Queen Spotting...

On Prinsjesdag, the third Tuesday of September, the Queen opens parliament. She arrives by Golden Coach, which is quite a sight to see. This year Darlene and I went with to an American Women’s Club Luncheon to have rijstafel at a traditional Indonesian restaurant overlooking the parade route. May not have been the close up view as the last time I went, but it sure was a lot more comfortable and tasty.

German Bunkers in Holland...

Every year on the 2nd weekend of September, government buildings and monuments throughout the Netherlands open their doors to the public. We visited the parliament building in The Hague on Saturday and were impressed with the art on the ceiling. We ventured back out on Sunday in the rain to see a German bunker on a main street in Scheveningen, which was really fascinating. The area used to be covered in bunkers as part of the Atlantic Wall (the photos of what the beach looked like were shocking), but the Allies filled most of them in. This particular bunker was uncovered last year and converted into a museum. Artifacts have been put back in to recreate what it would have looked like in the 1940s when it was used as a German command center.

Reflections on Our 4th Year - Part 2...

We’re happy that our list of highs for our 4th year in Holland is considerably longer than our lows:

• Travel: France - caves of Dordogne, hunting for buried treasure over Easter with friends at the Chateau, Lille with Darlene and Mike, Grimaud with Terri and Lauren; Germany - roller coasters at Phantasialand, chocolate factory museum in Cologne; Spain - exploring sophisticated Barcelona, hiking in nearby mountains; Turkey - exploring ancient Istanbul, resort living in Antalya for Eurohash; US - the list of friends we saw is long, but we especially appreciated the extended time we had with Marc in DC, Malinda in Maryland, Erika and Michael in Raleigh, Jimmy’s family in Jacksonville, Vivynne in Gainesville, Sharon in Orlando and my parents in Silicon Valley
• Jimmy returning safe and sound from three short visits to Sandland
• Visitors: We had a lack of guests this year, but glad that Zoe and family made it up from Brussels
• Swimming with dolphins at Discovery Cove
• Hedgehogs in our yard
• Jimmy: completing Harvard 1-week Leadership Class in London, building a hedgehog monitoring station
• Melissa: cycling 289 miles in 7 days across Southern Sweden, newcomer’s guide being published and being MC at book launch, becoming co-editor of AWC magazine, scrapping with Darlene, seeing old friends in California
• Veronica: 5-day school biking trip on island of Ameland, being team captain at Jr National Ultimate Frisbee Championships and coming in 4th, Young Americans workshops and getting a solo in the performance, sewing costumes for Halloween, Activities Week
• Ashlynn: 1940’s Day, Tudor Day, International Day, youngest player on team at Jr National Ultimate Frisbee Championships, swimming in our own pool with friends

Reflections on Our 4th Year - Part 1...

Yesterday, November 22, marked our 4th anniversary of living in Holland. It’s hard to believe how fast this year flew by. Once again we trekked out to Scheveningen to go to the Italian restaurant where we dined our first night in Holland, but first we stopped to see Disney’s A Christmas Carol (the 3D effects were by far the best we’ve ever seen). As part of our tradition, we reflected on the highs and lows of our 4th year. We’re very thankful that our list of lows was short:

• Missing Camilla and Tristram, who moved in July. Bidding farewells to the McGlynns in Brussels and the Flemings who move next month.
• Loss of access to the Chateau. We’re thankful to have had so many fantastic visits over the years, but sad to know we can’t return.
• Jimmy’s travel schedule increasing, but failing to take him places where we can tag along.
• We’re happy the landlord picked up the tab, but it was a drag when the heater in our house broke in January.
• Bummed that the city chopped down the best climbing tree in the neighborhood.
• Was really looking forward to an interesting hash run at Eurohash in Turkey, so was very let down by the poor quality of the actual trail.

Back to School...

The weather was great for the girls’ first day of school. Hard to believe that Ashlynn’s in 4th grade and Veronica’s in 7th. This year, Ashlynn will start learning Spanish in addition to Dutch; Veronica will continue to study five languages: Dutch, French, Spanish, German and Mandarin. The storks put on a good show for us when we were cycling to school.

A Canal Bike Hash...

We were intrigued with the idea of doing a hash on the canals of Amsterdam. Luckily the rain stopped just in time for the run start. Of course, we wouldn’t be running, but rather pedaling a boat through the canals along with 20 other hashers. To make the journey more interesting, there was a beer boat (as you can see, the girls smiled as they handed out beers) and a game involving cameras and signs along the way. Previously, I hadn’t thought that pedal boats were especially fun, but we all had a great time on the water and then out for Indian food afterwards.

Cool Kid’s Museum...

We were able to squeeze in some fun during the week between our return to Holland and the start of school. We loved seeing a great touring British troupe in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as part of Shakespeare in the Park. We also spent a Saturday in Amsterdam, starting at the Children’s Museum within the Jewish Historical Museum. The museum had lots of hands-on activities, including making Challah, Jewish egg bread. The mascot, a dancing matzo, cracked me up.