30th High School Reunion...

Good luck finding me in the photo above of most of the 120 attendees out of the 500 graduates of the Class of 1981. Considering I’ve only stayed in contact with one person from my graduating class (you see me here with Holly, who I’ve been friends with for 40 years), the reunion was actually a lot more fun than I expected. Much to Jimmy’s surprise (but not mine), my male classmates ignored me that evening just like they did back in high school. I enjoyed reconnecting with several girls I had known since middle school, but lost touch with after graduation. It was also fun to see how people had aged; there were a lot of bald heads in the room. We forgot to gather folks from my elementary school together for a photo, although I don’t think there were many of us in attendance. We skipped the family picnic the next day because the girls were taking a Red Cross babysitting course, but did enjoy brunch at the hotel with Holly and her husband Carl.

California Bound...

On July 15th, the day after school got out, we jetted off to California so I wouldn’t miss my 30th high school reunion the next day. This was my first time flying directly to California from Holland. It was cool when we flew over Greenland and we saw icebergs for the first time. Not the best photo from the window, but you get the idea.

We spent the first night at Dad’s, then Jimmy and I headed to Cupertino for the reunion. When I was growing up, there was a grain mill (Cali Bros.) at Cupertino’s main intersection. Now it’s home to several high rises with a 4-star hotel, the location of the reunion. After checking into the hotel, Jimmy and I walked to the mall. Ironically, my little sister Eden just happened to drive by and spotted us. She wanted to check out the hotel, so she came back with us and couldn’t resist posing with the funky hotel bathrobes.

Parlez-vous francais?

I must confess: I was pretty surprised when I got the invitation to the elementary school awards ceremony. Don’t get me wrong: I know Ashlynn is a good student and excels in many subjects. However, there is only one subject that she consistently complains about: How am I supposed to know if a pencil is a boy or a girl? Even Ashlynn was surprised when she got the Year 6 (5th grade) French Award. She knows that she’s not the top student, but luckily she doesn’t voice her complaints in class and manages to keep a good attitude, which we guess helped earned her the award.

Where Were You When...

Do you remember where you were when the US launched its final space shuttle into orbit on July 8, 2011 at 11:29 a.m. EDT? Jimmy and I were very fortunate to be in a pretty cool location: the European Space Agency’s Space Expo. An AWC Member who works at ESA had extended an invitation to watch this momentous lift-off surrounded by ESA employees, which was too good of an offer to turn down. Jimmy left work early, so we could cycle the 15 miles to Noordwijk. Just before launch, Jimmy told how he’d been at Cape Canaveral for the first launch of the space shuttle in 1981, which was aborted with just 30 seconds left on the clock. Imagine his surprise when he’d just finished telling his tale and the clock stopped with 31 seconds left. Before we were convinced that he truly was a jinx, the clock started back up and as you  can see from the above screen, the STS-135 launch of Atlantis was a success.

After a celebratory toast with bubbly, we wandered around the space museum for the first time. Here we are posing in front of the model of the Eagle, the first manned lunar lander. Jimmy was deeply saddened that the US no longer has the ability to put men in space, but he managed to cheer up when we cycled to Leiden for dinner at our favorite restaurant.

Final Primary School Field Trip...

A week before school got out for the summer, I chaperoned Ashlynn’s final Year 6 (5th grade) field trip. We took a public bus to the beach at Kijkduin. After a brief discussion about the dunes and the role they play in protecting Holland, we headed to the beach for the fort-building contest. The only rule was the it had to be big enough for the entire team to sit inside. Just as Ashlynn’s team was about to be declared the winner, the skies opened up. We were already drenched by the time we reached shelter under the awning of a beach restaurant.

We had planned on eating lunch on the beach, but those plans were quickly washed out and the trip was cut short. Before heading to the bus, Ashlynn’s teacher let the kids get ice cream. The shop owner was very sweet, but perhaps that was because he mistook the kids for a visiting group from England. 

Sightseeing with Jim...

After dropping off Veronica at school to catch the bus to Poole, we took a journey north with Jim. Our first stop was the touristy,   yet quaint, town of Volendam. This town is famous for its traditional clothes, but we didn’t see anyone dressed up. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed having lunch outside along the harbor. Afterwards, we ventured further north to the city of Enkhuizen to visit the Zuiderzee Museum. This open-air museum consists of 130 relocated buildings capturing the feel of the former fishing villages that were destroyed when the Zuiderzee was cut off from the North Sea and became an inland sea. We especially enjoying seeing the laundry demonstration, which helped me to appreciate even our crappy small washer and dryer. We caught the last boat back to the parking lot, then made the journey home via several dikes just to make the route more interesting.  

Local Storm Surge Barrier...

The last time that Jim visited, we took him to Neelte Jans to see part of the Delta Works, a series of storm surge barriers to protect the southern coast of Holland. In keeping with the theme, this time we visited the Keringhuis, the information center for the Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier in Hoek van Holland (outside of Rotterdam). This barrier is the final stage of the Delta Works and it is one of the largest moving structures in the world (each arm is as long as the Eiffel Tower). Construction was completed in 1997. It was closed in 2007 for the first time due to a storm surge. Always good to know that the Dutch continue to work hard to hold back the sea.