Does This Make You Want to Lick Something?

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. This is a real ad for a local Wassenaar company that sells caffeinated popsicles. This is actually the milder of their posters since this fellow is at least clothed. The original one that I saw was in a Leiden bagel restaurant and featured a naked couple shown from behind with strategically placed sticks. Then later that day while walking through an indoor mall (which is rare here despite all the nasty weather we get), a TV ad caught our attention featuring a full profile of this fellow naked except for the stick on a stairclimber. If you dare to see more, the ads and the posters can be seen on their website: Vitalice From the homepage, click on the box on the bottom left that says: Click onze KICK filmpjes. On the right-hand side you can choose to see a variety of ads and the posters (there's enough English that if you're determined, you'll figure it out). Let me know what you think and if you want a popsicle when you come visit.

What a Great Place for a Beer Break...

Was so happy to hear that Sir Walter's Hash got to enjoy the Pinhead Memorial Fountain when good friends Lisa and Randy (and Sugar, too!) had a beer break at the new overlook during their hash on Monday. Their timing was perfect as they enjoyed sunset over the lake and a cold drink (notice the "Do Not Drink" sign is gone since the E. coli scare was over). Sorry we missed it!

Here's to You Kid...In Loving Memory

Many of you know that we were deeply affected by the devasting loss of family friend Kassel "Pinhead" Smit on April 12, 2004. It was this tragic accident that set events in motion that eventually led to our move overseas. We continue to remember, and hope that you will too, that life is short and needs to be lived to the fullest.

In order to help honor Kassel's memory, we worked with Sir Walter's Hash and San Diego Hash to raise funds for a memorial bench. When Jimmy pointed out that Kassel never sat still, he suggested we try to install a drinking fountain instead (Kassel's dad Kevin suggested a Kassel Krapper--a "green" outhouse along the greenway--but the city frowned on the idea). Anyways, we're happy to show that the Kassel A. Smit Memorial Drinking Fountain was dedicated this weekend on the Cary Black Creek Greenway that he ran on almost daily. Ironically, the original dedication date had to be postponed due to flooding of the greenway, but the citywide E. coli scare didn't slow down the rescheduled event. I'm sure this would have made Kassel laugh. On-On!

Special thanks to: Kevin & Theresa Smit, SWH3, SDH3, David Finger of Highwood Properties, Judy Newsome, Doug McRainey, Mary Henderson, and Carolyn Sparano

The 7th-Heaven Festival...

What an interesting concept--seven Utrecht museums stepped outside their walls to transform a former courthouse into a "sultry summer festival." As you can see by this photo, the museums got quite creative. This room was created by the Railway Museum for a much more adult audience than it's usual visitors. It featured four-poster beds where you watched silent films on the ceiling; of course, one featured a damsel tied to the train tracks, but this one was saved by a dog. The Money Museum set up a security system with lasers criss-crossing the room along with a 3-D TV showing treasures. We laid on the ground to watch a movie about the vastness of the universe sponsored by the University Observatory. The girls enjoyed "playing" the grand piano in the Automated Music Machines Museum's room (might sound like a strange theme for a museum, but it's actually very interesting). I really enjoyed the Beatles sing-along. Veronica had so much fun celebrating her birthday, she didn't even complain that we forget to get her a cake.

What Hip Kids We Have...

There's little doubt that our kids will be hipper than we are, although we'll take some credit for taking them to cool places. For Veronica's 9th birthday we trekked to Utrecht to go to The 7th-Heaven Festival after dinner beside the main canal (the restaurants here are actually at the water's edge instead of at street level as in most cities). We ended the evening "silent dancing." As you can see, Veronica's wearing a pair of headphones to hear the DJ's tunes. It was pretty surreal. Everyone was just dancing away, but the room was basically quiet except during songs when folks couldn't resist singing along. Definitely not your average kid's birthday celebration.

Valuable Lessons Learned - Part 4

* If you take canoes out on a windy day, remember that rowing backwards won't get you home. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo after Jimmy and Dave had to flag down a motor boat and beg for a tow home for both canoes. When this photo was taken, Jimmy and Tony intentionally towed the kids into town and back, while Vivynne and I enjoyed a leisurely kid-free bike ride.

* Make sure you have a few extra cold brews in the frig in case you have unexpected visitors such as your rescuers.

Land of Flowers...

While Vivynne and kids were in town, we also visited the Aalsmeer Flower Auction, the largest in the world. Over 22 million flowers and plants are sold daily with annual sales to wholesalers around the world of almost $2 billion. This is a reverse auction with the price falling until someone is willing to pay it. The building itself is almost 1 million square meters, making it the largest 1-story building in the world. Had no idea that the flower biz was so huge, but thankful that prices are very low here so we always have fresh flowers on the table.

They Grow 'Em Tall in Holland...

Holland is rumored to be the tallest nation in the world, but our kids haven't grown enough to tower over windmills. They were very excited to take Max and Ariana, who came home with us for a week following our trip to Sweden, to Madurodam in Den Haag. Although seeing Holland in miniature sounds corny, this park is actually quite cool. Landmarks, churches, airports, ports, etc have been precisely recreated on a 1:25 scale. We especially liked Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport with an underground luggage conveyor belt and the clog factory. The kids are shown here in front of the 1743 De Valk Windmill Museum in Leiden, which we climbed to the top of that week. Although much of the week was rainy, we also managed to visit the Van Gogh Museum, Delft Pottery and the American Pilgrim Museum. The girls really had fun playing tour guides.

