Kid-Friendly

We got home last night. Within minutes my neighbor came over with some bread, in case we were hungry and had no food in the house. While we were gone she watered the flowers and took our garbage to the curb and back.

Today I had to visit the store in order to feed my ever-hungry children. This must-do-twice-weekly trip has graduated from the category of 'dread' to 'hooray!' since Mary potty-trained. She can now go to the excellent and free child-care center with Eli. They can't wait to go. I can't wait to go. They play, do art projects, build trains, slide, and play games. And when I picked them up today after some blissfully-quick childfree grocery shopping, the head teacher - who knows us well - gave me a stack of finger paintings done by my kids in the previous month. She had matted and framed them and simply said "these are from your previous visits, to take home." I practically had tears in my eyes.

This afternoon we went to get haircuts for my shaggy-haired pups. They love the kids at this salon and treat them like little royalty. Eli asked for blue hair at the end of his buzz cut (I do not know why). So his stylist goes to find a blue mascara and colors it for him. He spends the rest of the day convinced he is a "rock star." Of course they get suckers as rewards, as well. Most days I really love living here and some days, like today, it feels like a little slice of kid-friendly heaven.

Very disappointed that the color wasn't permanent... pic before the wash off.

Our trip to Copenhagen in Denmark and the fjords (click for definition) and Cities of Norway was wonderfully kid-friendly as well. With one exception we were impressed with the people and places and their love of children. Some loved our kids in the moment more than we did. I really wanted to enjoy our kids this trip. What's the old saying? "You'll usually find what your looking for." Photos and stories that way ----->

Tea Time & Gewurztraminer

This child lives for bread and soup dinners.

Entering Riquewihr, France. Walled. Stone houses.

Canal ride in rickety boat. In the rain.

My 13 year-old teacups and saucers got their first taste of hot liquid this morning when I scrubbed them out and hosted an almost-German morning breakfast / tea time. We had coffee cake without coffee, cheeses without meats, and a frittata rather than bread-n-butter BUT I still claim success based on good conversation and my new purchase of a water-heating pitcher. Tea kettles are only found in gift stores or online. This is my concession to hot caffeinated liquids. I have still never brewed a cup of coffee.


Had a hard time concentrating since I was awaiting news from Chicago, which came just after lunch - a new nephew!! Very excited for Janelle, David and our whole family on the arrival of Ethan David. Sad that mom isn't here to brag to the whole world. Kev's dad is doing a good job of it though. A good day. And a hard one. One of the very few where I feel far away from where I want to be. But we will be trippin' there very soon.... after we get this frivolous 9 days in Scandinavia out of the way. Hah! We're excited. About all of it.


Insight: Travel guide books say the best time to travel to Europe is in the summer. They lie. You will either burn to a crisp (Spain, Italy) or be struck by lightning while trudging through the rain in your brand-new, "bought for this trip" tennis shoes (Germany, Netherlands, France, etc).


We have never regretted a trip. Not even an I've-got-a-crazy-idea-for-this-weekend kind of excursion and we won't start now. But we did have a few, shall we say, 'issues' when we chose to catch Le Tour De France last Friday and Saturday. Got wet, got goodies, got squashed in the crowds and advertisers parade on Friday afternoon almost at the finish in Colmar, France. The kids, God love 'em, loved it. They were the definite bright spot (this changes, stay tuned) watching all the crazy themed cars, catching free hats and snacks, and staying in one place in the pouring rain for 90 minutes to see 2 minutes worth of bike racing. Other bright spot: Gewurztraminer white wine. Specialty of the region and new Flikkema favorite. Tried it that night at dinner and started looking for bottles to buy.


Booking the hotel last-minute meant only one room left that can fit only one extra travel bed. Kid on either end of this too-small-poor-excuse-for-a-sleeping-recepticle meant lots of this.
"She kicked me!"
"Mom, her toenails scratched me!"
"Stop it Eli! No!"
... in addition to the trials of a toddler in potty training afraid of going #2. At 2am. And 3am.


After that fabulous night we decided to go back to standing in one place in the rain. But for 2 full hours this time! The kids did well though, re-loved the exact same parade, and banged their giveaway rumble-sticks when the bikers went by. They even got kid-sized "LiveStrong" bracelets. Don't ask if we saw Lance. We probably did. He had a helmet on, right? Took a little boat ride on a cute canal in town, browsed a happy electric train mini-museum, then headed for a walled-medieval town, very cute, and a restaurant in the middle of the forest somewhere. I had a smoked, minced-pork meat pie.... "Je t'adore, mince-meat-pie! Tres magnifique!" And a glass of Gewurztraminer. And the sun decided to shine.


After another fun night of bickering and backside reminders we ventured to the castle fortress of Haut Koenigsbourg in the misty rain. Very cool place. Eli and Mary ran through little stone doorways, up and down steps, had a good time. Then they slept, thankfully, while Kevin, I, and the GPS got good and hopelessly lost in the stomach-clenching curvy, misty Vosges Mountain Range. We somehow escaped, made ourselves feel worse by eating McDonalds, and survived the drive home.


Glad we did it. Won't do it again. Will happily go along with any visitors next year to the town hosting Le Tour and will sightsee with the kids while you stand 'at the line' and catch hats.

Putz Frau

Many people here hire a 'Putz Frau' (pron: 'Puts Frow') or Cleaning Lady as standard help. It's not expensive and so not just for the wealthy. It's tempting. But I fear that having someone else clean for me would remove 80% of my reason for being. Measuring by time spent, of course, not by worth. I hope.

