Marine Corps Ball 2012...

While we thought last year’s venue was more spectacular, that didn’t stop us from have a great time at this year’s Ball. I decided to be more daring this year by wearing a short dress with a tuxedo jacket and a hat.

As usual, we enjoyed sitting with Terri and Chris and us girls posed for our annual photo.

This year, we also enjoyed sitting with Jan and Bob. Jan surprised us with a bottle of champagne, strawberries and chocolate in our room.

A Shocking Book Sculpture...

On our way back to the hotel, we passed the Meermano Museum, which was featuring this unusual sculpture of books. We were convinced that the books must have been treated so that they wouldn’t be ruined in the rain, but they were in fact soaked and moldy. Even so, it made for an interesting sight.

Sinterklaas is Coming to Town...

Jimmy and I won a hotel stay at the silent auction at the AWC Gala in May, so we decided to redeem it the night of the Marine Corps Ball. The girls stayed with friends and we headed to Hilton The Hague in the afternoon. We arrived downtown in time to see the Sinterklaas Parade. Even after all these years, we still get a laugh out of this tradition despite the racist overtones.

Happy Times...

The breakfast started at 5 a.m. and by then we were pretty sure that Obama would win again, so we were all smiles.

We weren’t interviewed this time, but Bob was.

The Kurhaus main hall looks great covered in US state flags.

We brought a bottle of bubbly, which Jimmy was happy to pop open once Romney made his concession speech.

Election Outfits...

Imagine our surprise when we went to a Dutch department store and found these funny American flag onesies for adults. Ashlynn quickly talked me into buying one for her, Veronica and Terri’s daughter Lauren. They definitely got a lot of attention as they made their way through the crowds of business people at the breakfast.

A Night at the Kurhaus...

Every four years an organization called Overseas Americans Remember hosts the Who’s the President? Election Breakfast at the Kurhaus Hotel in Scheveningen. Like four years ago, we got a room at the hotel. This time we stopped by before dinner to help decorate. We were impressed watching the hotel staff removing each and every row of crystals on the chandeliers so they could clean them.

This time around we decided to bring the girls along. We all napped from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. then woke up to watch the early returns.

First Circuit Race...

On the first Sunday of November was the first 5K race of the Zorg en Zekerheid (Care & Security Health Insurance) Circuit. Sally had extra space in the car since David and John weren’t going, so I went along to the remote location about an hour away. What a thrill to see Andrew break 20 minutes for the first time!

While at one time Andrew and Ashlynn ran together, he’s gotten faster and the gap between them has gotten wider over the last year. That’s why Sally and I were shocked to see Ashlynn come flying past at just 20 seconds behind Andrew with a PR at 20:11 (6:30 minutes/mile). She was the 2nd girl 15 & under, 5th woman and 38th runner out of 374.

Our speedy kids got flowering plants at the end. What a great start of the racing season!