Training Walk in a National Park...

It took awhile to convince Carlin and Terri to make the one-hour drive to Zuid-Kennemerland National Park outside of Haarlem that I had first learned about on a hash, but it was totally worth the wait.

While I bought a map just to show my support at the wonderful visitor center, it turned out it was a wise investment as we definitely needed it to navigate between the different terrains of the large park.

The first part of the park was a beach with families enjoying the sand and lake.

Above the lake and then beyond it were dunes.

Last Day of Work...

It was quite a compliment that Veronica was asked to extend her Year-in-Industry by an extra month at GlaxoSmithKline in West London.

Her team obviously really liked her as they gave her an incredibly generous farewell gift. I’m just thrilled that the past year was a positive and enriching experience for her. When she returned to UEA, she applied and was excepted as a Industrial Placement Ambassador to help spread the word about the program.

Ashlynn Melts...

Shortly after returning from Kavos, Ashlynn went with a bunch of friends to Melt, one of the largest electronic music festivals in Germany. It took place at Ferropolis, an open-air museum situated at an old strip mining operation. The old equipment made the perfect backdrop for the festival.

Ashlynn says she had the time of her life as it was 100% the best festival she’d ever attended. She was thrilled to discover her love of Disco House music. She got to see her favorite DJ, Palms Trax, during an amazing sunrise set. Her friends had never seen her so happy while she was dancing to Awesome Tapes from Africa

She even watched some of the World Cup Final and did some yoga. 

She enjoyed swimming in the lake and dancing until 6 a.m. every morning. Each of her 15 friends had their own tent which they placed in a circle. They didn’t get much sleep.

Afterwards, she and Sara took a bus to Berlin for a three-night stay. They went to the zoo, swam at a floating pool on the river, danced at a techno event and walked along the East Berlin Gallery. Luckily there were no problems with her bus ride home nor with Veronica’s ferry ride as they both arrived home less than 24 hours before we were heading out on our family holiday. 

Field Course in Spain...

Also while we were in Poland, Veronica went to Almeria in southern Spain for a one-week field course on climate change. After visiting greenhouses made out of plastic to learn about food waste, she realized that she’d like to concentrate on food security for her Master’s Degree.

As always, she sent us some excellent shots.  

Mars Rising

Once she was back in London, she enjoyed going out for vegan Dutch pancakes.

Graduation Trip to Kavos...

While we were in Poland, Ashlynn flew with most of her year group for a week in Kavos, a seaside village on the Greek island of Corfu. Her friend group chose to stay together in apartments away from the main tacky strip of nightclubs. She enjoyed spending a lot of time in the pool.

Her group of six girls lucked out as their apartment had a kitchen which they hadn’t paid extra for.

Although you can’t tell from this photo, Ashlynn said the nearby beaches weren’t very nice. She was disappointed that none of the other girls would join her when she walked one afternoon to a secret beach with some of the guys. She said it was beautiful, but didn’t have her camera along.

 She clearly got some sun.

They went out clubbing most nights. Ashlynn thought the clubs and the music were pretty crappy compared to what she’s used to in the Netherlands.

On a very scary note, Ashlynn’s drink was spiked on her first night. Luckily her friends realized immediately that something was wrong and took her straight home where she fully recovered. I was so relieved that the girls were there for her as things could have taken a very dark turn otherwise.

Party Time...

While Terri isn’t a big fan of public speaking, she did an amazing job with her speech about Chris. He also gave an incredible speech about how great it was to have so many friends from different phases of his life there to celebrate with.

Unfortunately, Max wasn’t able to be there since he was starting a job in San Francisco that Monday. Lauren had a busy summer, but she was there with her friend Charlotte. Here they are posing in Chris’ classic Corvette.

The party continued in the main house, where it was hard for folks to walk away from the World Cup game.

Once the game was over, folks hit the dance floor.

Lauren and Charlotte got a bit crazy...

...while Chris and Terri looked on.

Chris’ 60th...

Chris’ party started with appetizers on the terrace of the guest house above the main house. The weather and the views were fantastic.

Terri looked beautiful and clearly enjoyed her role of hostess. I was so touched that we were invited to this incredible celebration.

Jimmy and I were both able to play photographer as we had two good cameras since we had bought a smaller camera for my trip to Nepal. Jimmy used the balcony of the guest house to take these group shots.