The end: Amsterdam and HOME

Welcome to Amsterdam.  My #3 favorite.  It's got canals like Venice.  It's not too big to walk around in.  Everyone rides bikes.  There's great shopping.

Since it was our last stop and we were super tired, we took it pretty easy.  We went to the VanGogh museum but other than that we didn't do too many touristy things.

We just slept in, walked around, ate yummy food, shopped a little, ate some more yummy food.  Oh, and took a lot of pictures.  It was fun.  A perfectly relaxing way to end our whirlwind vacation.

Amsterdam is famous for being bicycle friendly.  The city is set up so that driving by car is probably a pain, so it seems like everyone just opts for a bike!  I even saw a few neat varieties of Mommy-kiddie bikes... one of them looks like a wheelbarrow in the front of the bike to put your kids!  (Buckles included!)

On our last morning, Jesse stopped me on the bridge nearest our hostel and pulled out our old lock. We had it with us in case we needed it but never used it.  So he locked it to the bridge :o)  We threw the key in the water, I fell in love with him all over again, and we walked really fast to the train station cause we were running late ;o)

Many hours later and we were on our last train of the trip.

It was Jesse's idea to walk from the train station in Otterbach (the town next to us) all the way to Otterberg.  It only took us an hour :o\ but it was a lovely walk.  Bright sunshine, German countryside, and...

...nothing beats walking right up to your home and surprising your kids.  We walked in the door and both Lily and Sam just looked and stared.  Till we gently scooped them up in our arms.  

Then all was right in the world again.  

Thejesses vs. Europe: the end.  Well, until our next trip ;o)