Images and text by Carter. There’s something extraordinarily engaging about a book with no words. And there’s just something plain old extraordinary about this particular one. Bluebird, by Bob Staake, is a story that will sweep you into a fierce friendship and shatter your heart into pieces when that friendship is tested. But before you turn the last page, that bursting heart of yours will get all patched up. It’s understated and overwhelming all at once. Because there are no words, the story unfolds visually. The panels are jam packed with joy and surprise and simultaneously weave a gentle call for empathy. One boy, quiet and alone. One bird, insistent on friendship. It’s a tough story, but its truthful – and so, so beautiful. P.S. – Tell me, do you have any favorite wordless picture books? Gabrielle and I are both big fans of this one by Jerry Pinkney, and I adore anything and everything by Barbara Lehman!

[ UPDATE: Voting is now closed. ] Question: If you could hire someone to help you for the day, would you hire a driver, a house cleaner, a cook, or a babysitter? Click your pick above — I’d love to know! A few weeks ago I posted a house tour that generated quite a few comments about hired help. Mostly, they implied that since the house was so orderly and beautiful, there must be a ton of hired help — and the tone of the comments sometimes hinted that hired help was a negative thing. I’m not sure if I’ve ever completely understood the strong reactions this topic can inspire. But I’d like to understand better. In my day dreams, our household is run by Alice from The Brady Bunch. She lives at the house in her own little apartment, so she’s pretty much always available. And she knows the house so well that she doesn’t need instructions on where the books go, or which clothes belong in which bedroom, or when the fire alarm batteries need to be changed. She makes it her job to know. She’s not a nanny, but she can watch the kids in a pinch. And she can run errands as well. It’s a lovely day dream. Personally, I’m a fan of getting help! I’ve hired help whenever we’ve needed it and had the budget for it. When we didn’t have the budget for it, I would make babysitting trades and even spring cleaning trades with friends and neighbors. Sometimes the help means a babysitter — currently, little June goes to a sitter twice a week. Sometimes the help means a full-on assistant — in Colorado, Melanie of You Are My Fave came to my house every morning to help run my business, which included a range of tasks from assisting with emails, to running errands, to helping make Halloween costumes. (She was amazing, by the way!) Sometimes the help means a house cleaner — during our last year in New York, a lovely woman came twice a month to give the house a good scrubbing. But I have friends who are really uncomfortable getting help. Some think it’s a waste of money. Some feel guilty about getting help. Some saw their mothers do it alone, and want to model the same thing for their own kids. Some feel the house and the children are their responsibility — and they feel that getting help is shirking that responsibility. And obviously, the whole conversation comes from a place of cultural tradition (and sometimes privilege too). In fact, like you, I’ve had friends move all over the world, and in certain countries, it’s expected that they will hire help. It would be rude to the local community if they didn’t. What’s your take? Have you ever hired help? Do you have help now? Do you have a strong opinion on the subject either way?

By Gabrielle. Ruler height chart here. It’s official. We measured last night, and Ralph Blair has passed me up in height. My child is taller than me! I suppose I knew this would happen. But it sort of crept up on me. And it’s kind of a novelty! So strange to know we no longer look like this. Or this. It makes me so curious about what the final height order will be once all my kids are done growing. I don’t remember exactly when I passed up my own mother in height — and I never caught up to my dad. Height is a funny thing. I am average height at 5′ 6″, but I always thought of myself as tall. In fact, I had two taller-than-average friends in high school and I remember seeing myself in photos with them and being surprised I was shorter. Hah! How about you? Are you taller than your mom or your dad? Or your brothers and sisters? Have your kids passed you up in height? Or do you expect them too? P.S. — Growing up, my family had a doorjamb where we marked the kids’ heights. You too? But alas, with our own kids, we’ve moved often enough, we’ve never had a permanent home for our height marks.

