Easter Sunday...

 We had a relaxing Easter. Veronica enjoyed taking photos of Norah...

 ...as well as playing with her.

Ashlynn was especially thrilled that Andrew came over for dinner with his parents.

From Schiphol to Amsterdam...

Once we exited the airport, we had a long way to go to get around the runways and exit Schiphol’s property.

Eventually the trail led us into Amsterdamse Bos, a large wooded park, where someone got overly ambitious marking this check.

Opee’s trail eventually ended in a parking lot at the edge of the woods, which meant it was time for some beer and munchies.

It might be hard to tell, but Veronica and Norah were matching in Amsterdam hash gear.

The second trail was set by No Leeway of Wageningen H3, starting at the parking lot and ending at Slippery’s house in Amsterdam. After a break of beer and soup, we set off on our third and final trail set by Strobe My Balls for the FILTH H3.

The final trail was totally urban and ended near Amsterdam Centraal running a total of 21K, which was a distance record for me.

Hashing in an Airport...

After dropping off our bags in Start Me Up’s car, we were given a sheet with pictures of spots that we needed to locate throughout the airport.

Our treasure hunt paid off with Opee waiting for us with a drink at several of the spots.

After we finished this drink, we needed to solve a puzzle to figure out the next stop.

He clearly discovered a security breach at the airport when he got away with hiding a bag in a compartment of this old plane in one of the stores. Although I couldn’t believe that he’d taken a risk like that, I still enjoyed the jello shots that he had hidden. 

 

Our final stop was at the Hello Good-bye Bar where an employee gave us a note to say that our treasure hunt was over.

Dutch Tipple Crown...

We were happy that both girls joined us for our first Dutch Hash-a-thon, which was organized by Jimmy as Amsterdam’s Hare Raiser. They were especially excited about the first leg of the day, which was hared by Jimmy...

...and started on the Observation Deck at Schiphol Airport.

Not sure when this photo was taken since Veronica was in running clothes at the start of the trail, but it’s fitting as the first task was to find a clue hidden on the real KLM Fokker 100 on the deck.

Ashlynn found the first clue, hidden underneath the plane.

The Blacks are Back...

When Melissa and Pieter heard about the Dutch Tipple Crown Hash at the end of March (three back-to-back hashes organized by three different hash groups in one day), they couldn’t resist joining us. In addition to being thrilled to see them, we were excited about getting to spend more time with sweet little Norah.

Veronica was also home for Easter weekend, so she and Ashlynn were in charge of dinner for Friday night and decided to make homemade vegan ravioli...

...which were delicious.

At seven months old, Norah still wasn’t doing many tricks, such as rolling around, so she spent a lot of time sitting on the table during mealtimes and countertop when we were in the kitchen.

Gold Award Ceremony...

Like her big sister, Ashlynn had a special role at her International Gold Award Ceremony: she was one of a handful of speakers.

It was awesome to see her join her good friend Max at the podium to talk about their experiences in Kenya.

Ashlynn Receiving Her Gold Award

Ashlynn and Max

BSN Gold Award Recipients

Proud Parents

Jimmy’s Birthday...

After the protest, we went back to Derek and Abbie’s where they presented Jimmy with a birthday surprise. We’d never seen a birthday candle quite like that...

...and what a surprise when it opened up. Even better were the delicious desserts.

Afterwards, Bob and Lisa joined us for a walk along the Ij, where we saw this cool buidling...

...and a nice view of Amsterdam Centraal.

We eventually arrived at our destination: Meneer Nieges, a restaurant with a cool riverfront terrace.

We enjoyed drinking wine outside before heading to our final destination: an Italian restaurant for dinner.