Back to Brielle for Liberation Day...

I really enjoyed our family visit to Brielle on April Fool’s Day in 2006, so didn’t hesitate to register for a chance to go on a guided tour with the AWC on Liberation Day. The tour guide brought us back to 1572 to set the stage for the events that would unfold throughout the day as the Dutch reclaimed their city from the Spanish.

I was happy to find some ladies to hang out that also appreciated having a cold beer on a surprisingly warm day.

You never did quite know what you’d find waiting around the next corner.

Great Shots at the International Festival...

Veronica captured some great jumps. Here you see the Korean boys and Scottish girls.

I especially liked the Polish girls’ costumes and the tossing of the wreaths.

Project Nepal: Fundraising at the International Festival...

It was sad for me to watch the performances at the school’s International Festival and not see my daughters up on stage. Instead, Veronica was very busy fundraising with Project Nepal. They washed cars earlier in the day while the parents set up the food booths, and sold raffle tickets for a vacation rental at an Italian villa.

The largest fundraising success was selling SquishPics to the performers. Sure it’s not a big surprise that Veronica led that effort.

Unfortunately, Michelle had already left when Project Nepal jumped into the act.

Voorschoten’s Fastest Woman...

This particular race has an extra category for prizes: fastest man and woman from the local village. While Ashlynn was actually the 6th woman overall, she was the first woman from Voorschoten so got to go on the podium. In addition to the lovely bouquet, she received a medal and a €35 gift certificate from a women’s clothing shop.

Kati enjoyed her moment on the podium.

David also got on the podium as the 3rd man with another PR. Andrew also got a PR and was the fastest boy under 15. These kids are getting seriously fast!

I finally took a photo of Ashlynn on her beautiful Dutch omafiets (grandma bike).

Another Personal Record...

The Voorschoten Loop was the week following the CPC. Check out Ashlynn sprinting into the finish line for her best time yet of 19:02 (6:08 mile/minute), improving an impressive 0:35 since the previous week.

She came in 6th woman and 1st girl under 15.

The Girls in Print...

Veronica appeared in a local newspaper after volunteering to collect food at a nearby grocery store on behalf of the Foodbank. The usual initials for the school is BSN, but apparently the Dutch call it BS instead.

We cracked up when we found out that the WWF is using an old photo of Ashlynn in a large poster at a hair salon in The Hague.

Veronica’s First 10K...

Veronica’s usually runs around 9K for her training runs, so she figured it was time to try her first 10K race and Jimmy was happy to join her.

I was worried it would be hard to spot them amongst the 9,700 runners, but Jimmy’s Hawaiian shirt definitely made him stand out.

Funny that Veronica managed to spot Ashlynn and me, but Jimmy didn’t notice us.

Veronica was all smiles for the race photographer as she passed the finish line at 57:55. Next step is to run her first half marathon.