By Gabrielle. Every time I hit publish on a Living With Kids home tour, I sigh with gratitude at the hard work and love that the contributors clearly put into them. And then I wish I could send them all two dozen French pastries to match their sweetness. Well. Joanna Gaines got something even better than lemon tarts and pots de crème. After seeing the Gaines’ home here on Design Mom, a production company contacted Joanna. Fast forward a year and a lot of filming later, and HGTV is airing a pilot called Fixer Upper on May 23, at 7pm CST, starring Joanna and her husband, Chip! Isn’t that exciting? I always end my tours with “If you’d like to share your own home with us, just send me a note! It’s a lot of fun…I promise!” See? I’m telling the truth! You just never know how much fun! Hooray, Gaines family! P.S. – It’s never easy to see yourself on television (Do I really sound like that?!), but I am glad our French house hunting adventure  and brand new French accents were recorded.

By Carter. I love board books. Literacy for the littlest. Sturdy pages for stubby fingers. Visually spectacular to developing brains. I adore them so much that I have a growing collection, despite having zero kids in my house. But I obsess over my portable art, and these books are stunners. For this particular roundup, Gabrielle and I gathered some of the very coolest-looking board books out there — selections with a design or art angle. Think of them as board books for hipster babies. : ) I hope you’ll find some new treasures in this list for your tiny reader — or the perfect baby gift for your graphic-designer-best-friend. 1) Since board books are designed to be tactile (also chewed up and drooled on, dropped and kicked and loved hard), one inspired by a textiles designer makes perfect sense. Alexander Girard’s simple sophistication and playful patterns are a perfect match for this bright board book, Color. I love that the hues are not your usual primary colors – cyans and fuchsias, pale pinks and muted golds leap off the page, too. 2) A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na. The story here is just as soothing as the pictures. Both are lush and sweeping, but quiet — which sets the perfect tone for a nighttime (or nap time!) read. An alert owl details how other animals sleep – some are noisy, and some sleep standing up! They all snooze at night, but when the day rises, it’s the owl’s turn. 3) Picture This… by Alison Jay pairs singular words with paintings inspired by the American primitive style. But if you spend a little more time in the illustrations, it becomes much more than a simple language primer. Images featured on one page become hidden details on others, and their recurring cameos make this an extra engaging read. Also, note the subtle shift of the seasons as the book progresses. Really smart stuff packed into a really short read! Find more of Alison Jay’s beautiful board books here. 4) Another tip of the hat to the large world of tints and hues is Orla Kiely’s Colors. The concept of color is a popular one in these formative books, (and rightly so!) but this one especially dazzles. Perhaps it’s the fashion designer sensibilities at work, but the tones are especially striking. And it’s cloth bound, so it’s lovely to the touch. …

11 of the Best Designed Board BooksRead More »

By Gabrielle. Faux taxidermy available at Tillie & Tweedle. After I posted a Living With Kids Home Tour that showed taxidermy in several of the photos, I received feedback that some readers were upset. One wrote: How can you teach kids to be free, respectful and caring when half your walls have cadavers? And: There is no style in cruelty. Another said: Once I see dead animals/animal parts used for decor, fake or real, the house no longer looks cool. Those are strong reactions! My take: I’ve never hunted, I’ve never owned a gun, I’ve never purchased taxidermy (fake or real) for my home. But. I grew up with hunters — in fact, one of my very best friends in high school, Jandi Jones, had her own gun cabinet. And my town had a school vacation built around the annual deer hunt. So I’m familiar with how taxidermy fits in to certain cultures. And when I encounter taxidermy, words like “cruel” and “cadavers” don’t come to mind for me, but obviously they do for others. The topic brings up all sorts of questions for me, as I seek for a more nuanced understanding about how people feel. Are you someone that believes taxidermy is automatically cruel no matter what, even if the animal died of natural causes? Does it make a difference if the taxidermy was found at a thrift shop or garage sale? If you’re a meat eater (I am), can you even be against taxidermy? Or is that hypocritical? What about Natural History Museums that are full of examples of taxidermy — if you have strong feelings against taxidermy, do you feel that even in museums, taxidermy should be removed? And related, we posted about conflicted feelings overs fake fur last winter, and the comments were pretty mild. Does seeing fur trim on a sweater give you the same reaction as seeing a mounted set of antlers? What’s your take? Do you have strong reactions to taxidermy when you encounter it in photos or in real life? Would you ever use taxidermy in your own decorating? Would you boycott a store that uses taxidermy in its displays? Do you feel fake (think cardboard or plastic) taxidermy is a fun alternative to the real thing? Or is it still a reference of cruelty for you? Any other thoughts on the subject? I’m so curious. Let’s discuss! P.S. — For the Clue Party at January’s Alt Summit, the parlor was filled with taxidermy. I thought it was a bold entrance!

