All(th)ebest Moments: Day 2 - Don't miss this if you're in the Netherlands with kids

So I forgot about the other half of jet lag. I was feeling like all was success when my kids fell asleep before their bed-time song was even over last night... what I didn't plan on was that their brains would wake them up ready for breakfast and play time at 2 a.m. Luckily we had our snack bags only a few head bumps and toe stubs away in our dark room, and a half dramamine eventually weighed down their eyelids (the amount of time awake was in inverse proportion to their ages, not surprisingly). Erik and I went out for a run at 7:30 and returned to find Avery and Lindsay making pancakes... all the rest of our kids slept until 10:30!

Lindsay and Avery tried two batches of pancakes but rejected them both and ate rolls with Nutella instead

Alycia let her kids skip school so they could come with us to Linnaeushof, which the sign claims is "Europa's grootste speeltuin," which must mean it is Europe's awesomest place for children - Northern Californians, picture Happy Hollow plus Dennis the Menace Park plus The Jungle (but outdoors) times a thousand. And picture no motors (even Merry Go Rounds were arm- or leg-powered) and absolutely no ride supervisors to enforce inconveniences like turn-taking or safety. Some gleeful Dutch boys jumped off a ride into a lake below with no harm to them or anyone around them (unless you count their bare bottoms as they changed into dry clothes as inflicting harm); small children could buckle themselves into chairs attached to ziplines, push a button and be hoisted and whizzed into the air. We spent six hours in this expansive, completely enclosed, grassy paradise. I thought how some of my California friends would be wringing their hands at the possible safety hazards (it really wasn't that bad, but would never be allowed in the States), and how the children reveled in their freedom and the responsibility of needing to use their bodies to make the machines work (as opposed to an automatic switch or the insertion of a coin). The other thing I loved was that Ed's Aunt Rea and her grandson met us there. I had met her a few times before when she'd visited the States, and it was so wonderful to visit with her and realize as her Dutch-speaking grandson played with my kids that they are relatives! She commented on Stone's independence and constant climbing, running, exploring and narrating that "that's just like Edward was as a boy." And it's just like Erik too (as a boy and not much different now!). I have never seen so many blond (and some red-haired) children in my life. And there seemed to be a recognizeable Dutch face, too, which Erik, Lucy and Sophie blended in with. I wonder what would have happened if Erik's grandparents hadn't left the Netherlands. Erik's dad was a little strawberry-blond boy just exactly Stone's age when they left.