The Beste's arrived safely, and early (5:05am, yuck) on Saturday morning.. I offered to pick them up at Schipol, so we arranged for me to meet them at 7am (again.. yuck. I am NOT a morning person..) I was so happy to see the whole family. Prequel: I worked for Jan and Todd when I was living in Wilmington as a nanny for their two small children, Cate and Alex. When I began, the children were four & six and for two years, I watched these energetic, extremely intelligent, charming children grow up.. needless to say, I was wrapped around their little fingers. Since my family lived almost four hours away, I began celebrating some holidays with the Beste's, weekly dinners, and birthday celebrations with them.. at some point they began to feel less and less like employers and more like family. I am extremely grateful for my relationship with the children and how caring Jan and Todd are towards me. Needless to say, I was thrilled to be spending the weekend with them!!! We began the day by driving to their Pension in Zandvoort which is on the coast of Holland. It's a beautiful town with sprawling dunes and wildlife, an impressive beach with freezing North Sea water lined by beach clubs, and lots of paths to bike. We walked the beach while the kids played while we waited for breakfast to open up (the Dutch don't serve until 10-11am.. no IHOP or Waffle House around here..) Alas, Pirate Pannenkoeken.. and we were the first customers in the restaurant, probably fifteen minutes earlier than they open. :) Pannenkoek is defined as a dutch pancake, usually larger and thinner than American pancakes. They can be filled with meat, cheese, vegetables, or topped with fruit, powdered sugar and syrup. I personally have attempted to make these for the kids for brunch on days off from school- but I have never made one that included a double shot of Grand Marnier.. I assumed it would be drizzled over the Pannenkoek? Yet, Jan sips it like a champion and reminds me we're taking the train for the day! Bottoms up!
The kids decided to try theirs with cherries.. I think perhaps it was more like a jar of fresh cherries a piece on top of their pancake. Cate ended up eating a majority of my ham out of the pannenkoek.. I was only able to finish half, yet Todd, managed to finish the whole! Pictures don't do these things justice, they are enormous. The kids even ordered smalls if you can imagine the size of the regular portioned ones.
After breakfast we were off to explore Amsterdam with the kids. NEMO specifically, which is an interactive science and technology museum for children and young teens.. But not before Cate and I invited the Pannenkoeken Pirate to come with us..
We finished the day with an early dinner and bedtime. I had a sleepover with Cate and Alex since we were heading into Amsterdam early Sunday morning.. Cate had a bit of a hard time sleeping, so her and I woke up at 10pm after a short "nap" and discussed everything that comes to the mind of a six year for over two hours.. Everything from school, to sports, elementary school gossip to the Easter bunny.. And I loved every minute of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment