Flying Into the Finish...

Ironically, Sally, John, Veronica and I almost missed seeing the kids finish because we underestimated how fast they were. Luckily, we got into the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium just as David rounded the final bend before heading to the finish line in 5th place! Our estimations were off by about 3 minutes for Andrew as he came whipping into the finish in 45th place (unfortunately, I didn’t get a good photo).

Frankly, we had no idea what to expect of Ashlynn, who hadn’t run a race in four months. Imagine my surprise when she came flying into the finish with Jimmy nowhere to be seen! Our little 12-year-old came in 302nd out of 4,197 runners (40th woman) with a time of just 37:17 (7:30 minutes/mile), which was 5 minutes faster than last year.

Jimmy actually came in one minute behind Ashlynn. While he could have easily overtaken her at the beginning of the race, he opted to stay with her. However, when she went into passing mode after the halfway point, he couldn’t catch her. Next year he’d like her to start near the front to see what she can do without having to weave around people.

Back to Amsterdam for the 8K...

As usual, David was near the front of the start for the Amsterdam 8K. This year, Andrew decided to join in for his first 8K.

Jimmy decided to use the same strategy as last year: start at the very end so Ashlynn could have the thrill of passing folks. Little did he know that the strategy would slow her down this year.

Speech and Acting Tournament...

Veronica was happy to be on the school’s team for the NESDA (New European Speech, Debate and Acting) Tournament again this year, although she was disappointed that it was at the American School in Wassenaar rather than out of town. As a participant, we had to host two girls from a school in Munich. Luckily we were able to borrow a friend’s car to get the kids to ASH for the two-day event.

Veronica participated in two disciplines. The first was Oral Interpretation, in which she had to read from a published book for 5–7 minutes. As you can see, the judges have their backs to her so that they can consider her voice without the distraction of body language. She chose part of a courtroom scene in To Kill a Mockingbird. During her practices, she kept flipping from a heavy Southern accent into a Cockney accent, so ended up dropping the Southern accent completely.

Her second discipline was Duet Acting, in which she and Ellie performed a 5–7 minute scene with the use of only two chairs and a table as optional props. Despite not making it into the finals, Veronica thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Our Long Search Finally Paid Off...

After searching the rentals listings for over two years, Jimmy found a great house less than one mile from the girls’ school. Unfortunately, it was more than we wanted to spend. Luckily, he had just signed a new 3-year contract at work (which means that Veronica should be able to graduate high school here), so had some negotiating room since the owner was coincidentally looking for a 3-year lease. After we viewed it a second time, this time with the girls, we knew we’d just found our future home.

Beer Tasting While Cruising the Canals...

We couldn’t resist going on another canal cruise with the AWC. Unlike the previous cruise two years ago, we had beautiful sunshine for our 1.5 hour journey around The Hague. Like the earlier cruise, we enjoyed drinking a variety of beers while munching on cheese.

While Amsterdam’s bridges easily accommodate boats, many of The Hague’s are very low and we had to duck a lot. Jimmy found an unusual way to protect his noggin.

A Glimpse of Royalty...

It had been three years since I’d seen the Royal Procession when the Queen rides through the streets of The Hague in her Golden Carriage on her way to open parliament on Prinsjesdag (Prince’s Day on the third Tuesday of September). This year my British friend Jane came along to the American Women’s Club of The Hague’s luncheon at an Indonesian restaurant that has a great view.

This location is ideal to see the Golden Carriage, built in 1898, twice: both on its way to and on the return trip from the Ridderzaal (Knight’s Hall). The carriage has bullet proof glass, but security is still intense with both armed military and police lining the streets.

More Ashlynn Moments...

Ashlynn surprised Sophie with a 13th birthday cake decorated with a field hockey pitch.

Ashlynn always enjoys the school’s European Language Village in late September in honor of European Language Day. Her French teacher was sweet enough to send me this photo from the Italy booth.

Our WWF Runner...

I was excited when I heard from the organizer for the WWF (World Wildlife Federation) team at The Hague’s largest 5K. After Ashlynn’s big win at the kid’s 2.5K race, Lloyd choose to use Ashlynn in the posters for the next year’s race.

Ashlynn and Sophie enjoyed posing with the WWF panda at an expat fair.

An interview with Ashlynn was featured in the kid’s WWF magazine.

