Reflections on our 5th Year - Part 1

Five years ago yesterday, November 22, Jim met our flight and helped us drag all our luggage out to our temporary home, the Boulevard Hotel, where we began our adventure of living in Europe. Jim has since moved on and we don’t live in a hotel apartment anymore, but we once again trekked out to Scheveningen to go to the Italian restaurant where we dined that first night in Holland. As part of our tradition, we reflected on the highs and lows of our 5th year. We’re very thankful that our list of lows was again short:

• Missing the Langs (back to Aberdeen in May) and the Busches (repatriated to DC in September).
• Suffering through a month of ice from mid-December to mid-January.
• Jimmy’s travel schedule decreased, but his hours heavily increased with lots of late nights and weekends.
• We’re happy the insurance company picked up much of the tab and we found a great contractor, but it was very stressful having to coordinate a complete renovation from afar after our home in Cary was heavily damaged by flooding in January.
• Bummed that the Dutch football team choked in the World Cup Final.
• Difficult being so far away while my sister was suffering with an illness, but thrilled about her recovery.
• Stupid preventable moments: Being scammed at the Delhi train station. Melissa crashing her bike and injuring her ankle. Jimmy losing two iTouches.

Fun at the Boardwalk...

Ashlynn has become completed obsessed with amusement parks. When Leigh and Mike invited them over for the night and asked what they wanted to do, it wasn’t a surprise that Ashlynn asked if they could find some good roller coasters. Being the nice aunt and uncle that they are, they drove to Santa Cruz and took the girls to the Boardwalk where they had a great time. The Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster was built in 1924 and provided plenty of thrills.

Seeing Family and Friends...

In addition to spending time with my parents, they got to see my sister Eden several times. Here you see them at Trader Joe’s. Eden’s hand is resting on Veronica as it is heavily weighed down by her new engagement ring (she’s getting married on December 7). My parents hosted a birthday party to celebrate all the summer birthdays in our family. I was thrilled that several of the friends we made in Holland that have relocated back to California were able to join them. How sweet of Darlene and Mike to visit with my family when I wasn’t even there. The girls had a great time with Hannah and Tenaya, who recently repatriated from Japan to start school in California.

We Now Own a Teenager...

Having a summer birthday just four days after mine has had strange implications for Veronica over the years. For her 1st birthday party, we hosted a wine tasting. Then for her 2nd, we had a beer tasting (you can see where this is going). It wasn’t until her 5th that she got her own party. She then got parties pretty regularly until we moved to Holland when she was 8. Since then, not only does she rarely get a party, but we don’t have a very good track record of celebrating her birthday with her. Luckily, she’s been spoiled rotten by my parents the two summers that she was there without us (2008 and 2010) and the one summer that we got a hall pass to go to San Diego (2007). We’re fortunate that she has such an easygoing disposition and just enjoys life as it is. Here’s hoping she stays that way!

Quality Time with Grandparents...

We’re so fortunate that my parents are so generous (both with plane tickets and their time) and wanted to have the girls visit again this summer. The girls happily boarded the 747 to head to California for 2.5 weeks. While we were on our cycling trip, they enjoyed the pool in my parent’s sunny yard and getting out and about (visiting the wonderful new Science Museum in Golden Gate Park, going to the beach twice, picnicking at Grandpa’s outdoor jazz concert, paddle boating at a nearby lake, eating sushi and Vietnamese noodles, going to the movies, and shopping till they dropped).
Veronica had the privilege of practicing piano on a Steinway Grand. She brought some duet music so she could play with Grandpa. While I’m clearly not musically gifted, I’m thrilled that Veronica’s showing promise and can play with my dad.

A Behind-the-Scenes Tour...

I’ve know Abbie from the Amsterdam Hash for several years. It finally dawned on me that I should invite her to come speak at the American Women’s Club about her career as a freelance art restorer who specializes in paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. I was thrilled that she agreed to give a presentation; she’s a dynamic speaker and the response was fantastic by all who attended. I felt very honored that she gave me a tour of her restoration studio at the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem. Here’s the latest painting she’s been working on for months: Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen’s The Capture of Damiate from 1628.
I’d never been to the Frans Hals Museum before and really enjoyed it. I especially loved this painting: Allegory on the Tulip Trade by Jan Breughel II in 1640. It is a satire of tulip mania that hit 17th century Holland with monkeys representing the tulip dealers.

Great Seeing Old Friends...

While it was disappointing coming home early from our cycling vacation, we were happy to be back in time to get to spend some time with Raleigh friends Jason and Lauren, who were in the country for Jason’s father’s 70th birthday. Coen and Anneka were still suffering from jet lag on their first overseas journey, but we managed to have a nice dinner and spent some time the next day in the park near our house. Veronica and Ashlynn were bummed to miss them by a few days, but hopefully they’ll swing back through again someday.