Pier 39...

In addition to surprising Ann with Ashlynn’s arrival, we surprised her with a trip to Alcatraz for her birthday. Rather than hassle with driving to San Francisco and finding parking, we took the train and tram. 

Our first stop was Pier 39 to grab some lunch. I was thrilled to find a Boudin Bakery, bakers of my favorite sourdough bread, where I was happy to gobble up clam chowder in a bread bowl. 

Then we ventured to the end of the pier to see the California sea lions...

...and visit the Sea Lion Center. 

I used to really love Pier 39 as a kid, but now find it quite tacky.

From Napa to Martinez...

We all thoroughly enjoyed our visit to The Hess Collection, but after seeing the high price of their wine tastings, we left without even trying any of their wines.

The scenery was lovely on the way to our next stop, which was the Rutherford Grill for an early dinner of “modern American comfort food.”

When I realized that we would be passing through Martinez on our drive home, I contacted Darlene to see if she would be home so we could stop by. As you can see, she and Mike were home, so we dropped in for a quick visit.

Luckily I would get to spend more time with her when she stayed with us for two nights in September on her way home from Italy.

The Hess Collection...

Another day Dad drove us to Napa to visit The Hess Collection, a free contemporary art museum at Hess Winery. Donald Hess, a Swiss entrepreneur and wine producer at six wineries on four continents, limits himself to collecting works by living artists whom he supports long term. This was my favorite piece, Hommage by Leopaldo Maler from Argentina. This old Underwood typewriter emitting flames in the place of words is the same style as used by his uncle who was assassinated for the honesty of his political essays.

Behind Ashlynn you might be able to barely see that there is a work of art. Using no adhesives or hardware, the 10-by-16 foot screen titled Surface Tension by British environmental sculptor Andy Goldsworthy is a network of chestnut leaf stalks held together with hawthorn thorns. Rock Pools might look like giant cow patties, but is actually stones melted in a kiln.

Dad and Ann were especially drawn to this mixed media painting combining oil paint, clay, sand, straw and lead by German artist Anselm Kiefer.

A Lunar Eclipse in a Forest by Japanese sculptor Katsura Funakoshi was particularly creepy.

This was one of five sculptures as part of the Ugazi group by South African Deryck Healey.

While Ashlynn has said many times that she doesn’t like going to art museums, she was definitely mesmerized by several of the works in this fascinating gallery.

We were surprised to learn that this was not actually a photograph, but rather a photo-realistic painting called Johanna II by Swiss artist Franz Gertsch.

Allied Arts...

One afternoon Ann took us to Allied Arts in Menlo Park, dating from 1929 as a serene and beautiful place for artists to work.

The gardens, inspired by gardens that the original owners had visited in Spain, were especially lovely to stroll through.

Reflections on our 12th Year - Part 2...

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows:

