School Projects & Amsterdam Weather

Sam continues to thrive at school and I have been able to spend more time with him on school things given my new non-working status. He has homework to work on each day plus special projects which are assigned on a Friday and due a week later.

This past week the special project was to create a Roman costume for Roman dress up day. The thought was to use things from home such as a parent's white t-shirt, a red scarf and gold string. Are people supposed to just have those things around the house? I had none. Even if I did have a white t-shirt I would not have lent it to Mr. Constantly-Spill-Things-On-My-Shirt-Guy. Luckily I found stores that had these things for a very low cost. And, now I have a new red scarf and the start of Sam's Halloween costume (Greg from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books who wears white t-shirts). I am nailing it at Year 4 special projects at The British School of Amsterdam! 🤪

I had my first umbrella casualty! The wind can be aggressive here (similar to Chicago). This was a very cheap umbrella I picked up to keep in Sam's backpack "just in case". So not a big loss but a big learning about not going cheap with umbrellas!

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Broken Bones & Dutch Healthcare

It seems inevitable that we would have a medical emergency while living here resulting in a test of the Dutch healthcare system. The image above accurately reflects the perception and often reality of the healthcare here. We have been lucky so far with getting the care we need by 1) being prepared with medical records from the US to prove our case, 2) researching and advocating for ourselves and 3) annoying the huisart (primary care doctor) enough that she gives us what we want so we stop asking. 😝 During recess at school, Sam fell while playing a game with his friends and another friend fell on top of him. I was told that he initially wanted to keep playing but the teachers had him go to the nurse, who then sent him back to class. His teacher reached out to me since it seemed like he was in pain and I picked him up. I spoke to the nurse when I picked him up who said he seemed fine and to monitor him. Fast forward to us realizing he was not fine. We called the huisart (a r...

Morocco

For Sam's February school break we went to Morocco. We were looking for warmth and also ready to explore beyond Europe. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency (amazing resort) in Taghazout, a small fishing village that is south of Marrakesh and north of Agadir. More Morocco photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eATCUb6Cc4rRoyLYA February 17: As per usual we opted for a flight that was not ideal so we could save money. It was a later flight with a connection through Casablanca, arriving in Agadir airport close to midnight. Sam slept on the car ride from the airport to the hotel but perked up when we found out we had been upgraded to a room with an ocean view (thanks to friend Jasper!!). This kid continues in his quest for only the finer things. Very elaborate towel and curtain art! View from our balcony at night: View from our balcony during the day: February 18: Today was dedicated to nothing except explo...

Italy 2024

Italy is certainly not new for us but we planned to hit a few cities that we hadn't been to before including Venice, Verona and Bologna. Then to Marche and Umbria to visit Jim and Gretchen and Ryan's parents, similar to last year. Venice (August 23 - 26) : I went in with low expectations of Venice due to over-tourism and overall bad reputation it seems to have. I was pleasantly surprised! The canals are truly unique (per my Belgium post, I do love all canals!) and it has all the Italy things like good food, wine and culture. Given the time of year I think we hit it when it wasn't as crowded as it normally is but that meant we found ourselves roasting in the heat again. We did the standard gondola ride and toured the Doges Palace and St. Marks Basilica. More Venice photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/V9JkNQP9rens9An78 Sam's photography skills are sometimes pretty good: And sometimes not the best: Verona (August 26 - 28) : This is probably my ...

The Broughtby's European Adventures

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