Our Summer Trip and New Guests

For our summer trip this year we flew to the beautiful islands of Sardinia and Corsica.  We started with a magical week in an area of Sardinia called Isuledda (outside of San Teodoro) in a great apartment with a spectacular ocean view and a convenient walk to a local beach. This was the best way to start off our family trip! Sardinia, and absolutely beautiful island, is the second largest in the Mediterranean (after Sicily) and an autonomous region of Italy.

We spent most of our days on the beach playing in the warm white sand and crystal clear blue water - Teia loves what she calls "swimming" aka running in and out of the waves and clinging on to us for dear life while demanding we go out further and further into the ocean. Luckily we like "swimming" too! We even managed to get in some reading during Teia's beach naps. I also had my fair share of belly rubs from strangers on this trip - in Italy it appears to be good luck to rub pregnant ladies bellies!

Our days and nights consisted of beach time, reading, relaxing, exploring San Teodoro, feasting on classic Sardinian fish and gnocchi dishes. Another beach area we checked out was Budoni. Our final night out we ate at Lu Brutoni which was the perfect place to try out local wine and eat traditional potato pasta and cous cous. And on our last day we visited the town of Oristano. We had a lovely walk followed up by lunch at Cocco Dessi and yummy dessert at a local gelato joint. That evening our friends Brock and Lila made the trip out to join us for our second half in Corsica!

Like Sardinia, Corsica is an Island in the Mediterranean, but this island belongs to France. It appears to be the hot spot this summer since a lot of our friends turned it into their summer holiday location. It is located just south of Sardinia and a quick ferry ride away. Corsica is known for it's white sandy beaches, glitzy coastal cities, stunning rocky landscapes, and tasty cuisine.

Our apartment was situated on the south side of the island - just outside of Porto Vecchio, a short drive North of Bonifacio where the ferry dropped us off. The week consisted of basking in the sun, enjoying the sandy beaches and waves, and evenings playing card games and making delicious home cooked dinners!

Some notable places - we spent the afternoon on Palomabaggia beach and ate at Tamariciu - delicious seafood.  Spent a day at Santa Giulia beach near our hotel which was very picturesque. We also spent a couple evenings in Porto Vecchio eating at sushi bar Kudeta, and Restaurant A Merendella.

We absolutely loved and had to go back again for another beach day at Petit Sperone. I have never seen a beach quite like this. Hidden in a remote area, you have to walk along an oceanside trail climbing rocks and avoiding the marsh before looking down a little cliff into the crystal clear water and tiny beach. Pure heaven! Another stunning place for us to read, relax, play in the sand and water, nap, and get in some bocce ball.

For our final day, bright and early we drove to the ferry to head back to Sardinia. While we waited at the marina we saw the sunrise and the sky was colored pink, yellow and orange - it was simply breathtaking. Such a beautiful island and landscape. Once we made it back to Sardinia we drove to Porto Cervo for a coffee at the town square and then lunch at Spinnaker. Then we managed to get in some playtime at a local park in Olbia before flying back to Amsterdam.  Thanks Brock and Lila for joining us on our Corsica trip - we had such a blast!

Everyone meet Nicole, our lovely house guest for a few months. We met Nicole a couple years ago when she came out for a visit with Donovan (Brad's Nephew) while they were study abroad in Italy.  She knew back then that she wanted to get back to Amsterdam and hopes to find some work here. While she looks for jobs and spends time roaming the city, working on her photography and journaling, she is such a huge help at home with Teia and great company which has been super convenient while Kirk is gone with work travel.

The day Nicole arrived Kirk jetted off to SF, then Atlanta and NYC for various work meetings. While in Atlanta he attended the Tomorrowland music festival. What a trip. The world's biggest EDM experience. Pretty cool to see. He even got to meet DJ Tiesto.

A quick update on Baby Girl - she's doing well. Growing and making her presence known. She's busy partying at night and gives me little reminders during the day.  We are so looking forward to meeting her in mid-December!

Teia just started ballet at the English Ballet School of Amsterdam.  She loves twirling around the room with her sweet friend London.

Now that Teia is showing more interest in Halloween, this year we biked out to a Pumpkin patch located in Zuid Amstelveen with our friends Melanie, Eric and London. Round trip we biked about 20 miles (glad I didn't know about that beforehand). The trip was really pretty riding along the Amstel river and the patch was adorable. 

Teia hopped on a pony for a few laps, jumped in the blowup castle and attempted to carve her first pumpkin.  For the bike ride home we made a pitstop at the Zwarte Kat for some bar snacks, beers and orange juice. The kiddos had a blast!

Our sweet friends Theresa and Dave came to town during a 2 week holiday around the UK and Amsterdam. They came over for some drinks before we hit up one of favorite spots, Castell, for steak, ribs and wine; and then GdG for beers. 

The next day was Kirk's 36th birthday which started off with blueberry pancakes in the morning and then Teia and I stopped by his work surprising him with bday cupcakes from Silver Bowl Baking (flavors consisted of Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate and Orange Champagne). Later on we met up with Theresa and Dave and another expat alum, Grant, at Arendsnest for bites and beers. The next night we went to Salmuera with Fran, Colin, Ben and Erica. And then Sunday Grant came over for Brunch and we watched UW unfortunately lose to the dreaded Ducks. Overall a great bday weekend (besides the UW loss).

Image by Silver Bowl Baking

The following week Kirk flew to Shanghai and then NYC for more work meetings. It was his first trip to China and he really loved the city of Shanghai. It's beautiful, and interesting, and huge! In NYC he attended a little going away party for his old friend and coworker, Jerico, who's returning to Los Angeles. It turned out to also be a small 180 reunion!

                                      

Thanks to our amazing friend David Lloyd I took some girlfriends to see Wiz Khalifa and A$AP Rocky at the Heineken Concert Hall. We had the VIP treatment and even some baby rubs and kiss by Wiz. Great evening with the ladies!!!

While Kirk is off in the States, Nicole, Teia and I did a little mini photoshoot at the zoo.  Thanks for the great pics Nicole!

Another couple who used to live in Amsterdam happened to be in town for a work-related trip. Chip and Katie brought their 2 littles and stayed for about a week. It was great getting in some playtime, dinner and great chats before they jetted off to the USA.  Teia loved her new friends Liv and Avery - it was hard to say goodbye!

For Halloween this year Teia dressed up as Minnie Mouse and we attended a birthday party for Betsy and Nate. The party ended with cake before heading to the Oud Zuid neighborhood for trick-or-treating. The Netherlands are obviously not into Halloween, but locally the expat community do their best to bring a bit of home to this country. In this particular neighborhood many residents volunteer their homes to hand out candy and make the occasion grand!

Now Sinterklaas's arrival, Thanksgiving, Sinterklaas, and Xmas are right around the corner.  We can't believe it's November and Baby Girl will be here in no time.  Until next time!