De dieren

We took Oomoo to Artis Zoo on the trip; I like slowly ticking of child-friendly places to visit in Amsterdam (can't wait to visit in the summer one time, so we can do day-trips to the beach). We spent a few freezing cold hours wandering around, and really only got to see a fraction of it - it's pretty big. I always feel a bit sad walking around zoos; I'd like to think that in some parallel universe we're the ones in cages, and the animals the ones banging on the glass and taking pictures.

Home away from home

When you're traveling with a child it makes sense to stay in apartment and not in a hotel; Airb'n'b has made it so easy to choose a nice place to shack up for a few nights. In hindsight I wish I'd taken more pictures of the flat we stayed in this time round in Amsterdam. It was soooooo nice. All the places we've stayed in have been seriously de-cluttered, and when we got back from this trip we got to it, and filled bags and bags of junk that we've been meaning to get rid of for ages. I might be ready to share a home tour from our house soon ;)

Let there be light

For the last couple of years there's been a light installation festival in Amsterdam in December-January. Such a great idea to have it when the nights are at their longest. We didn't see all of the installations, but these are some of the ones we cycled past.

A weekend in the 'Dam

We spent the first few days of 2015 in Amsterdam; we'd thought we'd go away somewhere over the holidays and when Oomoo mentioned our favourite city, we thought "Why not?!". I was expecting it to be cold (which it was, but nothing a Swede couldn't handle), but I had no idea how busy the city gets around New Year's. Crowds in London are a given, but I was truly surprised by them in Amsterdam. Anyways, we criss-crossed the city on our bikes, and as a result of it being so cold, I didn't really have my camera at the ready, hence these very random shots. I'm really glad we got to hang out with my friend Z, that I got to see a Vivian Maier exhibition at Foam and that I actually got to practise my Dutch. More pics to come.

So this was Christmas

Hello there! Happy New Year! You're probably as sick as I am of anything reminding you of Christmas right now, but I've just got to get this post out of the way - it's a tradition after all. 2014's xmas was a good one; Oomoo opened his sack of presents from Santa first thing in the morning, and even Little Mo came to have a look. Later we continued on to my mother-in-law for the traditional brunch, and then finally on to my brother-in-law's for an early dinner where some people even managed to sneak in a nap (see the last picture). It was a really relaxed day, but I'm always glad when it's over. Once a Scrooge, always a Scrooge?!