So EXCITING!

We're thrilled that the Netherlands made it to the finals and it's against Spain! What a game this will be! We live two streets away from Museumplein (or Ground Zero for Dutch Fans) so it's very loud in our apartment. The park is outfitted with sound-stages and 4 large screens to see the game (each is about 12 feet high) and a 5th screen will be even higher and taller so everyone can see the game. We're sure there are fireworks in the back somewhere too in case we get the win! We walked around the area this afternoon and had lunch at a cafe nearby to take in all the craziness. It's been a beautiful, hot day so far. We're simultaneously trying to get packed and organized for a trip home next weekend to the US. We'll be traveling to NJ on Saturday for a week to visit with my family and then we'll be up north to Massachusetts and spending two weeks on Cape Cod visiting family and friends. Bryce is going to ride in his third Pan Mass Challenge Ride too on August 8. Will be a great time, but as usual, we have more than we can handle right now in terms of getting ready! Bryce is crazed with work and is trying to catch up right now, while I make lists and phone calls for our trip. Somehow it will all get done. In the middle of it all we get to watch a fantastic game tonight and will probably get little sleep(since the noise doesn't tend to die down until the wee hours of the morning thanks to our heavy drinking Dutch comrades).

Hup Holland!

If you've been following the World Cup even a little bit, you'll know that the Dutch have made it to the semi-finals and play again today! The game starts at 8:30 pm our time and we're looking forward to them beating Uruguay :) If they make it to the finals, we expect they will be playing the Germans which, here would be a very heated match. There's been bad blood between the Dutch and the Germans ever since WWII, so I can only imagine how crazy things would get just having that match happen, but we'll see.. I'm probably getting ahead of myself. So game day.. I'm happy that the game is at night this time. I always find myself in the middle of the market or someplace downtown when the match inevitably starts and it seems like the city stops and everyone runs to the pub. (Kind of hard for me to enjoy this ritual with a baby buggy and child, but nevertheless..) All you see are people dressed head to toe in orange and crammed into these tiny pubs staring at the screens and screaming. And if you don't have the game on at home, don't worry, as you'll likely hear what's happening from the screaming in the streets, the blowing of the vulvulas, and if you're near a park like we are, you'll hear the game from a huge screen they set up so everyone can see it. It's quite amazing and as typically Dutch - very FUN! I wasn't much into soccer before we moved here, but it's tough not to catch World Cup fever. Hup Holland!