Our friends Luke and Shyla took us to see the Guy Fawkes fireworks during our trip to England last weekend. It’s been years since I’ve seen fireworks up close enough to hear the music and enjoy the atmosphere of being surrounded by a crowd of other people enjoying the display. We were also delighted to see how much Hayden also loved watching the explosions. I was a little worried that the sounds would be too loud for him, and he did often jump, but he spent most of the time with his little eyes wide open in amazement. Eventually his dummy fell out of his mouth and he waved his arms around as if to say “this is the most amazing thing I have ever seen”. He was entranced the whole time, sometimes gurgling along with the music, other times simply silent with wonder. I loved watching his smiling little face. I think that this is the first event that we have both enjoyed together at a similar level – the pretty colours and spectacular lights. A super fun night for everyone.

This week Hayden visited his fourth country when we accompanied Adrian to a conference in The Netherlands. Less than two hours on the train took us from Brussels to Amsterdam. The hotel gave us a free upgrade to a bigger room to fit the cot, and we had a lovely view over the main square.

While Adrian and his students presented their work to an international crowd, Hayden and I took long walks along the canals. The air was brisk but most days we had beautiful blue skies that were perfect for sightseeing. Once the talks had finished for the day we met up with Adrian and his colleagues to talk science over a few beers.

We had breakfast each morning in the elegant Winter Garden of the hotel – a huge glass-roofed room built in 1881 and filled with tropical ferns and a long buffet table filled with tempting treats. I started each day with poffertjes (tiny pancakes) with sour cherry sauce, and ended the day with poffertjes with maple syrup.

In between pancakes we managed to do some shoe shopping, as well as visiting the Wetheimpark and the Resistance Museum. A lovely way to mark the end of my maternity leave and squeeze in one more mini break before I go back to work next week.

Thanks to Grant for taking the photo.

We spent the weekend in Cambridge with our friends Michelle and Grant. We asked Michelle to be Hayden’s marraine – his secular godmother. We chose Michelle because she has been a great friend to us since we were all researching immunology back in Australia, and we were thrilled when she accepted the role. She is full of fun and wisdom, and is also a brilliant scientist and intrepid traveller.

We were all suffering due to the heatwave – unbearable highs of 28 both days. Hayden did not make the best first impression, and while all three of us turned up at their home sweaty, dehydrated, and cranky, only one of us was screaming. Yet they took us in and fed us delicious and locally sourced meals – quiche with spinach from their allotment, pancakes with home made wild berry jam, pizza with home-grown capsicum, and stewed apples picked the day before.

We spent most of the weekend outdoors, with a barbeque by the Cam one day and a long walk along the river the next. We walked from Cambridge to Fen Ditton, past cows on the commons, dozens of rowers, and families at home on their houseboats. Cambridge is such an idyllic town, with the energy of the university and the tranquility of the countryside synergising into a dynamic yet peaceful place.