Last Sunday we drove to the swimming club my son is going to have exams in November. I had to learn the way because my husband will not be in the Netherlands on the day of the exam. Done that, we decided to go with the kids to a park where they could play and see animals as well. Spaarnwoude was the perfect place for that. I had to plans to blog about it on Sunday evening or at least on Monday. But only today I ended up having some free time to post it.
At the local restaurant we ordered pannenkoeken. This is a Dutch pancake: big, soft and thin like old cold pizza. What does it taste like ? Like old cold pizza, humpf ! My children, especially my son is mad about it. At this place they served it with powder sugar - which I scooped half of it away - and we added some stroop (syrup).
A little orchard is placed near to the pastures where goats and sheeps graze.
This kale had stunning shades of blue and purple, you cannot see that well on a photo. 
And this courgette arrangement was just waiting for my "click".
When we decided to go inside to search for restrooms with the kids we noticed that there was a show going on. This group of teens was playing Hotel California. Very professional and the singer was very charismatic, relaxed and what such a beautiful voice ! Those boys could easily be in the finals of TV programmes such as "Idols" or X-Factor.
My husband has blond curly hair which gets very beautiful a couple of weeks after he visits the hairdresser. When it is finally all curlied and wild he just goes back to have a hair cut. I suggested him to let it grow so long as the singer's hair - it would give him sexier looks. He said his boss and colleagues would have a different opinion.
Walking around the tables in the restaurant terrace we have seen this... thing. I first thought it was a poodle dog or an extra terrestrial being or the singer's half brother walking among my feet (or that his hair was actually a wig that his colleagues threw spinning on the floor) but it was just an odd race of a very hairy chicken. Gee... your brain does imagine weird things in a fraction of seconds when it doens't know exactly what to think. Or maybe I have a burn-out (too much blogging, hehehe) ? Now, can you imagine me chasing a chicken with a photo camera among tables and waiters in order to get its best pose ? 
It seems the chicken lives in the wild and the restaurant personnel has always fresh water for it.
The area has definitely beautiful flower pots, birdhouses, works of art and sculptures spreaded around the pancake house. There is a playground for kids and a little forest with some wooden apparatuses and ropes for them to climb and spring. You can also visit a farm with cows and calves and check how they mechanically collect their milk.
The Spaarnwoude recreation area at the fringe of Amsterdam is the buffer between Haarlem, Amsterdam and Velsen. In an environment with vast polders and forest, there is ample opportunity for biking, hiking, climbing, golfing, skiing, sailing and canoeing. It also hosts many annual events like Dance Valley and Loveland. Oh, and there is a train for kids nearby. I am considering to take my kids and a couple of their little friends to go there again on a Wednesday afternoon - when the weather is dry. If you wish to visit the place just remember: they are closed on Mondays. But then as a modern mother ("mothern") like me you have to work and you children have to go to school, right ?
Thanks for the tip Lizzy. And I wish all the readers a wonderful weekend, yippie !
Above: a three-star restaurant for birds, project by Marcel Wanders.
Eva Solo bird houses above (porcelaine) and below.
