Environmental Committee Co-Chair...

Veronica has really embraced her role this year as Co-Chair of the Environmental Committee at school. For Green Day, she helped to plant a tree which was actually dedicated to her for her hard work and enthusiasm in leading the committee.

She especially loves working with the younger students to come up with ideas of how to make their school more sustainable. One of the big changes they helped push forward was to switch from disposable plastic cups to students carrying their own water bottles.

Upgrading our Yard...

When we first viewed our house, we saw the owner’s wonderful outdoor sofas and hope they’d leave them behind. We didn’t get our way and it took us an extra year, but we finally managed to buy our very own set of outdoor sofas. It’s amazing how much having proper furniture transforms how we use the yard.

There were a lot of options, but we knew that this set was the winner as soon as we saw the table with the little stools since it matches the indoor wicker that we brought with us from North Carolina.

Witness to a Hanging...

Since I’d been to the festival before, I knew that we needed to make our way to the fairgrounds in time to watch the finale: the hanging of the Spanish Commander.

It looked incredibly realistic, but thankfully was all in jest. Immediately afterwards, we headed to the bus for our journey back to The Hague. Fun day!

Interesting Sightings in Brielle...

There were great sights on every corner in Brielle. I loved this fellow’s combination of medieval and modern.

There was an old-fashioned fair with oddities on display on a table. The baby parts in a jar were particularly creepy.

One of the AWC ladies paid the 50 cents to peak in the box at the three-breasted lady.

The simplicity of this calliope makes sense with old date shown on it, but the strange dolls imply a modern twist.

One of the streets was covered in clotheslines and flags, which made it quite festive.

There were several booths with artisans making old-fashioned crafts including this woman with bonnets.

Back to Brielle for Liberation Day...

I really enjoyed our family visit to Brielle on April Fool’s Day in 2006, so didn’t hesitate to register for a chance to go on a guided tour with the AWC on Liberation Day. The tour guide brought us back to 1572 to set the stage for the events that would unfold throughout the day as the Dutch reclaimed their city from the Spanish.

I was happy to find some ladies to hang out that also appreciated having a cold beer on a surprisingly warm day.

You never did quite know what you’d find waiting around the next corner.

Great Shots at the International Festival...

Veronica captured some great jumps. Here you see the Korean boys and Scottish girls.

I especially liked the Polish girls’ costumes and the tossing of the wreaths.

Project Nepal: Fundraising at the International Festival...

It was sad for me to watch the performances at the school’s International Festival and not see my daughters up on stage. Instead, Veronica was very busy fundraising with Project Nepal. They washed cars earlier in the day while the parents set up the food booths, and sold raffle tickets for a vacation rental at an Italian villa.

The largest fundraising success was selling SquishPics to the performers. Sure it’s not a big surprise that Veronica led that effort.

Unfortunately, Michelle had already left when Project Nepal jumped into the act.