Reflections on our 1st Year - Part 2

(Apparently Blogger isn't fond of my long lists of highs and lows, so I've split them up)

Highs:

* Travel
*Chateau with friends at Easter
* Fulfilling Veronica's dream to see the Colosseum, eating the best ice cream in the world
* Pompeii
* Vasa Museum in Sweden with Ariana & Max
* Caves in Luxembourg
* Indoor skiing in Maastricht
* Getting lost on the beach in Valencia, Spain
* Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Marks & Spencer picnics in London
* Mudrucking along the Thames in London and the beach in Ischia, Italy
* Making new friends, especially Hannah, Ma'ayan, David and Andrew
* School including learning, going on field trips and science investigations
* Getting cute British accents
* Living on the river--canoeing into Leiden, diving off the dock, watching the boats go by
* Lowering our carbon footprint--1 year without a car!
* Morning chaos getting on trains and trams
* New foods--yogurt drinks, pannekoeken, poffertjes, uitsmijters, oliebollen (oil balls), Old Amsterdam cheese, Sultana crackers, loempia
* Fantastic museums
* 6 weeks of PAID vacation
* Grandpa & Grandma's visit was solid quality time--we were sad when they left (although Ashlynn didn't miss Grandpa's "blah, blah, blah" radio programs on the computer)
* Leiden market
* Ice skating on outdoor rinks
* Riding bikes
* Starting the Dutch Treat Family Hash
* Non-dubbed US TV & uncut movies with few commercials
* Living outside the US bubble (other than TV & consumerism afforded by having an APO box)
* Windmills
* Flowers--biking through the tulip fields
* 7th Heaven Festival and silent headphone dancing
* Throwing messages in a bottle off the ferry to England
* Brielle and Leiden Liberation Festivals
* Queen's Birthday and Prinsjesdag
* Grandpa reading to Ashlynn's class
* Adjusting to our new lifesytle
* Starting a blog