Amsterdam to Nijkerk

We spent our last day at Henk and Anna's with a visit to Henk's work (so close, it was only a two minute ride by bicycle!) and he toured us around the offices and labs that support the Atlas project.  Very impressive.  Our ride there was Evelyn's first bicycle ride!!  We strapped her onto Henk's back in her Ergo carrier and she feel asleep as we toured a couple different neighborhoods near Henk's office.  

Everything of course is geared for bicycle access, and we rode a special bike bridge over a very wide canal/river to explore a new neighborhood built on land that is only 10 years old -- they created the new land area by way of a dike system.  The homes are very sturdy and modern and beautiful, and nicely located in a '"suburban" family community on the outskirts of downtown Amsterdam.  Perfect!

Gjis and Pauline drove out again from Nijkerk (about one hour east) to pick us up and bring us back to stay with them for the next three days.  The weather has been perfect (sunny, even warm) but on the drive to Nijkerk it rained (good timing!) and with the rain came a cold front so today (Saturday) we had to bundle up for the Market in Sparkenberg.  The amazing food continues; Gjis make a HUGE batch of Indonesian Nussie Goering (sp?) that we filled up on last night - one of my favorite dishes - with lots of fresh satay sauce.  Yu-u-u-u-ummm! 

Got to meet my cousins Natasha and Thomas for the first time.  Very friendly, super bright and independent, and both speaking excellent English.  We feel very welcome.  And Evelyn is enjoying meeting all the new faces as well, although she has adopted a new fussiness/clinginess that makes me wonder if she's teething or overly tired or ??? not sure.  She can sure pitch a good fit all of a sudden!!  Wow!  Anyway, bellies full, and bodies tired from all the exploring and traveling, we crashed into bed early so we wouldn't sleep till noon today.

The market this morning was nice - Sparkenberg has a cute little harbor town area with beautiful wooden sailboats lined up along the wharf.  Stopped at a few shops to buy Evelyn some cute things, and sat in a very nice coffee shop for some more pofferties and koffie verkeerd. We're hoping to be able to get on the bikes again this afternoon...weather permitting. But even a stroll around Tante Pauline's neighborhood will be nice; everything is so different, so pristine and green and efficient.  And everybody has such huge picture windows, it's easy to get a peek at life behind the glass  =;o)

Got a visit from my namesake this evening, my mom's best friend from her childhood -- Heidi Beijer came to see us, bearing gifts for Evelyn and Tag and myself.  She looks amazing -- I have memories of visiting with her and her mother when I was small, but I wasn't sure what to expect.  Heidi is an accomplished teacher and I must say, she has an incredible presence about her.  It's obvious that she makes a lasting impact on each of her students.  It was an honor to meet her, and I'm so glad to have photos of her with Evelyn to show my mom.