Scouting Trail by Boat...

After lunch, we were picked up by boat by Derek and Abbie in order to scout trail for the upcoming Boaty McBoat Hash that Jimmy would be haring with Derek providing floating beer breaks along the way.

One of the beer breaks would be at this quaint waterfront garden on a sleepy canal.

While searching for other beer break locations, we passed this houseboat with several crazy wine bottle sculptures on the roof...

...this interesting building under construction...

...and the old Shell building which is now an entertainment center with rooftop swings that Veronica and Billy went on in April.

We felt especially small when we went past this enormous cruise ship.

It was cool to see how different the back of Amsterdam Centraal looks from the water...

...versus from the sidewalk. All-in-all, a very productive scouting trip and fun boat journey.

Exploring Amsterdam...

In late July, Jimmy and I headed to Amsterdam so Andrea could give me some training on how to file sales tax returns for Jimmy’s new sole proprietorship. Afterwards, we walked to Hannekes Boom, a funky bar near Amsterdam Centraal. Along the way, we saw this cute mermaid planter box...

...and this crazy ladder sculpture balanced off the roof of a building.

We also saw this guerrilla marketing message from the city geared to remind tourists not to buy drugs from street dealers. Perhaps they should also remind them to visit coffee shops instead?

Check out this classy front step with a beer can-sized gap underneath.

We were thrilled that Melissa and Pieter could meet us for lunch at Hannekes Boom during their babymoon in Amsterdam.

Having heard their big news when we visited in December (long before Melissa was actually showing), it was really great to see her before their baby’s arrival.

Turned out that we saw them in the nick of time as little Norah was born in early August, less than two weeks later. 

Sailing in the Markemeer...

It was a beautiful day on the water and the rain held off until early evening.

Although there’s no photographic evidence, I eventually worked up the nerve to sit out on the netting with Jimmy and Dixie.

While Jimmy was helpful with tacking and hoisting sails...

....I mostly tried to stay out of the way while capturing some cool shots.

Dixie spent much of the afternoon down below where she cuddled up with the storage bags for the sails. Hannah and Austin were spending the night on the boat, but we had to get back to our own pooch that night after we enjoyed dinner at the harbor.

First Time on a Trimaran...

Jimmy and I were thrilled when Austin and Hannah invited us for a day of sailing on their trimaran, which is stored at a dock in Lelystad, north of Amsterdam. I was nervous that I’d have to spend the day on netting, but there was plenty of space to sit in the cockpit.

Their dog Dixie was ready for a day on the water. Notice that her life preserver has a handle on the back, which came in handy as she fell in while we were still at the dock.

Jimmy enjoyed scrambling along the edges of the netting to help untie us from the dock.

Hannah and Austin both sailed competitively while in college, so they are very sure-footed.

Giving Back...

The following week, Ashlynn worked on the hockey pitch and basketball court while another group helped to build a classroom (the Kenyan government will pay for an additional teacher for each additional classroom built). What an amazing effort for all these privileged kids to have the opportunity to help less privileged children get a better education. 

Here’s the whole gang...

...and here you can see the progress made on the administration building over the two weeks.

Our Little Construction Worker...

On the Monday, the group was driven to Ndege Primary School where there was a school assembly for the team to be introduced to the 800 students. 

Ashlynn was on the team working on a new administration building for four days.

Local workers worked side-by-side with the kids. Here they are mixing cement...

...and hauling rocks to build the walls.

Ashlynn found the work really satisfying

First Weekend in Kenya...

After a long journey, the kids finally arrived at Kembu Campsite on a dairy farm in Njoro in the Rift Valley of Kenya, where they would be staying for two weeks. Ashlynn shared a tent with Ellie.

The teachers stayed in this cottage where group meals were served and the group chilled in the evenings. Each day they had a full buffet breakfast, a packed lunch, and a three-course dinner. Ashlynn stayed vegetarian, but it was difficult to stay fully vegan. She said the food was really good, but she felt guilty knowing they were eating much better than the locals.

The group walked along inactive railroad tracks to tour the area.

In addition to cows, the farm also raised race horses.

While the teachers had flush toilets, the kids roughed it a bit with this outdoor toilet when they didn’t feel like walking to the shower and toilet block.

Off to Kenya...

Two days after I left for France, Ashlynn left for Kenya with 27 other BSN students and 5 teachers. Incredibly, over the last year the team raised over €40,000! Here is our beautiful daughter stopping her father from taking a nice photo of her.

At least she was willing to smile in a photo with Georgia and Mich...

...and this large group shot taken at Schiphol Airport before going through security. She’d be gone for three weeks with zero communication with us as cell phones were prohibited. Ben, the lead organizer of the trip, would occasionally post photos on a Twitter account and would send a text about every three days to one parent who would forward it to the rest of us.

Beautiful Moroccan Design...

Since I was last there, Terri had renovated the building up the hill into a Moroccan oasis. The spa looked very inviting with spectacular views of the Mediterranean, but we never got around to using it.

Her carpenter performed miracles of integrating Moroccan doors into functional closets.

Between photos that she’d taken on her visit to Morocco to beautiful lamps and hardware, there was a lot of Terri’s personal touches on this house and I loved everything about it.

Sadly, this is the only photo of just the two of us. What a wonderful week with a great friend!

When I arrived home I was shocked to see candles lit and rose petals tossed around. Jimmy wasn’t just happy to have me home: he had woken up thinking it was our anniversary which in fact wasn’t until six days later.

Recycled into Art...

Since I was last in their house, there were several new pieces of art that I really liked. These four are especially cool as they were all made of recycled materials. This hammerhead shark was made from a Formula One race car.

This lion was made from tires...

...and so was this zebra.

And this rainbow Apple symbol was painted on top of floppy discs.