Proud of Our Speedy Kids...

Since this was the girls’ first races, we really had no idea what to expect. The kid’s 2.5K started first. Above you can spot Ashlynn on the left side as the route took them through the chute for the 5K. We lost sight of them, but had a good view for when they turned the final corner to the end stretch. Imagine my surprise when I realized that Ashlynn was the 2nd girl! Since the kids didn’t run with chips, the time wasn’t official, but Ashlynn crossed the finish at 10:36 for a 6:49/mile pace. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get any photos of Veronica because I underestimated how fast she’d be and missed seeing her finish while trying to track down Ashlynn amongst the huge crowds. John had assumed that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with him, but was happy to cross the finish holding her hand. She had a chip, so we know that she was the 30th woman to finish with a net time of 25:49 and a pace of 8:19/mile. Not that I’ve done many races, but I think my best 5K time was around 31:00. Clearly these speedy girls take after their daddy!

City-Pier-City...

We traveled with Sally, John, David and Andrew to the City-Pier-City (CPC), the largest footrace in The Hague (cutoff for the various races was 30,000 participants). Jimmy was supposed to run the half marathon, but left the day before for a 2-week course in paragliding in Provence. When we arrived at the Malieveld, there were masses of little kids on their parent’s shoulders dancing and warming up for the 1K. Ashlynn and Andrew met up with Lauren and managed to make their way to the front of the chute for the 2.5K for Under 13s. David was seeded with a sub 18-minute time from last year’s 5K, so he was in the front, while Veronica and John were in the main chute. Sally and I were there for support and to lug coats around.

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.