Vacation photos: Amsterdam

As I mentioned before, Alex and I recently took a (very) spontaneous four-day trip to Amsterdam to visit my college friend and explore the city, while Toby stayed home and guarded the fort. It was a whirlwind adventure! Thank you again for all your tips! Here are some photos, if you'd like to see....
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Vacation photos: Amsterdam

As I mentioned before, Alex and I recently took a (very) spontaneous four-day trip to Amsterdam to visit my college friend and explore the city, while Toby stayed home and guarded the fort. It was a whirlwind adventure! Thank you again for all your tips! Here are some photos, if you'd like to see....
Read more »

About a Little Mole Who Wants to Know Who It Was that Pooped on its Head. (Seriously.)

The funniest thing we discovered in Amsterdam was definitely this classic children's book. The title? "About a Little Mole Who Wants to Know Who It Was that Pooped on its Head." Look inside...Read more »

About a Little Mole Who Wants to Know Who It Was that Pooped on its Head. (Seriously.)

The funniest thing we discovered in Amsterdam was definitely this classic children's book. The title? "About a Little Mole Who Wants to Know Who It Was that Pooped on its Head." Look inside...Read more »

Motherhood Mondays: Biking in Amsterdam

I'd love to share our Amsterdam photos later this week, but in the meantime, want to see some crazy photos of bikes in Amsterdam? Here goes...
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Motherhood Mondays: Biking in Amsterdam

I'd love to share our Amsterdam photos later this week, but in the meantime, want to see some crazy photos of bikes in Amsterdam? Here goes...
Read more »

Crazy news: We're going to Amsterdam!

So, I have some crazy news: We're taking a (very) spontaneous quick trip to Amsterdam! Leaving tomorrow!! Here's the story: We were planning to take Toby to Europe this summer, but we priced out the flights, and it was prohibitively expensive. (Summer flights to most major European cities started at $1400; and we'd need to buy three.) We figured our Europe dreams were dashed, until we realized that if we squeezed a trip in April, the flights were much less expensive—and the overall trip would be doable if we stayed for just a handful of days.

So! We decided to plan a less expensive family vacation this summer in the midwest, but to scratch our Europe itch, Alex and I are taking a quick trip to Amsterdam this weekend! We're going for just four days, while Toby stays home with his beloved babysitters (since a weekend trip to Europe—with long flights + jetlag—would be no fun for a two-year-old). I'm so excited to visit Amsterdam: I've always wanted to see the cool houseboats and even cooler bikers. Also, one of my best friends from college—Penny—is living there right now, and we can't wait to see her.

This is all so exciting and heady—I'm the least spontaneous person ever, so it's funny/thrilling to be heading to a big city without any planning. If you have any Amsterdam tips, we'd LOVE to hear them! Have you ever been?

Weekend round-up coming up, and sending you a big kiss! Eeks!
P.S. I've written a bunch of posts for next week that I hope you enjoy.
(We'll miss this little dude)

Crazy news: We're going to Amsterdam!

So, I have some crazy news: We're taking a (very) spontaneous quick trip to Amsterdam! Leaving tomorrow!! Here's the story: We were planning to take Toby to Europe this summer, but we priced out the flights, and it was prohibitively expensive. (Summer flights to most major European cities started at $1400; and we'd need to buy three.) We figured our Europe dreams were dashed, until we realized that if we squeezed a trip in April, the flights were much less expensive—and the overall trip would be doable if we stayed for just a handful of days.

So! We decided to plan a less expensive family vacation this summer in the midwest, but to scratch our Europe itch, Alex and I are taking a quick trip to Amsterdam this weekend! We're going for just four days, while Toby stays home with his beloved babysitters (since a weekend trip to Europe—with long flights + jetlag—would be no fun for a two-year-old). I'm so excited to visit Amsterdam: I've always wanted to see the cool houseboats and even cooler bikers. Also, one of my best friends from college—Penny—is living there right now, and we can't wait to see her.

This is all so exciting and heady—I'm the least spontaneous person ever, so it's funny/thrilling to be heading to a big city without any planning. If you have any Amsterdam tips, we'd LOVE to hear them! Have you ever been?

Weekend round-up coming up, and sending you a big kiss! Eeks!
P.S. I've written a bunch of posts for next week that I hope you enjoy.
(We'll miss this little dude)

Vacation photos: Austin

We got back from Austin last night, and we loved the trip. Austin is such a rad town, full of swimming, tattoos and rib-sticking BBQ. Here are a few photos, if you'd like to see...
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Vacation photos: Austin

We got back from Austin last night, and we loved the trip. Austin is such a rad town, full of swimming, tattoos and rib-sticking BBQ. Here are a few photos, if you'd like to see...
Read more »

Vacation photos: Los Angeles and Palm Springs

This holiday, we went to Los Angeles and Palm Springs to visit our families. Despite my computer breaking and Toby needing stitches (more on that later!), it was one of those great, boisterous trips where everyone's excited, and you return home happy and refreshed. I'd love to share a few of the highlights, if you'd like to see...
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Vacation photos: Los Angeles and Palm Springs

This holiday, we went to Los Angeles and Palm Springs to visit our families. Despite my computer breaking and Toby needing stitches (more on that later!), it was one of those great, boisterous trips where everyone's excited, and you return home happy and refreshed. I'd love to share a few of the highlights, if you'd like to see...
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Our romantic weekend getaway (without the baby!)

