Voorschoten’s Fastest Woman...

This particular race has an extra category for prizes: fastest man and woman from the local village. While Ashlynn was actually the 6th woman overall, she was the first woman from Voorschoten so got to go on the podium. In addition to the lovely bouquet, she received a medal and a €35 gift certificate from a women’s clothing shop.

Kati enjoyed her moment on the podium.

David also got on the podium as the 3rd man with another PR. Andrew also got a PR and was the fastest boy under 15. These kids are getting seriously fast!

I finally took a photo of Ashlynn on her beautiful Dutch omafiets (grandma bike).

Another Personal Record...

The Voorschoten Loop was the week following the CPC. Check out Ashlynn sprinting into the finish line for her best time yet of 19:02 (6:08 mile/minute), improving an impressive 0:35 since the previous week.

She came in 6th woman and 1st girl under 15.

The Girls in Print...

Veronica appeared in a local newspaper after volunteering to collect food at a nearby grocery store on behalf of the Foodbank. The usual initials for the school is BSN, but apparently the Dutch call it BS instead.

We cracked up when we found out that the WWF is using an old photo of Ashlynn in a large poster at a hair salon in The Hague.

Veronica’s First 10K...

Veronica’s usually runs around 9K for her training runs, so she figured it was time to try her first 10K race and Jimmy was happy to join her.

I was worried it would be hard to spot them amongst the 9,700 runners, but Jimmy’s Hawaiian shirt definitely made him stand out.

Funny that Veronica managed to spot Ashlynn and me, but Jimmy didn’t notice us.

Veronica was all smiles for the race photographer as she passed the finish line at 57:55. Next step is to run her first half marathon.

PR’s at this Year’s CPC...

What a difference a year can make! Temps were around freezing last year and this year it was surprisingly warm.

How exciting it was to watch David, Andrew and Ashlynn all get personal records in the 5K. David came in 4th out of 5,249 with a 15:52.

Andrew came in 34th with his fastest time yet of 18:15.

I was so impressed that Ashlynn took 30 seconds off of her previous record to get a 19:37 (6:19 mile/minute) as the 11th woman and 75th runner. She definitely earned her all-you-can-eat sushi lunch.

Hosting AWC Dinner Club...

It was our turn to host the AWC Dinner Club in early March with seven guests.

There was a lovely sunset on the canal in front of our house.

Although it was a bit chilly, Jimmy decided that we should eat the appetizers brought by two of the couples next to the canal while he cooked the paella.

I think everyone was happy that the main course and dessert was served inside. I must confess that I was surprised that this group was so much fun! Unfortunately, we could never find a date that worked for another dinner before summer.

Interesting Sights in The Hague...

The roads were blocked off near the AWC over two weeks in advance of the Nuclear Security Summit, which welcomed 58 world leaders including President Obama. Jimmy was pleased that his morning commute to work was timed perfectly to witness Obama’s motorcade pass under a bike bridge. The girls were pleased that the many road closures resulted in school closing for two days. I was relieved that there were no terrorist attacks.

 I just love this statue of eating herring.

I was bummed to see the iconic Scheveningen Pier shuttered closed after no buyers stepped forward to save it after bankruptcy of the main tenant.

After massive flooding in parts of the UK, much of which was blamed on the lack of dredging of the waterways, I was happy to see that the Dutch continue to regularly dredge the canals.

Beach Hut Construction...

For the first time, I actually managed to get to Scheveningen Beach in time to witness the beach huts being constructed. What an amazing construction project! The pieces of each restaurant are stored in shipping containers on farms over the winter and then rebuilt each spring.

I’m always amazed by the elaborate decorations in the restaurants. Check out the size of the vase that was about to be placed near a restaurant entrance.

This hut was already fully set up and full of customers on this chilly, but sunny day in early March.

The Necropolis...

Sally, John and I made one final stop before heading to the house at the Necropolis de Maipes, a lava field from 3,000 years ago that the indigenous Guanches used to build burial mounds.

This model in the archaeological museum depicted the construction of the tombs, which once numbered around 700.

Another great trip with great friends came to an end. In a way, it was also the end of an era as David heads off to university next year. Here’s hoping we can still manage to pull off family vacations together for years to come!

Another Great Hike...

Success!

While they never did manage to find a path to the waterfall that we’d viewed all week from the house, they did successfully find a smaller waterfall.

Silly Ashlynn and Jimmy didn’t let the cold water scare them away.

Final Day of Hiking...

Veronica captured this beautiful rainbow over Agaete early in their hike.

They took a different path determined to finally make it to a waterfall.

Agaete Revisited...

We were fortunate on our final day that the owner allowed us to stay in the house until it was time to leave for our evening flight. Once again, we split up with Jimmy joining the kids. John drove us back to Agaete so we could walk along the waterfront.

Like Galdar, Agaete had natural swimming pools.