Weekend Texel

To celebrate their anniversary my mom and dad had invited Marc and Diana for a weekend Texel ( we had already celebrated the vent in Galveston at the beach).  Now as it turned out the weekend they had picked was a weekend that the girls and I would also be in Holland so we were invited to come along.

What a great weekend, with so many things to do:

Walks on the beach

Lovely lunches

Taking the ferry across

A facial for the ladies

An incredible breakfast buffet

Beautiful hotel

Fun geocaches

A visit to Ecomare

Skuumkoppe biertjes and a visit to the brewery

Hugging little lambs

A visit to the lighthouse

Great dinners

Trip on a fishing boat to catch shrimp and see sunning seals

But above all: wonderful company (we really missed you Thijs!)

Thanks pap en mam!

Assen

A trip to Holland of course also always means a trip to Assen.  This time we took the train nd poezeoma picked us up from the station.

A fun filled week with lots of activities:

Floortje got her shoe made by oma

We put our own geocache in Poezeoma's little free library

Went to 'wolfeest' were west the shearing of sheep and had very nice, fresh french fries

Found some very cool geocaches

Oma and I had a nice dinner while the girls spent the night at Elsbeth.

Also had dinner at the wok restaurant

Great week!

Swim pics

Some action pictures from swim team season!

Day in Amsterdam

One morning we took the bus to Amsterdam.  First we visited the Albert Cuyp market where the girls enjoyed a warm stroopwafel.

A nice lunch at 'Burgermeester' was followed by a visit to 'het Museumplein'

There we saw lots of very large 'Nijntjes' as it was her 50th birthday.  I love 'Nijntje' so it was very nice to see them all.

We also made a quick trip to 'Het Rijksmuseum'  So much to see and do here but I just wanted to show the girls 'De Nachtwacht'. One of the most famous Dutch paintings.

After a beer on one of the many terraces in Amsterdam we took the bus back home for my favorite Dutch dinner: white asparagus!

University reunion

The next day the girls and I had the chance to meet up with my friends from university. So nice to see everyone with their husbands and kids!

Mini family reunion

The day we arrived in Holland my cousin Bas turned 40. Really nice to catch up with some of my cousins, aunts & uncles.

Flight to Holland

Floortje's collage of our flight to Holland

Summer fun to do list 2015

Friends

Last evening out before Peter and Pluk move to Perth (at the Saint Arnold brewery).  

We will miss you but very sure our paths will cross again!

Celebration of Learning

At the end of each school year there is a celebration of learning in the classroom.  Here they review the year and the kids show what they have learned.  Also there is a special award for each child. Floortje got the award for 'Most Mathematically Patient Participant'.  Her teacher said she never gives up and keeps on working on a problem till she has the right answer.

Way to go Floortje!

Teenager!

We have a teenager in the house!  Famke is 13!

It is such a cliche, but where has time gone?

Happy birthday sweetheart!