Back to the NL

Wednesday Abigail and Amélie turned one year old! We had a day filled with packing but also a really nice birthday dinner. Steaks on the grill with twice-baked potatoes and an apple crisp. They both liked their special cuisine! After opening up a few nice presents they went to bed for their last full night of sleep for awhile.

Our journey back went better than I had feared it would. Didn't start out well though. We got a call a few hours before we left for the airport that our flight out of Detroit had been cancelled. My mom had to spend 45 minutes on the phone trying to get us seats in the same neighborhood. Luckily it worked out, and we even convinced the stewardesses to allow us to use our car seat (in one case appealing to the pilot who overruled her) which is against FAA regulations! Flying with babies is not a good idea...

When we got to Amsterdam the train system was in tatters. It took us an hour to get a train, but we felt fortunate to have one at all given the situation. Still not sure what went wrong. Erna was able to pick us up in Deventer which was a huge help, and Gerda stocked up the fridge so that their was food to eat, and the babies behaved incredibly well through it all. Naomi had to get off one stop before us so that she could make it on time for her first day of work. Ouch. It went well though!

The nights have been a bit rough until about 2am as nobody is inclined to sleep. I am also overwhelmed with all the stuff that needs to be unpacked and sorted from the trip and the move. Definitely won't be ready to head back to the West on Wednesday so I can start working, but at least I don't have Naomi's schedule! Things would be much worse if Mom wasn't here to help us out, so we are really happy with the way things are going.

Here is a video of Amélie's impression of Grandpa Jack.