First Sunny Day!!!

FINALLY a sunny day! Isabelle: "We went to the beach and I had a picture in my mind of what it was going to be, and it was more like a creek or a lake. The water was murky and there were no waves and it felt like I was in a big bucket of wet slime. But the sand was fun. I made sand legs."

Taylor didn't even want to get his swim suit on, much to my dismay-had I known he was going to get so dirty, I would have insisted. Taylor: "I was not happy when we got there and saw the shore, but I did like the sand. You had to pay to get into the bathroom (like everywhere). We passed lots of people sunbathing on the sand. There was a bit of a drop off before the water, so I played in that and made a little cave for myself." Taylor even got to see his first topless sunbather (don't tell him I said so) luckily it was not an impressive sight!!! It is amazing that people are so comfortable in their skin!
Danny and I just enjoyed the weather and watching the people so excited to be in the water.

The Anne Frank House was such a neat experience. It was the main thing Isabelle was looking forward to, "I have seen the movie of Anne Frank several times and I like the story. I wanted to go to the museum and I thought it was an interesting set up. It was designed to look just like the warehouse and the offices of Anne's father and the annex was cool."

There were so many bits of information and quotes from her writings. Even though I have read the book I learned things I didn't know before. It is amazing that so many things were recovered and protected. There is an interview with her father (the only one of the 8 people hidden to survive) and it really makes you want to cherish your time with your children.

The Westerkerk (Western Church) is the church right by the Anne Frank house that she speaks about hearing the bells ring at different times of the day. It was built in 1631 and is quite different than the other churches we have visited.
It is a protestant church so there isn't an altar and all of the crucifixes and paintings of Jesus. These organ pipes and the paintings around it were the most beautiful I have seen.

We are enjoying "tramming" around the city. The tram and bus system is so great and we can get on and off with ease. The above station was one of the only that was not right in the middle of a main street because it was the one on the edge of town that took us out to the beach. The area below was the theater district with tons of restaurants and beautiful buildings on the canal.