Back in Holland...

After a brief stop in Brussels for dinner and to see the infamous Manneken Piss, I was happy to show Holly around our neck of the woods for four days. We spent one day cycling around The Hague, including out to the beach, Panorama Mesdag, and Mauritshuis. We also cycled one evening for dinner with my family by the tiny lock on the Vliet in Leidschendam. Another day we took the girls with us to Leiden to walk the pretty town and visit a few museums (you see them here doing an archeologist workshop at the Antiquities Museum with an authentic Egyptian temple in the background). We also took the new tram service from Leidschendam to Delft to visit the churches and have lunch along a canal. How great it was to share my favorite spots with my oldest friend.

Where the Wild Things Are...

Camden Market was quite a sight to see. Not only are the people here very colorful—clothes, hair, tattoos—but there’s a huge variety of colorful food and things to buy. In addition to very interesting people watching, there is the locks to visit. Our timing was perfect to see both sets of locks in motion adjusting the water height to allow boats to pass. Holly got yelled out for taking a photo of a couple of punks in mohawks. Guessing this fellow was expecting to get his photo taken.

A Girl's Weekend in London...

I was so excited when I found out that Holly, my oldest friend from 3rd grade, was going to come over for a visit. She’d never been to Europe before and her husband couldn’t get away, so she came over by herself for a quick eight-night trip. As soon as school got out for the summer and I could drop off Ashlynn at home, I set off for the Eurostar from Brussels to travel under the Chunnel. We met at the hotel in Earls Court and headed for a great traditional British pot pie at the pub across the street. We spent much of our weekend trying to visit spots that I hadn’t been to yet. Here you see us on the London Eye and Westminster Abbey, which was quite spectacular but wouldn’t allow photos inside. We also went to Kensington Palace, the Tower Bridge exhibition and the British Museum.

Our One-of-a-Kind World Cup Celebration...

We had already planned on haring a Dutch Treat Family Hash and having a pool party on Sunday, July 11. When the Dutch team made it to the World Cup Finals in South Africa, we had to figure out a way to show the game. Luckily we were able to borrow a projector and Jimmy managed to set up a screen at the end of the pool. A bunch of Amsterdam hashers joined us as they didn’t want to be anywhere near Amsterdam and the chaos surrounding the game. What a great disappointment when the game went into overtime and the Dutch lost to Spain 1-0.

Catching Orange Fever...

The girls really got into World Cup this year. In fact, the whole family really got into it; I even went to a Dutch cafe to watch a game during school hours. Here you see the girls wearing the infamous Heineken hats celebrating after the win during the semi-finals. Just before the final game, Veronica sprayed her pigtails orange.

Our Little Runner...

Ashlynn was invited to be one of the five 4th Grade girls invited to take place in a sports day between the three local campuses of our school. She was really disappointed when she found out that her request to run the sprints was turned down and she was to run the 400K and 800K instead. She did well in the 400K, but came in 2nd in the 800K (a 5th Grader won). Her coach was convinced that she would have won if it were a longer distance as she was just hitting her stride. Looks like she takes after her daddy!

Homegrown Solar Heating...

Having a swimming pool in a country where it’s rarely warm is silly. Having a swimming pool without a heater in a country where it’s rarely warm is foolish. Jimmy looked into buying a heater, but prices started at €4,000. Since it’s not our house or our pool, spending that much would be beyond foolish. So, Jimmy put on his inventor’s hat and tried to figure out a way to warm the water using the few sunny days we do have. He came up with a design using plywood, irrigation tubing, plexiglass and a pump. Still not sure if it was his solar system or Mother Nature, but he pool warmed up enough in July for me to float in it for the first time.