A Great Last Day in Sweden...

On our final day in Gothenburg, we went to the Maritiman Museum, which is the world's largest floating museum. Jimmy loved showing us around a Swedish Destroyer, which was similar to the one he served on during Desert Storm. This photo shows us in a 1962 Swedish sub which we had to climb down a hatch to enter.

That evening we headed out of the city by taking the tram near our hotel to the end of the line for a family dinner by the sea. Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera to catch a photo of our best night of the trip. After a delicious seaside dinner, the girls got to go crabbing with some local kids while we watched the sun slowly set over the bay. A great ending to a great day.

Never Been on a Boat Ride Like That...

After 5 days in Stockholm, we took a train to the west coast to Gothenburg for 2 nights. We took one of the traditional open-topped paddan boat trips through 17th century canals in downtown and into the harbor. It was cool seeing a freighter in dry dock, but it was especially cool when we went under the "Cheese Slicer" bridge. When the guide told us to duck, she wasn't kidding.

Love that View!

Stockholm's skyline is beautiful, so we tried to find spots to dine with a view. We found this vegetarian buffet restaurant by accident when the girls needed an emergency potty break after a sushi picnic. They enjoyed eating corn-on-the-cob which is hard to find in Holland, but they especially loved playing on the hammocks. We liked the food and the view so much, we went back by ourselves to celebrate our 13th anniversary as shown here.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Wetsuits...

We managed to escape the hustle of the big city by taking a ferry to Vaxholm, just one of the 24,000 archipelago islands, islets and rocks off of Stockholm (guessing this one is too small to count). Jimmy promised to take the kids swimming; they didn't care that the water was chilly.

We're really fortunate to have such good friends to be able to travel with. The kids get along and behave so well that we actually got them their own room for 4 nights in Stockholm that was down the hall. What a treat! And we weren't even banned from ever going back to the hotel.

A Truly Amazing Museum...

We had heard that the Vasa Museum was impressive, but frankly that's an understatement (and this photo doesn't do it justice). It's shocking when you first see this enormous warship built in 1628 as part of a fleet to battle Poland. It's especially shocking when you realize that it sunk in the harbor just 20 minutes into it's maiden voyage killing at least 30 onboard and sat under 90 feet of water for 333 years. We were surprised to hear that the canons were recovered back in 1669 when divers went down using a diving bell, but then the ship was forgotten about for almost 300 years. As the largest object ever preserved, it was a huge jigsaw puzzle to put back together. If you ever make it to Sweden, seeing the Vasa is a must.

Giggles and Disgust in Sweden...

It doesn't take much to make me laugh and seeing the word "Fart" all over signs in Stockholm, definitely made me giggle. And seeing the words "Fart" and "Hinder" together seemed worthy of a photo especially after discovering that "Fart" is defined in the dictionary as either "Speed" or "Sleeping Police Officer." Gotta love a country that warns you about sleeping cops ahead.

Unfortunately, not everything we saw in Stockholm made me laugh. A visit to the Modern Art Museum left me nauseous. The main exhibit featured an American artist that worked for Playboy for years as a cartoonist. Granted, there was a warning that the exhibit wasn't for sensitive people. Since I've never been accused of being sensitive, I went in and quickly regretted it. While I used to find Playboy cartoons very funny when I was in college sneaking peaks at my boyfriend's father's copies (by the way, the articles were very well written), this artist had moved beyond silly cartoons into solo performance art. I've never been a big fan of censorship, but I would have liked to have met up with the museum curator and hit him upside the head for thinking this repulsive stuff was art.

Where Pacifiers Go to Die...

We were surprised to see pacifiers used as art in the children's zoo at Skansen, the open-air museum. Alex was able to translate a sign and told us that when kids outgrow their pacifiers they can donate them to the zoo as toys for the kittens and to be made into chains to decorate the zoo. It might make for some strange art, but it's a sweet tradition.

More Cute Kids in Sweden...

On our 2nd day in Stockholm, we met up with Vivynne, Tony, Ariana & Max, old friends from Florida. Tony's brother Alex has been living there for a year doing his post-doc, so he played tour guide. This photo was taking at Skansen, which opened in 1891 as the world's first open-air museum. This oversized traditional Swedish horse is based on small wooden toys that are rumored to be originally made in the 1600's out of the cutoff corners left over when making round clock faces.

Check Out These Swedish Babes...

Ok, maybe these aren't the babes you were hoping for, but you have to admit Veronica and Ashlynn in Sweden do look cute. On our first night in Stockholm we were lucky enough to stay in a hotel with a fantastic view and a kiddie playroom with dress-up clothes (this was a great Best Western amazingly enough). The weather was fantastic, but since Sweden is cold much of the year, the bar offers blankets when you're sitting outside watching the sunset. If you're having a hard time placing Ashlynn's costume, she's dressed as Pippi Longstocking, the infamous heroine of books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren.