AWC Holiday Bazaar...

Early on an unusually warm Saturday morning in November, Veronica and I hopped on our bikes to cycle to The Hague to volunteer at the AWC Holiday Bazaar. Veronica couldn’t pass up the chance to pet a cow along the way.

She helped with crafts in the Kids’ Corner while I worked with Terri at the payment table.

Jimmy stopped by to help me spend some money on Polish pottery. He didn’t sit on Santa-Bob’s knee, but did pose for a photo.

Veronica couldn’t actually remember any entire Christmas song, but enjoyed attempting to add some holiday cheer.

A Doggy Ramp...

For over five months, Ashlynn slept on the guest bed so that Kati could sleep on the bed with her. Jimmy was determined that Ashlynn should sleep back in her own room, so started planning on how to build a doggy ramp up to Ashlynn’s loft bed. The girls helped Kati up the first few times.

Ashlynn was excited about moving back into her own room.

Jimmy used some carpet remnants to give the ramp some grip. It was surprising how quickly Kati got the hang of it.

She was quickly running up and down the ramp on her own.

Jimmy envisioned that Kati would sleep on the platform at the end of the bed, but she prefers to sleep next to Ashlynn.

A Haunted Workplace...

We got a last minute invite to join Jimmy at his office’s first Halloween party, so Veronica and I headed over while Ashlynn went to a party at Liv’s (the next night she went trick or treating with friends in Wassenaar). No surprise that Jimmy was the only one in costume, and it was a scary one at that.

The storage room in the basement was converted into a haunted house, which was very cleverly decorated. We especially enjoyed the laser tag, which we played in two big blow-up rooms similar to a bouncy castle. I was horrible at it, but it was very fun. No doubt the best party we’d ever been to at the agency.

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More Halloween Fun...

Before the party, Fiona came over to help decorate and carve pumpkins.

The girls made cute, but fairly normal pumpkins.

Jimmy, on the other hand, carved a rather goofy pumpkin. Ashlynn found the perfect piece to complete it.

Halloween at the White House...

Of course, we had to take some family photos at the Halloween party as well. I was happy that Jimmy and I still fit in our old wicked witch and good witch costumes from years ago.

Veronica Hosts a Halloween Party...

For the first time, Veronica hosted a Halloween party. Not for the first time, the focus of the party was to take cool photos. With some special film over the lights, the gray background turned a horror movie shade of red. Veronica was the perfect Gothic hostess in a gown that one of the ladies from the AWC gave her. Adelina took her role as Tuesday from the Addams Family very seriously.

The creepiest costume was this grinning clown. Remy managed to keep his mouth shut and everyone guessing who was under the mask for almost an hour, but he finally got hungry and had to reveal himself to eat.

Many of the boys came with ugly face make-up, although two of them were hilarious with much prettier make-up along with pantyhose to go with their dresses. The girls ranged from a witch to Harry Potter to a “cereal” killer. I joined the kids to watch Scary Movie, a parody of horror flicks, but stayed upstairs with most of the girls when they watched real horror movies.

Veronica was sweet to allow Ashlynn to invite Georgia and Lucy, both of whom had older brothers at the party.

More Abandoned Places in Belgium...

In mid-October, Jimmy and Veronica set off to Antwerp with their bikes along on the train for another day of urban exploration. This time they started outside an oil port facility. There were no fences, so the entrance was easy.

There wasn’t much to see, but Veronica still enjoyed taking some photos.

The next stop was more interesting: an all-girls secondary school. Here is what Veronica wrote in her article for Going Dutch about urbex:

The walls were being eaten by graffiti, and all that was left were the blackboards. Plants forced their way up through cracks in the floors and fell through the windows. Being in empty classrooms was a first for us, and immediately questions formed in our minds. Did the students know that it was the final day for this school? Did they say goodbye to the classrooms and teachers, or did they show up the next morning or at the start of the new term to find the windows boarded up? 

It’s hard to imagine yourself being in a situation where this happens, where you have to leave your house, workplace or school. Exploring these places that once meant something to someone makes me realize how much we take for granted. I have a hard time imagining my school with smashed windows and graffiti covering all the walls.