I’m still going through the bazillion photos from our trip to Norway, but I’m impatient to share one of the trip highlights: Kayaking in the Fjords. As you may remember, a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Jordan and Liz zip-lining through the Redwoods. Well, the whole family was really inspired by their adventure and we’ve been craving an epic family playdate for ourselves. Since I knew we had a trip to Norway on the schedule, I started searching out activities that would be amazing and that the whole family could participate in — which is sometimes tricky when the youngest is 2 (actually 3! she had her birthday on this trip) and the oldest is 15. Kayaking was perfect! We weren’t sure when and where we would find kayaks during our stay, but in this case, flying by the seat of our pants worked out really well. On one night of our trip, we stayed in charming cabins that were right on a fjord in a tiny town called Aurland. We knew we needed to catch a ferry at 3:00 the next day, but the morning was free for exploring. And luckily, there were kayaks to rent just down the road (just look for the “padling” sign). Fantastic! …

Kayaking in the FjordsRead More »

By Gabrielle. Photography on location by Nancy Neil. As soon as I learned I was pregnant with Ralph (or maybe it was Maude!), I started the search for the perfect diaper bag. It seemed very, very important at the time to choose the one that would convey the following messages: I have a new baby, I am stylish, and Even though I may look a little overwhelmed and as though I’m flying by the seat of my pants, look at my cool diaper bag. I am still stylish. Whatever I need to calm this baby is definitely inside this amazing diaper bag. My expectations were high! Back then and ever since, the one bag that practically sang “I am still stylish!” from every boutique shelf was most likely a Petunia Pickle Bottom. An unforgettably playful name, bold designs I’d never seen used for a utility bag, and constructed so smartly in fabrics strong enough to withstand spit-up and park grime while chic enough to bring along on date night for three. Needless to say, I’ve been an admirer of DeNai Jones before I even knew she existed! Imagine my delight that she and her stunning home are decorating the front page of Design Mom today. Friends, meet the designer behind the brilliant Petunia Pickle Bottom. Welcome, DeNai! Q: Please tell us who makes this house a home. A: Come on in! We’re happy to have you. Alongside me are my husband Braden, who I’m lucky to say is also one of my business partners as Petunia Pickle Bottom’s CEO, and our two sons, Sutton (7) and Miller (5). We’re privileged to live in the seaside town of Ventura, California, just south of the Central Coast, close enough to L.A. to make use of the airport and just down the hill from Ojai. My hope is that anybody who comes over feels at home in our house. I’ve tried to create a space that reflects our lifestyle as a beach-loving family who loves to travel, have friends and family over, and share good meals and conversation around the dinner table. The house was built in 1926 and is a classic California beach town bungalow that soaks up lots of natural light, has a good amount of sunny outdoor space, and is the perfect place for us to do our favorite things like playing hide n’ seek, doing arts and crafts projects, gardening, baking cookies, reading books in our hammock, and walking down to the beach or local Farmer’s Market. We’re lucky to have a climate and a home that allows us to live outdoors during most of the year, and keep the windows open to take in the ocean breeze. …

Living With Kids: DeNai JonesRead More »