• Family Travel: Paris - Christmas markets, in search of art; Frankfurt - great time visiting Melissa and Pieter, Kati was very well behaved on her first vacation and especially enjoyed going urbexing at abandoned military barracks in Leige
• Jimmy/Melissa/Ashlynn Travel: Montenegro - loved picturesque Budva, going clubbing together, scuba diving, delicious dinners on the beach, napping on a beach bed while Ashlynn studied
• Jimmy/Veronica Travel: England - visited Birmingham when Veronica volunteered at Big Bang Festival, science show in London, Shitfaced Shakespeare
• Melissa/Ashlynn Travel: California - surprising Ann with Ashlynn’s arrival and taking her to Alcatraz for her birthday, multiple birthday parties, hanging out with Dad
• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: England - helped Veronica move to Acton in West London, great fun having lunch with her at GSK, enjoyed staying with Seanette in Richmond, loved seeing Kinky Boots; Belgium - great time at our first Belgium Nash Hash Weekend; Montenegro - enjoyed an unexpected afternoon in Belgrade after a flight delay, lots of fun at the Montenegro Nash Hash with Jimmy laying an impromptu hangover trail; Netherlands - Jimmy running a cocktail bar and being lead hare at the Dutch Nash Hash weekend
• Jimmy Travel: Geneva - incredible to see CERN up close and learn more about the project from a hasher that works there during the CERN Hash Weekend
• Melissa Travel: Grimaud - incredibly relaxing week hanging out with Terri and Chris, amazing boat trip, fun running with Terri for the first time; Ardennes - fun stay in a yurt for a hash camping weekend in the Ardennes mountains of Belgium
• Veronica Travel: Prague - first holiday with boyfriend, visiting the castle, hike in the countryside, amazing vegan Czech food, exploring underground bar and dancing; Lakes District - field course for social research
• Ashlynn Travel: Kenya - safari, meeting sweet Mishel at the school, Scottish dancing, getting drunk, making new friends, trekking in a rainforest in the dark; Disney Paris - fantastic long weekend celebrating Sophie’s 18th birthday; Belgium - Back again to Pukkelpop Music Festival, dancing in the boiler house until 4:00 a.m.
• Visitors: we started the New Year with three of Veronica’s uni friends and later hosted her boyfriend Billy; Anna had the distinction of not only being our first visitor to see a royal, but she saw the king and queen on one day and then the queen again the following day; we were so honored that Melissa and Pieter made a special trip up so we could meet adorable Norah; Jason, Lauren, Coen and Anneka were only with us for 24 hours, but we managed to squeeze in a lot including going to a windmill and Madurodam; it took us over 13 years, but we finally got Steve to join us on a hash on which he loved seeing new parts of Amsterdam; was also thrilled that Darlene could stop by on her way home from Italy; hosting Ola and Nick for Thanksgiving
• We all love our new house!
• Happy to have Veronica home for her 20th birthday and surprising her with going ziplining at Scheveningen Pier
• Proud Parents: Veronica received Cann Prize for best performance by second year student within Environmental Science, Ashlynn received fantastic predicted grades leading to many offers from universities
• Jimmy: enjoying opportunity to solve global scale problem for innovation for defense and security in Europe; surfing and scuba diving with Ashlynn; throwing own going away party; on last day at NATO, walked out of the gate with Lee and Davinder, popped champagne cork and never looked back; leaving NATO = rebirth; discovering art of making cocktails; getting back into his running groove; loves his new iPad; haring Boaty McBoat Hash
• Melissa: helping build part of a meerkat sculpture in Wassenaar, boating with Austin and Hannah, Leiden Boat Parade, Gay Pride Boat Parade, Urban Trail in The Hague
• Veronica: going fully vegan, moving to West London after being offered an Industrial Placement position at GSK, GIS project, Science journal subscription, organized Go Green Week plus first vegan/vegetarian fair at UEA, attending International World Water Week Conference in Amsterdam and seeing the Dutch Prime Minister speak, visiting GSK factories, joining London City Voices choir, Billy’s graduation brunch at the Shard, visiting Kew Gardens, Pimp My Barrow in Norwich, passing all exams, outdoor screening of Grease, sustainability team at GSK, Frisbee tournaments, volunteering at Vegfest in London, exploring London with Billy, meeting Billy’s family and going to his grandfather’s 80th birthday party
• Ashlynn: loving her subjects at school, fun fashion shoots (although orange hair dye did not wash out as fast as anticipated), happy Sophie could watch fashion show at Amsterdam Fashion Week, hosting cocktail party, upgrading to a double bed, rock climbing gym with Jimmy, joining Eco Committee and organizing Earth Hour, getting resolution passed at THIMUN (The Hague International Mock United Nations) and continuing to help next year group as part of Super Six, revision buddies

Reflections on our 12th Year - Part 1....

Our 12th Anniversary of living in the Netherlands was on November 22, but our celebration was delayed until December 22 so Veronica could join us. As per our tradition, we stopped at the Royal Christmas Fair in the city center and then had dinner at La Lanterna in Scheveningen, the same restaurant where we ate on our first night 12 years ago. Also continuing our tradition, we made a list of our highs and lows over the last year. As usual, here are our lows first:

• Having to move unexpectedly out of our house of 4.5 years during the craziest year of our lives
• No family vacation in 2017
• Having to start over immigration process as of July 1 due to our status change; now we can only be self-employed
• TRUMP
• Jimmy: no chance to do a mental cleanse after his job ended by going on a running trip in the Lakes District, couldn’t find a path into the renewable energy industry, injuring arm
• Melissa: regrets not taking a break after stepping down as Editor and before taking on Treasurer position, freaking out about Jimmy’s job situation, washing machine being in the disconnected garage at the new house, Kati being terrified of firecrackers and dog walkers
• Veronica: wishing she had a closer connection with her London housemates, Sherlock ending, missing out on trip to Montenegro with family, no Ultimate Frisbee opportunities in London, missing uni friends, losing a best friend
• Ashlynn: Andrew leaving for uni, not learning anything new in Food Technology course, not as close with her Project Africa friends as she’d hoped once they returned to school

Family Photos...