Lloyd was so sweet to give Ashlynn a framed version of this poster for the 2013 race.

Our Sporty Girl...

Ashlynn decided to join the school’s Year 8 (7th grade) field hockey team, which is part of a Dutch league near the school. The team practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays and has games on Saturdays.

Luckily her first game was nearby so Jimmy and I could cycle over and watch her in action. I was really touched that Sally and Andrew dropped by after his game at a different sports club. I’d never watched hockey before, so I couldn’t judge her ability, but Andrew said that he was a very dedicated player that wasn’t afraid to keep trying.

Unfortunately, her team lost as they did for all but one of their games in the first half of the season. Luckily, Ashlynn keeps a positive attitude and is just happy to play.

Bronze Expedition...

Last school year, Veronica begun working on her Bronze Award as part of the International Award (which started as the Duke of Edinburgh Award in England). There were several components to the award. For Service, she worked with the school’s environmental committee. For Skill, she started taking singing lessons. For Sport, she played Ultimate Frisbee. The last component was to plan an overnight backpacking trip. Here she is taking her backpack to school for inspection.

Here is the group of 15-year-old girls that journeyed to the woods of the Netherlands near the border with Belgium. They met up with an assessor when they started their hike and again when they hiked out, but otherwise were on their own.

We met Veronica at Den Haag Centraal when she returned from her 25K (15.5 miles) hike. She had a great time! It was quite an adventure, especially for the girls that had never even camped before.

Life Without a Car...

We hit our 7th anniversary in Holland on November 22, which also means we’ve survived 7 years without owning a car. As big users of public transportation, we’ve watched several train stations being transformed over the last few years. Rotterdam Station is just about done and is very impressive. The Hague Station currently has a temporary roof; it will be very interesting to see the new glass roof appear.

After dealing with bad print heads for months, it was finally time to get a new printer just in time for the new school year. Luckily it wasn’t too heavy for Jimmy and Ashlynn to drag along from the big electronics store in Rotterdam on the tram and bus.

Touring an Oil Refinery...

For this year’s World Port Day in Rotterdam, we booked a tour of Shell Pernis oil refinery, Europe’s largest refinery (they process 403,000 barrels of crude oil daily). The tour started with an introductory video at the administrative offices, followed by a bus tour around the site, which has 66 plants with the oldest being built in 1948.

We were surprised to learn that there’s 99,500 miles of pipeline, which is enough to circumvent the globe 4 times. After the tour we enjoyed wandering around to see the exhibits along the riverfront and to watch the helicopter rescue demonstrations.

Back to School...

Less than a week after their return from California, it was time for the girls to head back to school. Luckily it was a nice day so we could get our annual first day of school photos as Veronica starts Year 11 (10th grade) and Ashlynn starts Year 8 (7th grade).

Pampering the Girls...

The girls had a great time sleeping over at Leigh and Mike’s and playing with their new dog Louie. Leigh pampered them by taking them for their first pedicures.

Special Times with Family...

Of course, besides hanging out in the pool and going shopping, the girls also spent a lot of time with my family. Here they are going out to celebrate Veronica’s 15th and Ann’s birthday (Ann is wearing the scarf that we bought her in Morocco).

Eden joined them for lunch at a Japanese restaurant in Cupertino and later had a sleepover.

Leigh and Mike took the girls to a wine and art festival in Mountain View. The girls were thrilled to buy me a bracelet and earrings to match a necklace I already had made out of a bicycle chain.

I can’t even begin to express how happy I am that Dad and Ann want to spend time with the girls. I can only hope that Jimmy and I are lucky enough to have such a special relationship with our own grandchildren someday.

More Animals...

Dad and Ann also took the girls to the Monterey Aquarium, which they hadn’t been to since they were little. They especially liked the jellyfish exhibit.

They also thought this sign was pretty funny.

15th Birthday Safari...

For Veronica’s 15th birthday, Dad and Ann took the girls to Safari West. It might not be Africa, but they drove around the California countryside in a jeep and saw a large variety of animals. The girls were greatly surprised and thought it was an amazing experience. 

Off to California, Again...

Two days after we returned from England, I took the girls to Schiphol so they could catch a flight to California (their grandparents had generously bought them tickets for the third time). We had some time to kill and noticed that this cool sculpture was out front, so we took some photos.