By Gabrielle. I gasped when I saw the first few photos of Karin‘s backyard. And then I gasped even louder when I learned that five kids live here. By the time I reached the part about all five kids being homeschooled in this wonderland, I finally remembered to cover my mouth! Which was a good thing, because the next shot was of the most gorgeous ceiling I’ve ever seen in a living room. Friends, when Karin says she’s addicted to the details, she is telling the truth. And, truth be told, I’m addicted to her details, too. Make sure you tear your eyes away from the gorgeous photos and read her thoughts about being a mother and wife and home educator. They are equally gorgeous. Q: Tell us who lives in this stunning home! A: Welcome! I live in Sunny South Florida with my Road Warrior CEO husband, our five children (twin boys and three girls), four tortoises, five Koi fish, and a Labradoodle named Bunker. Our children are ages nine, nine, seven, five, and two, and we’re currently homeschooling them. Before you ask, yes, they’ve always been homeschooled and no, I don’t know how long we will homeschool them. But right now, homeschooling works for our family and we love everything about it! In addition to being a home educator I am also a blogger, writer, and our family’s head party planner. …

Living With Kids: Karin KatherineRead More »

Photo and text by Gabrielle. We’re in Norway! The big Fjordieth trip is finally happening. We checked into our hotel late last night and I can hardly believe we’re here. Hooray for Ben Blair! I love this photo of him donning his gloves that I snapped last winter. I think he’s definitely channeling some inner viking! Rain is scheduled for much of our trip, but right this minute, we have a perfectly sunny day in Oslo, so we’re going to make the most of it. Feel free to join us on our adventure via Instagram. P.S. — Something else I can’t believe: Flora June Blair is 3 years old today! Remember her birth? (Wasn’t it two seconds ago?) We woke up early and filled her bed with balloons, then served the traditional breakfast in bed. She was over the moon about it! Man oh man we love that little girl.

Images and text by Gabrielle. Friends, I’m kind of freaking out about how wonderfully Episode 23 of Olive Us turned out. (Sorry for the brag!) It’s called Le Petit Chaperon Rouge which is the French way of saying Little Red Riding Hood. This video is stunning. It’s simply magical. Oh. And it’s all in French! Entirely narrated by Betty, who also plays the girl in the red cape. Now don’t you worry, even if you don’t speak a lick of French, I’m betting you’ll be able to follow along with the very familiar story line. : ) If you’d like a translation, you’re in luck. Ben Blair made a pdf with a side-by-side French and English translation — you can find the pdf link here. I’m dying to hear what you think! And if your kids watch it, I’d love to hear if they enjoyed it — or if the French threw them off too much. From what we’ve seen so far, for little ones, the language doesn’t seem to matter at all! Consider this a great way to expose your kids to a foreign language in a familiar context. I also want to say that we didn’t make this alone. Not at all. A huge thanks goes out to Miranda of One Little Minute. who put together the stunning costumes. She started with what we had in our closet, added pieces from thrift stores, then sewed the rest. She re-made the iconic red cape from a women’s red wool coat she found at a second hand shop. It’s thick and cozy and wonderful — and it kept Betty warm on the cold November day when we filmed this. Another big thanks goes to Merrilee Liddiard of Mer Mag for the title illustration. I love how it turned out! I think it would be cool to have a poster of it made for our wall. Lastly, we are over the moon about Tiger in a Jar’s vision for this episode. We think they captured the story perfectly. Fun Fact: the forest scenes were filmed around the corner from our house, in the same trees that we filmed Christmas Tree Hunt. For the exteriors of Little Red’s house and Grandma’s house, we actually filmed at the Apple Juice Farm you’ll remember from this video. Fantastic, right? The old half-timber buildings on the property were absolutely perfect for a fairy tale! If it’s not showing up for you in this post, watch it on vimeo here, and find all the Olive Us videos here. …

Olive Us: Episode 23: Little Red Riding HoodRead More »

