Amsterdam - Nemo Science Museum

Our next day in Amsterdam we went to the Nemo Science Museum so the kids could really get all the wiggles out, interact with lots of different science exhibits and have fun!

Nemo Science Museum from the bridge. Had to walk across a few canals to get there.

Gavin and I got to do a science experiment where we made a rocket! Only 6+, so Ms. A didn't get to try it.

Optical illusions - they are only a couple feet apart in this pic.

More optical illusions with G & A on either side of a mirror that is in strips.

G & I saving the planet from meteors!

This was one of three pulley systems where the kids sat on the seat and had to pull themselves up with the rope. Different number of pulleys for a different difficulty level.

More fun with mirrors!

Then the kids got to play with bubbles!!

The very top level had an outdoor area that has a splash pad in warmer months. It was a bit cold for that - around 45 outside. But the views of the nearby area were great!

And here are some pics from our walk from the Museum to the nearby city center. We explored a bit of the area nearby before heading back to the hotel.

Basilica of Saint Nicholas above and Central station on the right.

Royal Palace of Amsterdam.

Entrance to a church above which is right on a busy street of shops.

That's all for this post!! Coming up is the Rijksmuseum where we did a family scavenger hunt! Then we went to the Anne Frank House (although no pics were allowed in any part of the Anne Frank museum so not much to show.

Amsterdam! Day One-ish

We took our trip to Amsterdam and just got back a couple days ago!! Lots of pics to share, so I am breaking it up a bit. We took a redeye flight so we could sleep...or at least that was the intention. Avery was the only one that got a full night's sleep!

The SLC Airport ha a Lego store, so we had to stop there and check it out.

Also took a few selfies before our flight took off.

And got a couple pics of the kids sleeping. They each got a nice packet from the flight attendant with an eye mask in it and Gavin had to use his.

We arrived in Amsterdam around 3pm local time, so we unloaded our luggage at the hotel and went to dinner.

The kids in the lobby of our hotel - home for the next ten days.

View down the street from our hotel which had this church on it. Also, these tropical birds loved hanging out in this tree that was below our windows. Someone bought two of them as pets and they got loose. Now there are more!

After dinner, we crashed and took the next day to meander around the area. There is a park near the hotel called Vondelpark, so the next morning we walked there and found a playground!

The playground had a climbing unit to get to the tall slide and it was geared towards older kids with longer legs, so Carlton had to help Avery climb up.

We also checked out the tram system to familiarize ourselves. We walked to the tram station closest to the hotel, about a ten minute walk, and we rode it to Central Station. The kids loved riding the tram!! We ended up using the tram almost every day we were in Amsterdam. From Central station we walked the three miles back to the hotel to see the shops and restaurants in the area. 

Clog pics!

Flower market - lots of seeds, bulbs and plants to buy!

We also found the Lego store in Amsterdam!

Cool M.C. Escher theme along the stairs and then a Lego house on the first floor for the kids to go inside and play.

The next day we checked out the Nemo Museum which is a Science museum that has lots of interactive exhibits. The kids really loved it and we spent most of the day there! Pics in the next Amsterdam post!

Birthday Bonanza!

Mr. G turned 6 on March 18th!! He was very excited for his Birthday this year. We did a celebration at home on the 18th with just us and then on Sunday he had a birthday party at his gymnastics place with friends. He is very into Super Mario Brothers Lego, so that was his theme this year. He had a blast playing in the gym with his friends!!

At the birthday party, we had a host that was great at getting the kids to play games. They got to play with a parachute.

And lots of running around playing with the different gym equipment.

He has had a great start as a six year old!!