Miracle on miracles, Millie woke up at 8am. She immediately put on her dress up stuff and was as happy as can be. This is a good lesson in letting your kid be whoever they want to be. In our case, our child identifies as a unicorn fairy.

We walked to a good coffee shop and got some pastries.

We went back to our micro room to pack up and check out. We still have one more night in Amsterdam at an airport hotel so we left our bags at this one.

Millie has been asking to take a bike ride since the day we arrived in Amsterdam, so today was the day to make it happen. Our Austin friend Kelsey recommended a route that her family did when they were here, so we rented bikes and set off. Nick got a cargo bike with a big basket for Millie that took some getting used to.

We joined the hoards of bikes in the bike lane and headed towards the Amstel river. Eventually the city faded away and we found ourselves on an idyllic ride. The river was to the left of us, and on our right was a mix of farmland, mansions, and an occasional windmill.

I felt grateful for how much exercise we’ve been getting on this trip. Even though this bike ride wasn’t rigorous, it was long, and it feels great to move our bodies most of each day. I thought about how last year it wasn’t unusual for my only steps of the day to be inside my house.

We arrived in Ouder-Amstel and had lunch at a brassiere that felt too fancy for two sweaty adults and a unicorn fairy. We ordered sandwiches which were more like salads on bread plates, but delicious.

We headed back towards Amsterdam, stopping at Amstelpark on the way. It was a very hot day today and the weekend AND the solstice, so as we approached the city the river beside us started getting busier and busier with boats. Many of them were packed with shirtless rowdy men.

At the park we found a playground with a water pump and a lot of sand puddles. Millie stripped down and happily played here for over an hour. I had a balloon in my purse and blew it up. She painted a mud face on it like Tom Hanks in Castaway.

After the park we finished our ride into the center of town and returned our bikes. The bike rental place was right by Vondelpark, home of our favorite park cafes. So we walked in and had a well earned beer and some early dinner.

We narrowly avoided a meltdown when Millie refused to walk. She yelled “all I’ve done all day today is walk!” after Nick charioted her around in his bike for miles. He managed to bite his tongue and we ignored her sudden onset disability until it passed.

She held it together and we had a great time being silly in the cafe.

We then walked back to hotel #1 to pick up our bags to go to hotel #2. Nick and I once again remarked how much we love Amsterdam. Having the biking experience today really cemented it.

We took the airport shuttle and checked into our budget airport hotel, ready for a new stop tomorrow.