Images and text by Amy Christie for Design Mom. You know I love a sewn paper garland, and with Mother’s Day coming up this Sunday, I just had to put one together for moms. Big or mini, I think ‘I ♥ MOM’ says it all. This tutorial is the same as the tutorial from a few months back — it’s carefully feeding paper through the sewing machine. But letters pose a little more of a challenge. Making use sure each letter is pierced at least once to hold it in place can be tricky. But don’t be frightened, I’ve got tips for you below. And I should note: to make the hearts, I used watercolors on paper and then punched them out. I love the texture the watercolor adds! Add the garland around a wrapped bunch of flowers or use it to tie up the gift for the best mom in the world. I think it would be perfect to put on a breakfast-in-bed tray. You ready to get started? …

DIY: Mother’s Day GarlandRead More »

Text by Gabrielle. Photos by Gabrielle and Ben Blair. [ UPDATED with a full report. ] Here it is! A report on our trip to Venice. I’ve been promising this for months and now it’s ready to share. Here’s the thing about Venice. It’s not like Rome. Or Florence. In Rome and Florence, there are specific things you want to see, and that you stand in line to buy tickets for — like the Colosseum, or the David. In Venice, the thing that you want to see? Is Venice. Yes, there are museums, and yes there are ruins, but if that’s what you’re looking for, pick another city. You can go island hopping, you can walk 30 minutes to visit a church, but the alley around the corner might be just as cool, or cooler. Venice is the attraction in Venice. You can’t take a bad photo. If you’re looking for photos opps, choose Venice. There is no bad light, there is no bad angle. It’s just photo after photo of heaven. And we tooks hundreds of photos, and I included way too many of them after the jump. (I need to beg your forgiveness in advance.) When you’re there, it almost feels pretend. As if it’s a stereotype of Venice. As if Disney had created Venice as an amusement park for grownups, and they had staged all the texture and exposed brick — no detail too small. I had to keep reminding myself that people really live there. There are grocery stores and schools. Venice is all about texture. It’s like a city in constant decay, but the decay is beautiful, it’s what draws us in. And if you visit over New Year’s, Venice is COLD. We bundled up like crazy. As long as it was dry, we spent the day outside and explored… But we did have one rainy day. On that day, we visited the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, then spent the rest of the day in our hotel room having a movie party — it was too cold and wet to be tourists. As I’ve written before, traveling in the off season has worked great for us. No lines, no waiting at restaurants. But there are some disadvantages. An example in this case: the most recommended gelato shop was closed! You can even see a photo below of Maude trying the locked door. Sad face. I’m going to write up a list of what we did, but really, just show up and walk around and take photos. Walk until you’re hungry. Then eat. Then repeat. That’s all it takes to have a grand time in Venice. …

We Took 6 Kids to Venice and Nobody Fell in a CanalRead More »

Photos and text by Gabrielle. This post is about Honfleur and Deauville. Two neighboring towns here in Normandy that we never tire of visiting. We’ve been to both many times, but the photos in this post are from a visit last May. Spring in Normandy is very wet, and often cold, so when the sun comes out, you can bet we take advantage of it. These first images show Honfleur. It’s a small fishing port that is big on charm. And the light here is so remarkable that it won’t surprise you to hear this little town is considered the birthplace of impressionism. In fact, it’s not unusual at all to see painters with easels set up near the water, capturing the boats and flags and sails on their canvases. We’ve been told there are particular things to do in Honfleur — churches to visit and towers to climb — but we’ve never done any of them. Instead, we like to walk through the narrow side streets, window shopping, and stopping for ice cream. We might ride the port-side carousel or watch the boats come in. And then we’ll eat a late lunch or early dinner at one of the touristy restaurants that line the wharf — there are a dozen to pick from. …

Honfleur & DeauvilleRead More »

The Loire Valley is the region along the Loire River, a little south and west of Paris. It’s famed for its numerous castles that tower above the river. And lucky for us, driving to the region only takes about an hour and a half from our house.

