The next day, we all went to Zaanse Schans, the open air museum just outside of Amsterdam. Everything really was this intense green.

Zaanse Schans has (mostly relocated) old buildings that are typical of the area.

Including workers and craftsmen in period costume.

This is an old farmhouse which is now a "Kaasborderij" or cheese farm (factory).

The girls preferred the real cheese inside, but they had fun with this cheese carrier (used at the cheese market in Gouda) and wooden cheese.

The real main attraction at Zaanse Schans, though, is the windmills.

Lucie makes a friend.

The countryside is flat and green, so the windmills and livestock make for the very picture of Holland.

In a photograph, you can tell if a windmill is operating by the sails on the vanes.

All but one of the windmills was operating. That's the most we've ever seen.

"When I grow up, I wanna be just like them!"

This is "De Kat" a paint mill which is usually operating (and described in detail on Thea's site).

They built a new winch and gave it a fresh coat of paint during the off season. Personally, I think it looks great!

Corinne went up to the observation deck in "De Kat" -- Loïs looked around inside but the ladder/stairs were too steep so she stayed on the ground floor.

A short walk away is the oil mill "De Zoeker" which hasn't been operating the other times we were here.

First, Gilles went up to the observation deck. It's lower than "De Kat" but still too high for any of the kids.

The inside of De Zoeker has a much different atmosphere than De Kat. In De Kat, you notice the gears and machinery much more.

They were roasting and pressing peanuts. The roasting makes the inside smoky, which gives a wonderful rich smell and a funky atmosphere.

Although it isn't as high as De Kat, the view from the observation deck is stil lovely. The next windmill over is De Kat, and the second is De Poelenburg (a sawmill).

Erik also shot a picture of everyone else waiting below...

He'd better be careful. Thea shoots back.

This is the sawmill, which was operating (though just barely). We've never seen it in action before. If you look at the frame on the left, you'll notice two giant sawblades.

In this picture, you can see that the frames are moving up and down (and sawing planks in the process).

We stopped at the bakery (museum), which serves "Duijvelkater" (Devil Cat), which is a wonderfully light and lemony bread. It's typical of the Zaan and is normally only served at new years. Fortunately, this bakery (called "the crowned devil cat") caters to tourists and serves it year-round. Yum!

The rains rolled in just about the time we hit the pancake restaurant...