Funky Sculptures...

We enjoyed wandering through the Rijksmuseum gardens to see the tragicomic sculptures of French artist Jean Dubuffet, who died in 1985.

The 12 sculptures originated from Paris, Lisbon, New York and London. 

Some were more colorful...

...than others.

Sightseeing with Norah...

On Saturday, we went to the Markthal in Rotterdam in the rain. I didn’t bring my camera, but Melissa took a few photos on her phone.

Luckily it cleared up on Sunday and I took lots of photos during Norah’s first visit to Amsterdam. 

Not surprisingly, Norah wasn’t awake for all of our photo ops.

Meeting Norah...

It was so sweet that Melissa and Pieter came up from Germany in early October for a weekend because they really wanted us to meet six-week-old Norah. 

Not only was she adorable, but Norah was a little angel.  

Us adults, on the other hand, weren’t so well behaved...

...when dancing in the kitchen after a few cocktails.

Blue Skies in Leiden...

I’m always happy to see blue skies when I’m in Leiden and happen to have my camera along.

From Disney to Gay Pride...

There was several Disney-themed groups including these characters from Frozen... 

...and these dancing candlesticks from Beauty and the Beast.

There were also several gay pride groups including these lovely ladies.

The parade ended with this float of Brazilian carnival dancers.

Another October 3 Parade...

It was another clear and sunny day when I headed to Leiden for the 3 October Liberation Parade. This year’s theme was Parade Royale...

...which seemed to mean that anything goes.

It was especially strange to see this American WWII tank pass by.

This was definitely the coolest band of the day...

...and these balloon animals were very cool. 

Oktoberfest...

While Jimmy was heading to a hash in London while in town for a business meeting...

 ...I was running around Amsterdam in my dirndl at the Oktoberfest Hash. Some of us girls couldn’t resist getting our photo with this sign...

 ...but it didn’t help us to wake up famous.

Abbie’s favorite part of the trail was definitely our detour into the kinderboederij (children’s petting farm) as she really loves goats.

We had a great celebration afterwards complete with German beer and pretzels at the home of Blue Nun, who happens to be German.

Veronica Goes to Prague...

While it was very sweet of Veronica to invite Jimmy and me along, we decided not to join Billy and her in Prague for their first vacation together. Not only did I not get to see this beautiful city first hand...

 ...but I failed to get descriptions from her about her favorite photos from the trip. I do know that they loved the city itself and also enjoyed their afternoon hiking outside of the city.

As you can see, the leaves were already changing color in late September.

The Coolest Kite...

I loved the giant squid and think it’s the coolest kite I’ve ever seen.

As impressive as the squid was, it couldn’t actually fly alone. It relied on this ray to actually get it airborne.

For dramatic effect, I preferred to just watch and photograph the squid which looked like it was swimming across the sky.

A Giant Squid Eats Scheveningen Beach...

We were quite surprised to see this giant squid on the beach, which appeared to be eating this hotel...

...and the bungee jump tower on the Pier.

Megabyte...

We were quite curious when we saw a giant tractor drive up the beach. It dropped off Megabyte, the world’s largest monster kite at 215 feet (66 meters) long by 80 feet (25 meters) wide.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn’t seem to care about Megabyte’s visit to Scheveningen...

...as there just wasn’t enough wind to get him completely off the ground.

Clearly he was angry and was considering eating some of his handlers.

We waited with a large crowd along the Pier.

Does a photograph of our shadows count as a selfie (we’re on the right)?

He finally managed to get off the ground, but his flight only lasted a few seconds.