Open Monumentendagen

On September 11-12, Leiden held Open Monumentendagen. This meant that many monuments throughout the city, that are not typically open to the public, were open. This year they focused on buildings of the 19th century. Many of the buildings dated from before the 19th century but tied into that century in some way.

We were fortunate to be able to explore some buildings on Saturday. Pieterskerk, City Hall and De Burcht (Leiden's own little castle) were a few of the places on our list. Here are some various photos from our day. 

Hope you enjoy.

Love,

-The Clog Crew

 City Council meeting room in City Hall.

Some of the wood inlay in City Hall. The picture does not do it justice, they had many wood inlay pictures on the wall that were very exquisite, including a map of Leiden.

 An old residence that has been converted to an Art Gallery.

 An ornate bible inside a church on Haarlemmerstraat

 A beautiful organ inside the same church. The inside of this church actually looks quite different than it once did. Pictures we saw of the original building showed that there used to be many colorful renditions of different scripture moments. Since then, they have been painted over with a more simple, creamy white.

Inside De Burcht.

The gorgeous view from the top of De Burcht. The church in the photo is Hooglandse Kerk.

Family photo at the top of De Burcht with Hooglandse Kerk in the background.

One of the city gates of Leiden.

Some vintage buttons at an antique store we passed on the way to our next stop.

Throughout Leiden there are verses of poetry written on the walls in many different languages.

Jason and Atticus heading down a narrow staircase at an old building that has been turned into an art school. There were so many incredible, original features.

Colorful art supplies.

Second story window in the art school.

Jason and Atticus in the sculpture room of the art school.

One of the larger staircases in the art school.

A lovely vintage car that we passed on the way to the next stop.

The section of Pieterskerk that explains about the pilgrims. When the pilgrims left England, the people of Leiden welcomed them to live in their city. They lived in Leiden for a time before they decided that they would like to go to America.

Flashback to High School

This past weekend we had a great church activity with a High School Reunion theme.

Everyone was to dress up like they would have in high school. We realized that we don't dress all that different than we did in high school which either means we have classic taste in clothing or that our wardrobes are terribly out of date. Oh well!

The evening consisted of dinner, "prom" photos, games and karaoke. Jason even joined in the karaoke fun. Atticus kept us on our toes by running around the whole place - nonstop. He was pretty tuckered out by the time we got home. We also were in charge of decorating a table with a 90s theme. We brainstormed together and then Jason took the reigns of making it a reality. Jason did a great job!

This weekend we also got to borrow a friend's bakfiets to see how we and Atticus liked it. Well, we all loved it! They are just brilliant. You can fit four children inside and still have a little room for groceries. Just in case you are wondering, this is a bakfiets:

{Think you would like to ride one?}

This week has a few more classes starting up and we are all getting over colds, so it should be a fun week for all of us. Atticus has had a tough time with his cold and didn't want to eat, sleep or play, but he was much chipper today which was a huge relief. If you could keep him in your prayers that he will keep improving, we would greatly appreciate it.

Before we sign off, here are some photos for you all to look at. 

These first couple are our "prom" photos from the church activity.

And of course, how could we update our blog without sharing some photos of Atticus? Jason likes to wear the Duplo bucket as a hat when he is playing with Atticus, so Atticus thought he would give it a try. As you can see, his head is just a little bit too small for that.

Lately, Atticus has taken to helping tidy the apartment. He will walk around the apartment with his Activity Walker, pick up his toys, place them in the back of the walker then take them to the recycling bin. He thinks it's the greatest thing ever! He is always doing things to make us smile, walking over just to give us hugs, and snuggling up to read a book. What an incredible blessing he is in our life!

 Hope you all enjoyed the update and the photos!

Love and miss you all.

-The Clog Crew

There and Back Again...

Amsterdam.
Calgary.

Abbotsford.

Houston.

And back again...

We're home!

It was a fantastic three weeks. We loved spending time with so many family and friends. Thank you for helping to make the trip so wonderful.

Our first week home was a week of adjusting. Atticus had a hard time with jetlag this trip, so as a result, we did too. After a few nights of very little sleep, things began to get back into a routine.

It was rather rainy and windy our first week back, so we were grateful that we brought back all sorts of new books to read with Atticus. Atticus loves reading books with us on the couch while eating raisins, it is an excellent way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Walking seems to be another great way to spend a rainy afternoon. Atticus took his first solo-steps our first week back and we are very excited. He is still a little nervous and seems to prefer holding on to one of our fingers and especially loves it when he has both our hands and gets to swing - what kid doesn't love that?

Here are just a few photos of our time in Canada.

Our time in Houston was a lot of fun. While Jason worked, Laura and Atticus visited with some friends, went to the zoo, the park and the pool. Jason was even off early enough to join us at a few museums in the evenings. Atticus loved the Children's Museum and the zoo!

Here are a few photos from our time in Houston.

This past week, Atticus and Laura also started their preschool music class. It's in Dutch and Laura is really looking forward to learning some children songs in Dutch. Jason is hard at work, as always, and we are just enjoying every moment we get to spend together.

Thanks again for a wonderful trip to Canada.
Love you all!

-The Clog Crew