A few more ways i've been culture-resistant:

• I don't drink carbonated water (though Kevin does).




• I make sandwiches for lunch and hot food for dinner rather than the other way around.




• At 5:00pm I am starting dinner, not having tea/coffee and cake as an afternoon snack.




• I wear shorts. And my husband will never wear a speedo or manpris.




• I purposely teach my preschool-age kids academics. At home if necessary. Fully homeschooling is illegal here, and parents are consistantly discouraged from teaching their little kids the basics of reading or math as they would be 'bored in school.' Not many educational options here. But the preschools are thankfully terrific in all other ways.




• Our longest vacation might be a week long and we'll stay in 3 different places. We don't have the vacation days or patience to stay in one place for 2 weeks straight. Though I can understand the relaxation benefit potential.

That said, however, there are many ways in which i've adapted and embraced:

• I never use ice anymore and get annoyed if we're in a rare European restaurant that puts cubes in my drink.




• My children (and I) require at least one warm, salted pretzel a day. Usually as a morning shopping snack. They cost about 50 cents.




• I ordered a trend-fashion, black, rectangular-shaped cool pair of glasses yesterday.




• I like all hard floors in the main living areas. No stains. More fun for the kids and all their toys on wheels.




• At this time I am keeping 5 flower boxes / plants alive (mostly). Something I would never attempt if I didn't live where everyone was raised knowing everything about plants and showcased them in spectacular fashion.




• If we have a particularly busy weekend and are running all over I feel somehow robbed.




• We're rediscovering new uses for our legs... walking, riding, rolling.

Potty-Time Mary

$wiss $horts

Flikkema Family Creed #14: "If we go on a vacation, we go all out." That means we go to the top of each building / mountain / structure, ride every available form of transportation, and hire private tours. Gourmet dining is - sadly but understandably - excluded from this creed due to the existence of small children. This creed makes for more memorable vacations with fewer regrets. Until your credit card bill shows up, anyway.

$witzerland is painfully expensive. We've been there twice and are thinking next summer looks good for a third trip. Right after we get our (hopefully large) tax refund. Pretend you're in Chicago and you get your food and drink exclusively from the vendors at Wrigley Field. And you're staying at the Hyatt next door. And taking limos to VIP sites all over town.

• Cheapest Meal: approx. $42 lunch of brats, chips, and two shared drinks
• Best Find: hidden 40% off coupon (Kevin's addiction for brochure browsing finally pays off) for the most expensive Gondola ride in the area
• Most Ridiculous Price: $68 for a used, small cow bell (we declined to purchase it)
• Best Deal: for $5 parking we hiked and saw 7 incredible wateralls and 1 cool snake

The best anesthetic to the pain is, of course, Switzerland itself. All the Germans we know go to Austria. It's cheaper, plenty of mountains, and has hotels that cater to families. We may try it out in the Spring. But we love Switzerland. We went before the summer crowds (though we still had to run occasionally to beat out tour busloads) and after the bad weather.

• The Good: Mountain tunnels, waterfalls, the apartment, pool slide, watching paragliders, hiking, riding gondolas, summer toboggan runs, train rides and happy kids.
• The Bad: Steep inclines with the stroller (oops wrong turn), losing a hat, losing a pillow, losing a sweatshirt, losing a gondola ticket (sigh), bugs, clouded-in mountain peak.
• The Ugly: I had to wear my glasses the whole time and the sun was painfully bright. Eli's knees and hands after 4 days of hiking (tripping).

Our children were much happier here than they were in Prague. Coincidentally, we liked them better too. It's the one place we're willing to go back to. Though i'm sure repeat visits is against at least one of our family creeds....

Ahoiy! Bring on the Coleslaw.

You know what's great about Prague? We had to learn to share. Painful, yes, but we all did a little of what the others wanted and in the end it was a good lesson. I think. Kevin got his viewpoints (that means steps, folks, lots of 'em). Eli got his streetcars, subway trains, and taxis. Mary got her treats. And I got coleslaw. Cabbage, white cabbage, is a staple of the Czech diet and coleslaw comes with every meal. As my family is not as sophisticated as I am, I got 4 helpings.

Here is a slightly generalized breakdown of our activities, below. For more details, see captions of our pics to your right (that way --->).

The black light show was entertaining (Image Theatre) and the kids were rapt. Thankfully, as they were the only children in the large audience. And it seemed like in all of Prague. They are now able to stay up late a night or two, which is very nice, but still not fancy-restaurant-ready. We discovered two more great reasons to travel with your kids. You SAVE MONEY by eating at KFC / McD's instead of gourmet and going to only one show instead of staying out late every night at a club or theatre. Also, and this is important, you arrive VERY EARLY at all the popular sites (while other tourists are sleeping off hangovers) and never need to wait in a line. Plus no one wants to be mean to cute little kids so you get the best viewing spots and seats on the fullest of trams.

More learning for mom and dad. Eli and Mary are, strangely, not as interested in old buildings as we are. And this trip they let us know that. It's getting harder... looking for strange statues that might catch their interest, finding fountains that have fish in them, seeking out a snack shop or toy store for bribes. But they're still tough kids and decent travelers. And so we continue to torture them. We console ourselves with the thought that "one day they'll thank us for this" and trade off city tours with funner, kid-friendlier vacations. Next week: Switzerland. The bikes will be coming along (Mary now has a tricycle) and there are zero old buildings on the schedule.