea it was going on, and did not come prepared with the proper equipment or crew.

Willemsparkweg Construction

We finally got into our new home on Friday and the girls were thrilled. Maya's room is equivalent to a postage stamp.and Hanna's is gigantic. Maya has been a very good sport about it, and actually seems to love her tiny little space. Hanna wishes she had a smaller room, but she is stuck (poor girl) with a large room for the next few years.

Moving, Air Shipments, Sea Shipments...mass confusion

Our Air shipment made it here to the Netherlands within 2 weeks and our sea shipment just over a month (much better than the 2 months to Japan!). Once again, the construction threw a wrench in everything- out home was FILTHY after the rental furniture company came in. We had several issues with out moving company out of Michigan. Scott and I had a feeling things were going to get messed up right off the get go. The contact person who came to our home to do the initial walk through hardly paid attention to anything, didn't write anything down, etc. She sent people to crate our TVs, only to find out they couldn't crate them (they have to be a certain size as well as type of TV to crate), they sent a different crew everyday...it was a mess. When our items got here we had quite a bit of damage (still working through that with the insurance company), as well as several missing boxes- pantry stuff, all of Scott's work stuff, a bunch of kitchen items and an entire closet full of winter gear, shoes, sunglasses, etc. To make this story shorter, they ended up hiring another moving company to go get our things, re-inventory it all and look for our missing stuff, and move all of our items to the new companies storage facilities. What a mess! The new company did not find our things, which mean they are either stored in someone else's storage facility, got shipped with someone else's sea or air shipment,  or got stolen. We are in the process of settling the lost items claim, as well as figuring out how to replace it all over here. What a pain!

Brussels, Belgium

Our first trip outside the Netherlands was a day trip to Brussels, Belgium. While there we visited  a few different places: The La Grande-Place, Town Hall, a Chocolatier, the Atomiom, Mini-Europe and Cantillion Brewery- a little bit for everyone.

La Grand-Place:  Around a cobbled rectangular market square, La Grand-Place in Brussels, the earliest written reference to which dates back to the 12th century, features buildings emblematic of municipal and ducal powers, and the old houses of corporations. An architectural jewel, it stands as an exceptional and highly successful example of an eclectic blending of architectural and artistic styles of Western culture, which illustrates the vitality of this important political and commercial centre

The Girls in front of La Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium

Atomiom- Built for the 1958 World Fair, the Atomium represents a molecule's nine atoms – magnified 165 billion times. Something of a symbol of the city, it provides a panoramic view of Brussels and its surroundings. We also visited the Mini Europe, located right near the Atomiom.

In front of the Atomoim- we went up in all the "atoms"

Mini Europe

Scott in front in the La Grand Place square

Brussels at night

Our final stop was picking up some beer at the Cantillion Brewery. Cantillion brews some of Scott's favorite beer- beer that is next to impossible to find and drink in the U.S.

2014... a year of ridiculous change

This past year, 2014, has to have been one of the busiest, craziest and most special years we have had to date as a family. After waiting for the past 2 years for another overseas assignment to come our way, it looked like it was not going to happen. Scott and I had set a timeline for accepting another move- it had to be before Maya was in 7th grade. We wanted to make sure that our kids were old enough to remember and grow from the experience, but also for Maya to be back in time to enjoy 4 years of high school in Portage, with her friends and all in one place. We both want our girls to graduate from high school feeling like they had a home to come back to- not just a place to visit.

So when February hit and it did not look like it was going to happen, we decided, instead, to look for a new home. We had outgrown the home that we had bought when we moved to Michigan from Connecticut, and were looking for something with a different floor plan, in a different neighborhood, with a larger, quieter backyard to enjoy having friends over, hanging out in and playing with our dog, Miko. We were lucky enough to find a home that fit all of these requirements, and during the 1st week of May, 2014, we moved in- ready to enjoy our new home and neighborhood....haha. That very same week, Scott was approached about a potential job opportunity in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Stryker was about to open up a European headquarters, and they were at the beginning stages of placing existing employees/positions over in that location. While we were excited (we really wanted an opportunity to spend time in Europe), the timing was not ideal. Thankfully, it took about 2 months for Stryker to figure out the job, and what it would entail...giving Scott and I enough time to sort-of settle in to our new home, research a bit and discuss, both with each other and with the kids, the idea of moving again, so soon. Frankly, we both were in the "no" category, until we spoke to Maya and Hanna. Surprisingly, they both said yes- they wanted to do it again!

In August, Scott and I took a trip over to look at places to live and visit the school we were looking at for the girls. While the city seemed promising, the housing did not. There were only 13 houses available- in both Amstelveen (suburb) and Old South (Oud Zuid) Amsterdam in any sort of price range that we could afford. 1/2 of them had stairs so steep or narrow that we were not even willing to consider the homes. Others had only 1 bathroom, or 2 bedrooms on one floor and a third two levels down. It was an overall highly frustrating trip, but by the end, we made a few sacrifices and ended up finding a home that we think we can live happily in for 2-3 years.

Amsterdam

We spent the majority of August and September organizing, planning, talking to moving companies, rental companies, property management companies, language and cultural training companies, finding our dog, Miko a temporary home to live in...there was SO much to get done in such a short period of time, getting ourselves ready for a mid-October move. During this, we also tried to see as many people as we could, and live a normal life for the kids- filled with club soccer, piano practices, school get togethers and friends. It was a VERY STRESSFUL two months (unless you have a very strong marriage, I do not recommend moving two times in a matter of 5 months).

We ended up figuring it all out, the most important being a home for our dog. Miko has been a part of our family for 2.5 years, and we love him tremendously, We just didn't know how to get him to Amsterdam with his anxiety issues and did not have a ton of time to research it. We are hoping to bring him over next fall when we come back from the States.

Move week was the week of my 41st birthday- October 6-10, 2014. We wanted to pick a different week, but we did not have much choice, or time available. The movers came (a whole other entry to this blog) that week, packed up our things and after a few nights in a hotel, finishing up the fall soccer season with Lightning and dropping Miko off at his new home on a farm in Burlington, we were off.

Good thing we had an SUV- all of this came with us on our Move flight to Amsterdam