The Lions Roar...

Veronica has done a fantastic job recruiting friends into Ultimate Frisbee. Out of ten girls in her class, seven are now playing on Friday afternoons (although due to bad weather, they’ve only played twice in 2011). It’s quite an international group with two Brits, one Dutch, one Romanian, one Algerian, one Uzbekistani and one American. They were split into two teams for the tournament with the more experienced players beating the newer players.
The BSN Grey Lions dominated their competition in the Under 15s throughout the tournament despite David having a bad knee after falling during a recent cross-country race. They went into the finals in first place, but weren’t able to continue their lead over the Dutch Tigers and ended up with second place medals.

Ashlynn Loves Ultimate!

Ashlynn got another chance to be team captain of BSN Green--this time at the Junior National Indoor Ultimate Frisbee Tournament in Amsterdam. Unlike the last tournament where they were in the Under 15s, this time they were in the Under 12s so they played against kids that were closer to their age and size including two other teams from their school. In one way, it wasn’t as challenging as the outdoor tournament as they played less games and had substitutes to give them a break, but they were constantly sprinting because they were playing on only a third of a court. They were thrilled to go home with 2nd place medals.

Carnival, Dutch Style...

After finding out about the parade, I checked online to see if there were any other Carnival activities. There was mention of a ceremony with the King and Queen in downtown Leidschendam, so I headed there to check it out. A band was playing and people were lined up around the main canal waiting for the King and his two Queens to climb aboard a basket to be lifted high above the crowds by a giant crane.
I sure was surprised when the crane lowered the basket into the cold water of the Vliet. The occupants had good spirits as they continued to dance and wave as they were dunked several times. No idea what the significance of this was, but it sure was entertaining.

Carnival in Holland...

We knew that the Catholic regions of southern Holland celebrate Carnival, but were completely surprised to find out that there was a Carnival parade right on our street. Granted it only took 10 minutes for the entire parade to pass by, but it was very cute. Jimmy missed out because he was in Valkenburg scouting trail for Eurohash in May. Although he was tempted to go to nearby Maastricht, known for a major Carnival celebration, he opted to head home instead.

Getting Braces...

When Veronica was two-years-old, we took her to for dental x-rays because she appeared to be missing a baby tooth. The dentist said, “There’s bad news and worse news: she’s missing one baby tooth, but two adult teeth.” So, we’ve known for a long time that Veronica would need braces to fill in those holes. On March 2nd, she went to the orthodontist to get braces on her top teeth. The glue is a lovely blue.
The orthodontist had just switched to a new system that doesn’t use rubber bands, so since she couldn’t have wacky colors in her mouth, she chose to get white brackets; you can see that they are much less noticeable than the standard silver. Luckily, she hasn’t had much pain; unluckily, in less than two weeks, she already managed to break off her first bracket while eating a bagel.

Giant Porthole...

The train was overflowing with passengers. One chick thought we should have to sit with our suitcases on our laps so she wouldn’t have to stand, but luckily her boyfriend was more reasonable considering we were already sitting with our backpacks on our laps. In comparison, the new Harwich to Hoek van Holland ferry seemed empty and luxurious. While I knew that our 3-person room would have a porthole, we were very surprised to discover how huge it was. Ashlynn wanted to sleep against the window; Veronica was afraid that we’d hit a wave and Ashlynn would smash against the window and fall out. I told Ashlynn she had to get permission from customer service. The Dutch fellow there must have thought we were nuts. He said they provided beds for sleeping and that it would be too cold in the porthole. Needless to say, whenever Ashlynn was awake, she was lying on the windowsill.
It’s hard to take a photo of a ship that large from the gangplank, but at least this shows our room on the top deck.

A Sunday in London...

The only market I’d ever visited in London was Camden, which is chaotic and touristy. What a joy it was go to two fantastic and artsy markets that wasn’t full of I ♥ London t-shirts. First we went to Up Market, in the Old Truman Brewery. I almost bought a belt made out of aluminum can tabs, but the girls talked me out of it.
Then we went to Old Spitalfields Market, which is housed in a Victorian market hall on a site that has hosted a market since 1638. We could have easily spent hours wandering the artists’ booths. We bought some transport card holders out of recycled maps and the artist took our picture for her Facebook page. There were lots of lunch options; Camilla and I especially loved the salad sampler from the Caribbean booth. Next we headed to the Foundling Museum; it shows the history of the Foundling Hospital, which began taking in orphans and abandoned children in 1739. It was then time to reclaim our luggage, make our way to Liverpool Station and grab some dinner at Marks & Spencer before getting on a train to Harwich to catch a ferry home.