International Award...

It’s always fun to see the kids all dressed up for an awards ceremony. Ashlynn even bought a blazer for the International Award Ceremony where she received her Bronze Award.

Proud Parents!

Ashlynn and Sophie

It was nice seeing Andrew earn his Silver Award at the same ceremony.

High Tea with Johanna...

At an AWC fundraiser last spring, Johanna bought High Tea for 12 provided by another member of the club. I was honored to be invited to this special afternoon hosted at Susan’s lovely apartment with fantastic views of The Hague. Each place was set with a different set of china that Susan talked friends into donating as we were each given our place setting as a parting gift; I was thrilled that I managed to swap mine for a lovely set from Japan.

The food was incredible and the Prosecco was flowing while the rain poured down outside.

Since Johanna’s movers were coming just a few days later, I suggested to the group that we get her a farewell gift. Georgia kindly arranged to purchase this painting of The Hague.

Red Skies at Night...

We don’t see a lot of sunsets in Holland, but one in particular in mid-November had me grabbing my camera. After taking this one from our window, I ran outside to catch a wonderful show by Mother Nature.

If the hand of God had reached out from the sky, I wouldn’t have been surprised as the sky was that dramatic.

Ladies in Red...

We had originally intended to skip the Marine Corps Ball this year to save money, but couldn’t resist when Terri offered us her tickets after her plans changed. Not only is it always a fun evening, but it was an excellent chance to spend some extra time with Johanna and Frank before they moved to Saudi Arabia. We began the evening with bubbly in their room.

We also got a room at the hotel, the posh Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk, with an excellent view of the helicopter landing pad on the beach.

It was a bit strange being there without Terri or Jan, but great to see Seanette again.

As is custom, Jimmy takes photos of the AWC ladies with the Marines. This year we were extra proud to have a female Marine front and center.

There were a lot of ladies in red on the dance floor; despite not wearing red, Roberta snuck in the photo as a big fan of the Marines.

Escaping the Zombies...

Here’s a funky shot that a friend took of the village. 

No surprise, but once we arrived back in the village, the zombies were all waiting for us.

Here is Celine (aka Start Me Up) pretending to be road kill. 

Here is Andrea (aka Best Before) outmaneuvering the fastest zombie. The three of us all managed to get to the end still alive; in fact, Opee still had his original two lives. What a great hash!

Off into the Countryside...

After a drink stop along the shore of the river, where we were temporarily safe from zombies, the trail led us out of the village. Along the way, we saw some interesting graffiti.

The trail eventually led us into the countryside. It was quite humorous because we were convinced that the zombies were waiting for us around each farmhouse, but we were wrong. Rather than waiting to ambush us, they were most likely sitting in the bar relaxing while we nervously ran about 5K around the farmfields and past the power plant.

A Zombie Hash, That Is...

We had never been to a Zombie Hash before, so weren't sure what to expect. We surely didn’t expect to meet the zombies before the hash started; they were a surprisingly friendly group. We were each given a string to put around our waist with two paper tags signifying two lives. The goal was to get to the finish with at least one life remaining.

Since there were only 6 zombies chasing about 35 hashers, the odds were actually in our favor. However, there were several tricky spots including this lot next to the church and cemetery.

Here I am just getting past one zombie, not realizing that I was heading straight into another just as the path narrowed with no way around. Although I lost one life here, my dear husband managed to earn me another as there were several life tags hidden in some of the abandoned buildings, which he quickly snatched up and gave to me and Andrea, our driver.