So last year, on the last Sunday of May 2012, we hopped in the car after church and made a day trip of it. Our goal was to see two castles and to get a general sense for the region. We knew one day wasn’t really enough time, but figured a day trip would almost be like a scouting mission for a longer trip. The first castle we stopped at was Chateau Chenonceau.

Some castles are more kid-friendly than others, and this one is probably the most family-friendly that we’ve visited — lots of options for roaming and free-ranging, and the weekend we were there, it wasn’t too busy at all.

There are gardens to explore, bridges and moats, a grand checker-board hall with views of the river, and on the way out we explored the garden maze and had a little picnic. Also. We took a TON of photos. So please forgive me if this feels like a photo dump. : ) Hopefully it will be helpful for anyone out there who’s considering a visit to the Loire.

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How to Visit the Loire Valley in a DayRead More »

By Gabrielle. Les Nageuses by Florence Douyrou. Ed Hawkins retired at 33, pressing pause on his prime earning years and choosing play instead. He’s tended to his fireplace and read books all winter, looks forward to sitting by the pool in the summer, and by September his petanque game will be marvelous. It’s all much simpler now: no more rushing deadlines, blinking for hours on end at an endless screen of information, or checking his Blackberry for urgent updates. He is, in his words, relishing his temporary freedom. Of course, he doesn’t have kids or a wife. Just an equally bold girlfriend who thought this was an awesome idea! Because it is. What do you think about flipping the concept of retirement? Diving in to a life of leisure while everyone around you is still swimming laps? Consider this: If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67. Will you still look cute in your bikini? ;) Or is this something better left to those without a lot of responsibilities and dependents? Do you know anyone — or, better yet, any other family — that has opted out of the usual life sequence and lived in a different order? I would love to hear HOW and why they did it! (I hope it was you who did something wild and crazy, and that it is working!)

Two years ago we made our first trip to Amsterdam. On that trip, we saw the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, took a Canal tour, ate the best-rated Frites in town, rented bikes, spent a day in Vondelpark, visited the Floating Flower Market, did lots of window shopping in the Nine Streets district, ate amazing Indonesian food, and had an extended visit to HEMA. Plus visited the tulips, too — we caught the very tail end of the season. You can read about all of our travels to The Netherlands here. But this trip was totally different. With the exception of  a return visit to Vondelpark, it was all new! Based on this trip, there are 5 things I want to pass on for those of you planning your own visits to Amsterdam.

Your Hotel Location Changes Everything

On the first trip, we spent our entire visit in Old Town and it was charming and walkable and lovely. This time, we tried a different area, outside the tourist runs, and saw an entirely different view of Amsterdam, which was also charming, walkable and lovely. And it was kind of by accident. When we tried to book a hotel, we noticed almost everything in town was sold out — the whole country was gearing up for their big national holiday, Queen’s Day, made even bigger this year, because the Queen abdicated her thrown and her son became King. (Next year, the holiday will be King’s Day!) But Ben Blair found space at the Lloyd Hotel and we LOVED it. The building has a long fascinating history — it was originally the hotel for immigrants, and had a stint as a prison as well — and we found it to be super cool and unusual. We had corner rooms with two-story windows and these amazingly tall working shutters. Insane! But apparently, all the rooms are really unique, each one created by a different designer — we hear there’s one with a gigantic bed that sleeps 9 — sounds just right for our family. : ) Staying outside of Old Town meant riding the tram to get back and forth to our hotel. We bought 24-hour tram tickets from the hotel check-in desk and ended up using them a ton. We would climb on a tram whenever we needed a walking break. [ A little sidenote story: On our first tram ride, we went into Old Town and got off at Central Station, right away we happened upon a store with displays that were too cool to resist. It was actually a 3-part establishment with a shop called Options, a restaurant called Stock, and a hotel above those two called Exchange. (Great names, right?!) That same night, I was in back at the hotel, talking to the staff about a display wall in the hotel restaurant. I asked if the display items were for sale, and they mentioned that yes, the hotel owners owned a shop in town called Options, where I could buy the items. I about died! I went all fan girl and ended up emailing the owners of the hotel and told them how impressed I was with their work. The next day, the owner made a point of saying hello to my family in the lobby and taking us all on a personal tour up to the highest tower in the hotel. Very cool! ] Staying in a different part of town was wonderful. In fact, just blocks from the hotel was some of the best shopping we encountered, including a huge Sissyboy Homeland store. And the restaurants in the area were 100% non-touristy. It was easy to tell because the menus weren’t offered in English. : ) Our favorite meal of the trip happened on the first night, right across the street from the hotel. We ate tapas at Puerto Pata Negra. It was a Sunday night and the restaurant was rocking! Live music and everyone so friendly. Tapas is perfect for a family like ours — everyone gets a bite of everything. While we’re on the topic of food, I should mention we also ordered poffertjes every time they were on the menu. They’re a miniature puffed pancake — I like them best with butter and powdered sugar. And we had bitterballen twice. Yum!

