The weather was again crazy last night. Thundering and lightning, with massive winds. The rain had stopped but it was still blowing quite a bit.
We had a rough start to the day with lots of little bickering and short fuses all around. So we jumped on the bikes hoping a day of playgrounds would help. We really had no other goals.
The first one we came across was a working farm/restaurant/playground.
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L was very proud of this cake he made.
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This was just hilarious what they’d set up for the goats.
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We cycled through this park a bit more and found another farm/restaurant/playground. The kids loved feeding this deer!
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We left there and found a lovely spot to eat our sandwiches. The kids then played, digging an existing hole deeper, while Ty napped, and I read my book. This lasted for almost an hour and it was amazing! I swear what kids come up with when they don’t have toys or electronic distractions is incredible. Why don’t they do this at home?!
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From there we went to a hardware store so Ty could get packing materials for the bikes.
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Also after the last playground I noticed I was pulling L on a flat tire. Ty pumped it up but it went flat before we left again. We didn’t have our usual tools with us so we crammed both kiddos in the chariot and hoped it would hold together.
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We rode to another playground, it was apparently in Amstelpark.
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We were all getting super moody again by this point. So we solved that by riding through another park and found a mama duck, with babies. We decided to feed them three week old airplane crackers!
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Another so-so playground.
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At this point I started taking photos of all the multi-person bicycles I could. They’re amazing here. I saw mamas with two kids one in front and one behind, and she was talking on the phone, just steering with one hand! Any number of kids you want to carry, they’ve got a bike for you. Ty really liked the ones with the giant buckets in front. He thought they’d be easier than the giant chariot behind.
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It’s hard to see but that little blue seat and the one black seat are up by the handle bars. Then they have a windshield to protect the kiddo from weather and road spray!
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They have the bucket with a canvas enclosure. But I like one with the little cushioned seat on the back. So much easier and lightweight.
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Then there are bikes with three seats! This one looked like a Cadillac version. Just their kickstands alone are impressive.
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We found an awesome playground that was like a tree fort hidden in the woods.
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At another playground the kids were all playing in the woods. Making forts or teepees, or just running trails through the trees. It was really neat to see kids being encouraged to use more than just standard playground equipment.
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Here’s another three seater bike. They added just a seat on the center rail up near the handlebars. So simple and effective for a bigger kid.
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We were a bit overwhelmed riding in the city at this point. It was rush hour and even though there are bikes lanes they’re packed and they’re moving fast! Ty mentioned it was like Vietnam, with its overwhelming amount of scooters. I completely understood. The amount of bikers was intense. I’m sure you get used to it. It would also be much easier if you knew where you were going. I’m so amazed how well Ty could bike, navigate the traffic, and look at his phone for directions, all at the same time.
Ok this is my final bike photo. I took this outside of the Thai restaurant we found for dinner. The food was good but not great.
This is a long frame three seater! See the bonus little black seat behind the blue one?
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Sorry I geeked out over all these bikes. Why don’t we see any of these options in the US?
After dinner we navigated our way home in the blinding sun. It was a nice change of weather. I got the kids cleaned up and into bed, while Ty started the long and hard process of breaking down, and packing up the bikes. Which he then had to carry up two flights of stairs to our room because the boxes were too big for the elevators. 🤪
We’ve got some time tomorrow before our afternoon flight. The plan is to hit up the hotel pool again and hopefully have better attitudes as we’re all ready to head home!
