windmills in holland.

no trip to holland would be complete without seeing the dutch icon, right? so we rented a car and journeyed into the countryside for some last-day adventures. kinderdijk is a little village with some of the last working windmills in the netherlands. the town is almost fairytale like. at one central location there are over a dozen working windmills. and the landscape surrounding them is just beautiful—the colors are vivid and the land stretches for miles. as you drive through the town you'll run into acres of bright rows of flowers, each plot a different color. i was such a nerd with my arm out the window snapping shot after shot of flowers! 

keukenhof flower festival. {holland}

this flower festival is only in prime season for a couple weeks out of the year, so i was ecstatic to be able to enjoy it with my parents. i'm giving you fair warning that you're about to see {read: be overloaded with} a bunch a flowers if you continue downward. i cannot tell how beautiful keukenhof is; therefore, i will show you.

harper was a doll, running around and sniffing all the flowers. it was a trick papa had taught her before our trip and it came in quite handy for the day!

and to keep the little's attention, there happened to be the most 

adorable petting zoo in the middle of the festival. 

my beautiful parents. i love traveling with these two!

a day in amsterdam.

i was so excited to travel to amsterdam with my parents. because they made the trek to london, i figured we should also take a mini weekend trip. and since the keukenhof tulip festival was going on, it only made sense we venture to holland! in true amsterdam style, we rented a houseboat on a beautiful canal near the city center. it was such a neat experience, and the gentle rock to sleep wasn't so bad either! 

now i had always heard that bikes were a popular mode of transport in holland, but i was blown away at how many bikes there really were. i'm disappointed i didn't get a good picture, but bikes are parked up and down the streets and congesting every corner. to be quite honest, i felt like a major tourist because i wasn't on a bike!

overall, amsterdam is a very unique and beautiful city. the building architecture and canals reminded me of a larger bruges, and it was chock full of history and character. amsterdam, we like you a lot.

amsterdam was getting ready for the coronation of their new king,

so celebratory decor was strewn throughout the whole city

 our little 'ole boat! sitting pretty on the canal.

the owner of our houseboat took us for a ride through the canals our first night. 

what a great way to get familiar with the city.