Tulip Season Is Flexible

If you’re planning your trip to coincide with the tulips, even with the most careful calendering, you might miss them. But that’s okay. It’s beautiful anyway! Because we pretty much missed the tulips on our last visit, we were excited to get this second chance. And we carefully, carefully studied the calendar and the tulip websites and picked days that were predicted to be right at the tulip peak. But once again, we missed it! Hah! In fact, it has been so unexpectedly cold this year, that the tulips are on a 2-week delay. So instead of getting the peak, we got a peek. There were a few tulip fields in bloom and they made a dramatic neon slash across the end-of-winter landscape. Simply gorgeous! Plus, there were lots of earlier blooming flowers still around, specifically fields of hyacinths and daffodils. The hyacinths scented the air for miles. Seriously remarkable. We drove with the windows down so we could enjoy it. There were busload after busload of tourists who, like us, had also planned their trips for the peak of the season. We all took photos of the few fields and had to laugh about it. But really, even the few fields were pretty darn gorgeous. And even if there were no flowers at all in bloom, the windmills would still be something amazing to see.

Everyone Speaks English

We sort of remembered this from our last visit, but talked about it more on this trip. I swear, the Dutch have a gift for languages. In addition to their native Dutch, it seems like everyone we encountered could slip into English, French and German as well. And with ease! If not-speaking-the-language makes you nervous about traveling to a foreign country, Amsterdam would be a good destination for you. Yes, the signs are in Dutch, but everyone speaks English, so potentially frustrating language situations become a non-issue.

Watch Your Step! There Are More Bikes Than You Can Imagine

Amsterdam is all about the bikes. You’ll see bikes in all European cities, but nowhere we’ve visited compares to the bike culture in Amsterdam. It’s kind of mind-blowing, and it’s hard to describe how truly pervasive it is, because there’s nothing to compare it to. I find it so unusual that it makes me super curious about how it developed. In Amsterdam, we remind the kids to be aware of their surroundings constantly. I’m sure it becomes a sixth sense if you live there, but as visitors, it was sometimes tricky to identify when we were on a sidewalk versus a bike lane versus a road. There are parts of the city where all 3 blend together! There were a few times that one of our distracted kids had close call with a bike. So pay attention!

The Line at The Anne Frank House Moves Fast. And It’s Worth It.

Because the point of this trip was to film an Olive Us episode, we knew we wouldn’t have very much time for culture stops, but the Anne Frank House was at the top of our list. There was a line, but it moves fast, and friends, it was worth the wait. The thing is, this is not just a really well-done museum. It’s the actual space where Anne and her family lived and hid for two years. You get to walk through the actual rooms! This is not a toddler visit sort of place. I mean, our youngest was happy and there was plenty to distract her, but it’s quite a somber visit. The older kids, who are similar in age to Anne herself, were really moved by the visit. I’d say this is a good stop for 8-years-old and up. At the end, there was an exhibit talking about cultural questions of freedom and how they sometimes come in conflict with each other. Fascinating stuff! Highly recommended. One last tip: To keep ourselves occupied while we stood in line, we went over the wikipedia page about Anne Frank with the kids, so they would know what they were about to see. Oscar was entranced. We also took photos. This is one of the views from the queue — not a bad place to spend some time. I hope you find these notes helpful! Writing them up makes me wish we’d had a longer trip. I really, really like Amsterdam. I think it might be my favorite European city. There’s a very cool, creative vibe there. And I love how the city has layers and layers of ancient and modern right on top of each other — with a scribble of bikes all around the edges. Yay Amsterdam! P.S. — These last shots below are of our return visit to Vondelpark. They have the most amazing play structures there. So high and vast. They look absolutely death-defying!

