Last Day of High School Classes...

April 17th was Veronica’s last day of classes. Hard to believe that this little girl that went off to her first day of kindergarten in Cary in July 2002...

...was now going off to her last day of high school. Of course, she still had another month before all of her IB exams would be done, so she wasn’t off the hook for school just yet.

Once at school, she changed into a Russian army uniform costume to match fellow IB friends Maria and Adelina.

Happy 50th, Jimmy!

While a few folks weren’t into wearing costumes, we managed to hide most of them in our group photo.

You can see that a good size group got into wearing togas...

but we forgot to make one for Kati.

Surprise!

Ten years ago, we celebrated Jimmy’s 40th with a toga party. I was at a bit of a loss for an idea for his 50th and then I remembered that we had a box of togas in our garage. So, I threw Jimmy a surprise toga party.

He wasn’t Zeus this time and we weren’t partying in a French chateau, but we still had a great time. Ashlynn was in charge of baking a cake.

Kent and Carlin really got into the whole toga thing.

As we suspected, David, Andrew and John wouldn’t wear togas, so we supplied them with Roman soldier hats.

Terri and I bought identical Roman dresses at a costume shop in The Hague.

Surprisingly, David and Andrew were actually willing to wear the hats all evening.

Veronica Likes Pillow Fights...

Veronica was also in Amsterdam that day with a girl she met during THIMUN last year. They both wore onesies and really got into the swing of things.

Pillow Fight in Amsterdam...

We arrived at the Pillow Fight shortly after it started.

It was quite a sight to see, but a bit daunting to actually enter the fray.

Jimmy jumped right in and headed to the center. I stuck more to the outer ring. After a few good bops, I was done.

Since it was difficult to photograph while in the action, I borrowed this shot so you can see a good overview.

Skye was very sweet to help us out for this fun event.

Opee Hares Pillow Fight Hash...

In honor of World Pillow Fight Day, a giant pillow fight was organized at Dam Square in Amsterdam. When we discovered that there was a full moon that night, Jimmy volunteered to hare a combined Amsterdam and FILTH Pillow Fight Hash. Luckily, Skye was able to help out by lending his apartment as a gathering point and for the On-In.

He suggested that folks come dressed in their PJs.

Jimmy dared to take along an inexperienced hare and teach him the tricks to laying a good trail. It was a risk since the trail was a bit tricky as it snaked through the neighborhoods, but they did a great job.

Of course, we got a lot of strange looks running around in PJs while carrying pillows.

Ashlynn Heads to the Sun...

The following week was half term break. Since Veronica needed to study for her final IB exams, we didn’t plan a vacation. Ashlynn was thrilled to be invited to join Sophie, her best friend, and Sue, Sophie’s mom, in Cyprus for a week. Sue had lived there previously and enjoyed showing the girls around. This photo was taken during one of their daily runs.

Ashlynn was definitely all smiles getting to spend a week in the sun with her closest friend.

Ashlynn posted this photo on Instagram for Good Friday.

Although their house had its own pool, they only jumped in once since it wasn’t heated. Same actually for the sea as it was too cold for swimming as well. Luckily that didn’t stop the girls from having a great time.