My darlings, we've talked about when you'd feel ready to travel without your baby. I was itching for a romantic trip with Alex yet too nervous to leave Toby behind--but for Alex's birthday, we decided to take the plunge! I'd love to share a few photos of our trip...
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Our romantic weekend getaway (without the baby!)

My darlings, we've talked about when you'd feel ready to travel without your baby. I was itching for a romantic trip with Alex yet too nervous to leave Toby behind--but for Alex's birthday, we decided to take the plunge! I'd love to share a few photos of our trip...
Read more »

Beachy day

Toby and I are playing hooky for the rest of the week and heading to Fire Island with these guys. We're excited to nap on the beach and maybe grill some burgers. I have more posts coming up, if you're in a blog reading mood. :) xoxo P.S. Have you ever been to Fire Island?

Beachy day

Toby and I are playing hooky for the rest of the week and heading to Fire Island with these guys. We're excited to nap on the beach and maybe grill some burgers. I have more posts coming up, if you're in a blog reading mood. :) xoxo P.S. Have you ever been to Fire Island?

Pinhole Press vacation book

My darlings, we love taking vacation photos (who doesn't?) but then we never really look at them again. They're just stuck on our computers. So! We decided to make a Pinhole Press photo book with our England vacation snapshots, and I love love love the way it turned out. The paper is really soft, the photos look gorgeous, and it's amazing to have a little book of our vacation. Alex and I have read through it like fifty times. :) Here are a few of the pages...
Anyway, it was easy to make and it's so wonderful to have; now I'm dying to make litte photo books for all our vacations and events, including every Christmas break and our wedding and honeymoon. Thought I'd share! xoxo
P.S. Inspired, I also made some thank-you notes to have on hand at home, using a photo Amy Merrick emailed me of her flowers. :)

Pinhole Press vacation book

My darlings, we love taking vacation photos (who doesn't?) but then we never really look at them again. They're just stuck on our computers. So! We decided to make a Pinhole Press photo book with our England vacation snapshots, and I love love love the way it turned out. The paper is really soft, the photos look gorgeous, and it's amazing to have a little book of our vacation. Alex and I have read through it like fifty times. :) Here are a few of the pages...
Anyway, it was easy to make and it's so wonderful to have; now I'm dying to make litte photo books for all our vacations and events, including every Christmas break and our wedding and honeymoon. Thought I'd share! xoxo
P.S. Inspired, I also made some thank-you notes to have on hand at home, using a photo Amy Merrick emailed me of her flowers. :)

Vacation photos: Cornwall, England

My darlings, I'd love to share a few photos from our vacation in England, if you'd like to see...

Our grandmother lives in a teeny tiny fishing village called Polruan. Our first evening there, we had a drinks party on her terrace. She invited her friends of all ages, and we ate smoked salmon and potato chips.
Toby loves a good party...
We toasted my cousin and her husband, who were celebrating their first wedding anniversary. (Aren't they cute?)
And this is the view! Crikey! It was so much fun.
During this trip, Toby met his new "cousins" (they are my cousins' daughters) for the first time ever. It was ridiculously endearing to see them all play together. My British aunts referred to them as "the littles," which I loved.
We had a few rainy days (not pictured:), but on a particularly sunny afternoon, we took a spectacular boat ride to Lantic Bay, a beach nearby. (That's when we took this family photo, too.)
My cousin's husband Nick brought along a bottle of Cornish scrumpy, which is a strong alcoholic cider that tastes just like apple juice.
Toby drank too much and passed out. (Kidding.)
The English ocean water was freeeeezing but my cousins are brave.
One day, we all hiked to visit my grandfather's grave, which is in a lovely countryside church overlooking fields of sheep. My grandmother always brings whiskey (his favorite) to sprinkle over his grave.
My awesome sister Lucy carried Toby all the way (uphill). Yay for aunts!
Have you ever had a Cornish pasty? It's dough filled with beef, potatoes, carrots, onions and lots of pepper, and you can eat them with one hand. (Originally, they were developed for miners and sailors.) Delish...
As with all great vacations, we ate way too much.
In the evenings, the yellow light is gorgeous, and we sometimes take walks and chat with sweet old ladies on the street.
At the end of each day, we'd just hang out, cook dinner, gossip, play games and drink gin & tonics. I remember how my grandfather used to sometimes call out, in his booming British voice, "Noise level too high!"
One evening, my brother made the mistake of dozing off in a chair, so naturally we decided to see how many items we could stack on him before he woke up. (I thought the bottle on his head was especially impressive:)
Our final morning, we got up early to leave. We were sad to go but the bright side was seeing the view from the terrace. The morning fog looked foggy and magical--right out of Peter Pan. Polruan, we miss you already! Thank you for having us, Milly! xoxo

P.S. English wedding hats, and ten tips for traveling with a baby...