It didn’t take long before Ann took us shopping. She bought Ashlynn this adorable summer dress as well as a gown for her Graduation Ball (you’ll have to wait to see that dress featured after the dance).

 

Here we are dressed up to go out for the first of two delicious Japanese dinners. 

Glad we managed to get these good family shots as we failed to even try again.

Japanese food always makes both of us smile.

A Big Surprise in California...

Between Jimmy’s and Veronica’s changes in employment, we didn’t get to take a family vacation in 2017. At least Ashlynn and I got some family time with my parents at the end of August. Dad was in on it, but there was a long awkward pause after I arrived at San Francisco Airport while Ashlynn waited to surprise Ann. Luckily Ann didn’t get suspicious and was completely shocked when Ashlynn appeared.

The weather was fantastic for our entire stay and we enjoyed eating a lot of meals outside including this lovely snack on our first day.

Eden was also surprised by Ashlynn when Dad took us out for a delicious Korean lunch, our first of many international meals: Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese. As usual, Ann rummaged through her closet to give me some of her wonderful clothes, including this cute outfit.

There is no doubt that Ashlynn thrives on warm weather. She was thrilled to finally get to wear this shirt from our friend Melissa featuring her favorite saying from Tanzania.

Time to Surf...

The following day, Jimmy took Ashlynn and her buddy Stas surfing at Scheveningen. I just happened to be in town for some AWC business, so I went down to the beach to see them in action.

As you can see, I didn’t catch too many great photos nor did they catch too many waves, but they had a lot of fun.

A Fun Birthday Surprise...

 Like her Daddy, Ashlynn let go.

If Veronica did as well, there’s no photographic evidence.

 These big smiles prove that the girls also loved it.

Afterwards we had some lunch and then took Veronica to the airport so she could fly back to London. We are so relieved that she lives close enough for us to see her every few months.

Family Ziplining...

We felt bad that we dragged Veronica to a hash on her birthday and that her sister wasn’t even in town, so we decided to splurge and get her an exciting birthday surprise that we could all enjoy: ziplining on the pier in Scheveningen. If you look closely, you can see the two wires coming out of the tower in the background.

The girls had us go first from the 180-foot (55-meter) high platform. 

The wire extended .20 miles (350 meters) over the North Sea and back along the pier with speeds up to 50 mph (80 kph). It was awesome! It should be no surprise that Jimmy let go...

...while I held on tightly. Silly Jimmy should have changed into jeans after his run to the beach so that I could have shared his solo photo, but I figured it was better to spare everyone.

We came in for an easy landing upon a platform on the top level of the pier. As there was no way to photograph each other, we were glad that the photo package wasn’t outrageously expensive.

Pizza on the Grill...

The next day, Ashlynn arrived home and we hosted Sally, John, David and Andrew for pizzas cooked on the BBQ.

Later, Veronica and David played with Jimmy’s new iPad...

...while Ashlynn and Andrew took a nap. I know these photos aren’t especially exciting, but we have to savor the time together with our two families whenever we can.

Birthday Celebrations...

Just before Ashlynn left for Pukkelpop, she and Jimmy helped me celebrate my 54th birthday by going to the Cool Japan exhibit in Leiden.

That weekend Veronica flew home to celebrate her 20th birthday with us. We had already committed to going to a FILTH Hash in Hillegom ending at Celine and Richard’s new house, so we dragged her along on her birthday.

To make matters worse, we bought her new shoes just before heading to the run.

In normal hash tradition that means she would have had to drink out of her new shoes, but she opted to join Jimmy in drinking out of his new shoes instead.

Of course, her parents had to drink with her for being so mean as to bring her hashing on her birthday in the first place. At least we helped make it memorable.