One of our first priorities when we arrived was to buy used bikes for our entire family. Our airbnb rental came with the use of two adult bikes so we just had to get bikes for the kids. We found a great bike shop ~2km from our house.
The two guys that work at the bike shop were so nice and helpful ... and so funny! They reminded Rick and I of the two guys on Car Talk, the radio show about repairing cars. They're constantly teasing each other and us.
Bikes for three of the kids. We came back later with Danika and Lydia to pick out a bikes for them. However, most of the time Lydia rides on the back of my bike. Five used bikes, two additional bike locks, the additional child cushion/seat on my bike & clear plastic spoke covers for both sides of my back tire cost us $345USD. And, they will buy back the used bikes for 50% of their value when we leave in a few months.
They have baby/toddler seats here but Lydia is large enough now that she's really too big for these. Unfortunately, because we don't bike that often in the states, she doesn't yet know how to ride a bike. The guys at the bike shop suggested we put this type of seat on the back of my bike along with pegs that can flip down and up for her feet.
That black tubing on the back of the bike is our second bike lock. Every bike here has a tire lock on the rear tire. You can just barely see the one on this bike at the front of the cushion on the rear tire. There is a key on the other side. You turn the key, push down the lever and a piece of metal slides through the spokes of the rear tire, take out the key and your rear tire is locked. One lock is good but two is better! So, we bought two extra bike locks. Also standard on most bikes here are bells on the handlebars, front and rear lights, and fenders. Most of the modern lights run off batteries but my lights are "old style" and run off the energy created from the movement of the front wheel.
Since we often bike to the store for small grocery trips we really wanted to get some saddlebags. Most of the bags we've seen are pretty expensive (30-100Euros/bag) but I saw these on clearance at Ikea the other day so I picked up two of them for 12Euros each. They are insulated too.
One Sunday afternoon while I was making dinner, Rick took the kids for a long bike ride to find a park. This was the park they found. As you can see the kids had a lot of fun.
The little kids are especially good at making friends.
The funny part about the little kids is that they don't have to speak the same language. Play can happen in any language. After they play, Rick and I will often ask our kids what their friend's name is and they'll just shrug their shoulders. Why would you need to know someone's name? You can play without that.
Many people have asked us why we would choose to live in 's-Graveland instead of closer to Utrecht where Rick is working. The truth is that housing was not just difficult to find for our situation, but almost impossible. The average price for airbnbs that fit 7 people was $10,000/month!!! I looked into lots of other options for our family (Pararius & Funda websites - the Netherlands version of ksl.com/craigslist where people list available housing), short term housing with the university, serviced apartments, etc. They were either really expensive, too small for our family, unfurnished or required a 12 month contract. There are so many people moving to the Netherlands that there is a huge demand for housing and not nearly enough supply. After talking with someone who used to work in the real estate industry here, her advice to us was to not be picky and as soon as we found a place that remotely fit our needs just take it.
This was the cheapest, closest, furnished place I could find to Utrecht with a short-term lease that fit our large family. It costs us $3800/month (including utilities) and it's about a 30 minute drive from Rick's work (1- 1 1/2 hrs by transit or bike). It's in the countryside but we've found that it actually suits us really well. There are lots of BEAUTIFUL biking paths and a forested nature path 1-2 kilometers away as well as two shopping centers 2-2.5 km from us.
This picture was taken on an afternoon bike ride with the kids.
Photos just don't do it justice.
And this is another nature path we discovered when we tried to meet up with Logan's international scout troop for a hike. We never did find them but we found some beautiful places to walk and bike!
