Family Photos...

Our Beautiful Graduate

Happy Family

Sisters Forever!

Walking the Red Carpet...

Their early arrival didn’t stop Veronica and Amelia from getting to walk down the red carpet at the entrance to the museum.

 Veronica and Lizzy both looked amazing in navy blue.

You can see that I care more about the beautiful dresses than the cars. Here they are blocking the beautiful classic Mustang that Adelina arrived in...

 ...and here they are blocking a vintage car in the Great Hall.

 While the kids ate their meal in the Great Hall...

...us chaperones were served in the amazing library.

Setting Up the Year 13 Graduation Ball...

After months of helping to plan the Year 13 Graduation Ball, it was finally the big day: June 25. There was no doubt that the Louwman Museum in The Hague was the best location Jimmy had ever used to shoot SquishPics.

We assumed that Ashlynn would help take photos, but it turned out that a Year 12 student had come along to be Jimmy’s assistant. So Ashlynn helped Veronica with the name tags, posed for a few photos and then went home.

The parents were invited for a reception held in the middle of the Great Hall, while the far end was set up for dinner. Veronica and Michelle had made name tags using baby pics of all the graduates.

Veronica had her make-up done professionally, then straightened her hair herself. She eventually changed into her dress at the museum. As you can see, she looked amazing! Since Amelia’s mom was on the Ball Committee, Amelia also arrived early and could help with test shots to be sure the lights were set correctly.

Ariana’s Visit...

It had been many years since Ariana had visited us with her family. After starting at University of Florida in August 2014, she was heading in June to Italy for a one-month Harvard program. Along the way, she stopped to spend one week with us. Since Veronica was already done with her exams, she enjoyed playing tour guide. Here they are in Amsterdam...

...and in The Hague. 

 Ashlynn joined them to take Kati for a walk in the field...

 ...and for a picnic dinner in a nearby park.

Veronica was happy to take her to Kinderdijk, where she captured this lovely shot.

Another Paid Job...

Two weeks later, Ashlynn had a paid all-day shoot for promotional pieces and the website of Dutch designer Jennifer de Bruyckere. Jennifer lived near-by, so she picked up Ashlynn and took her to the studio of Dutch photographer Tyson Ernste in Rotterdam. It was weird not being there, but it was good practice for Ashlynn for the following month she’d be working on her own in Tokyo.

Apparently freckles are in style now as Ashlynn’s face was dotted with extra ones.

Ashlynn’s First Paid Job...

On June 11, I allowed Ashlynn to skip school (bad mommy!) for her first paid modelling job. Photographer Marijke de Gruyter had seen some shots of Ashlynn by another photographer and instantly knew that she wanted her for a promotional piece for Romeo & Juliet for NT Jong (the National Youth Theater). Jet Vervest, the stylist, had a large assortment of vintage dresses for Ashlynn to wear; her living room was converted into a photo studio. I had planned to just drop Ashlynn off at Jet’s home in Amsterdam, but was invited to stay; I especially enjoyed the lively conversation over lunch.

Ashlynn was relieved that she didn’t have to kiss Romeo. Marijke did mention that there’s no guarantee that the theater will in fact use these photos; we’ll just have to wait for the 2016-2017 theater brochure to come out to see for ourselves. In case you’re curious, the make-up artist used pepper eye drops to get Ashlynn to cry.

Storm Surge Barrier...

We were fortunate to have fantastic weather the next day for the tour of the Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier, which is part of the Dutch Delta Works. We had previously visited the museum, but this was our first tour and thus first chance to see the world’s largest movable barrier up close.

Our tour guide was fantastic! A physicist during the week, she volunteers on weekends at the Keringhuis, a Public Water Management Information Center which shows how we manage to keep our feet dry in the water-rich Province of Zuid Holland. She threw an amazing amount of measurements and facts at us (none of which I can actually remember) while managing to be funny at the same time.

Built in 1997, it features two gates that are 690 feet (210 meters) long and 70 feet (22 meters) high. During a major storm, closing these gates will not just spare Rotterdam from flooding, but the entire region. Rather than trusting humans to make the decision of when to close the gates, the entire system is run by computers with advanced algorithms to measure potential economic losses by stopping shipping traffic versus the possibility of loss of life from flooding.

It takes an incredible amount of paint to cover these massive structures. The gates are closed every September as part of a system check. They were closed for the first time during a large storm in November 2007.

Carlin and Kent joined us. Afterwards, we went into Rotterdam to have dinner at Bazar.