Image and text by Gabrielle. I’ve mentioned we have one more big trip on the schedule before we hold still for a minute — hold still to enjoy the rest of the days and weeks here in this fairytale French farmhouse. I was going through photos the other day, and was reminded there are several adventures I haven’t written about yet. Like our New Year’s trip to Venice, or a whirlwind weekend from a year ago, where we took my niece to favorite spots all over Normandy. So before we make that last big trip (we leave to Norway next Monday), I thought I’d share some of our yet-to-be-written-down travelogues this week. Four to be exact. Starting with a report on last week’s visit to Amsterdam that will be posted tomorrow. I hope you enjoy them. And I hope they will get you psyched for your own travel plans. Which reminds me: What are your travel plans? Have you started thinking about summer vacation yet? Will you be visiting cousins? Camping? Flying somewhere exotic? I’d love to hear! P.S. — I snapped the instagram at top in Ireland.

I was in the middle of an article about Lauren Bush Lauren —  the niece and granddaughter of two of our presidents, as well as the daughter-in-law of Ralph Lauren — when I stopped reading and wondered if she ever had second thoughts about taking her husband’s surname. Lauren Lauren? There must have been a conversation or two, don’t you think?

It reminded me of that scene in The Wedding Singer, where Adam Sandler’s character giggles about what Drew Barrymore’s new name would be after her wedding: Julia Gulia! I got lucky in the surname department with Ben Blair (all of the letters in Blair are found in Gabrielle, and I think they sound nice together), but I confess, I identified so strongly as a “Stanley” that I really went back and forth on whether or not I wanted to change my name at all.

How about you? Did you change your name? If yes, did you hesitate at all, whether it was an odd one or because you simply loved your own? Or had you been doodling your new moniker from the minute you met your mate? I know you have amazing stories — and the funniest new married name you’ve ever heard — to share!

P.S. — Courthouse wedding via Wedding Lovers Anonymous.

Remember the 2-week school break my kids had in February? Well, they have another one happening right now. (Sidenote: I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I love the French school schedule. It’s something like six weeks on, 2 weeks off, which is ideal for fitting in roadtrips without missing school. We’ll miss this schedule when we’re gone!)

This is the last break we have before we move back to the U.S., so you can bet that we have big plans to make the most of it. Yesterday, we said goodbye to our house guests at the train station, then hopped in the van and drove to Amsterdam. We’re here to see the tulips — and we’re filming an Olive Us episode too!

Amsterdam was one of the first places we visited when we moved here over 2 years ago. It’s such a cool city! (You can see my posts about that trip here and here and here and here.) On that visit, we caught the very tail end of the tulips, but we’re hoping we’ve timed it better this year and will get to see them in all their glory this time around.

Also, I want to eat a dozen servings of poffertjes too!

Tell me, friends: is Amsterdam on your travel wishlist? Or have you already been?

P.S. — With astroralph, mimiblair, oliveblair, blairben and designmomblog (that’s me) all snapping away, I’m pretty sure every inch of this trip will be covered on Instagram. : ) Feel free to join us.

P.P.S. — Ben Blair found our hotel (pictured at top) on Hotwire, and I’m really digging it. It’s called Lloyd Hotel and has rooms that range from 1 star to 5 stars — something for everyone!