Lapping the Lake

Not far from Chicago now. Heading to Madison in a few hours. The trip is winding down. Sure has been a busy one! Only had a few days in Escanaba to wind down, and even that time was pretty packed. Got some golfing in though! The room my parents made in the basement turned out really well too. Would have like to help finish it up, but we just ran out of time.

Riding up North with Andrew and Jessie was a lot of fun. We even came across a Jeep that was upside-down in a stream. They seem to like the UP a lot which is fun. Who knows, maybe some day they will join us in Marquette...

We did manage to make it up to Marquette on Thursday. It was a beautiful day. Had to take my parents to the spot where Naomi said last year, "Why would anyone choose to live in the Netherlands?" It is a beach right near downtown Marquette. The water was strangely warm but predictably clear. Same as last year.

Yesterday was my Grandma's 80th birthday party. We had a really nice time at the lake. Lots of family. Beautiful weather. Grandpa even sang a song.

Welcome home dinner.

One of Marquette's beaches.

Nazi America

Before I got on the plane this week we had a lot of fun blueberry picking with the girls. Nice to have such a forest so close to home. The journey itself took about 24 hours and was, for the most part, uneventful. Going through Heathrow was really a mess, and I had to run, but I made it onto the flight. Lines were ridiculously long in Chicago as was also expected. The Amtrak was fun to ride on (all though it is an embarrassment compared to Dutch trains) and I even had time for a real burger before it left.

After getting off the train, the first bit of American media I got was on the radio in Andrew's car. Donald Trump was starting his seemingly endless fear-mongering rant. Quite a lot has changed since last year. Can definitely draw a few parallels between this political climate and Germany's during the 30's.

Friday we had a lot of fun hanging out with some old friends. Didn't need to help set much up for the wedding as everything was so meticulously planned out. The wedding itself went beautifully. The setting was tremendous and we even got to ride through town in a couple of classic cars. It was like being in a parade. Food and music were great, my speech went well, and we even ended the night by jumping in the pool. Some people didn't even bother to ditch their suits!

Epic Burger.

The Cars.

They were married on her parent's front lawn.

The reception was in the back yard.

And we got gifts too!

Heat Wave

Yesterday I totally forgot to update the Blog. It was a busy day. We had Naomi's cousins visit for lunch with their little girl who is just slightly older than ours. After that, a couple of our German friends stopped by on their way to the Sea. They will have a little baby soon too! They plan to stop by again on their way back tomorrow, so it will be fun to see them twice after more than two years!

They have found a very interesting place to live. It will be fun to see it sometime soon! It sounds like a bit of a community experience with shared gardens and a similar outlook on life. Great support network for the little one. Our friend was telling me about the odd compound itself, explaining the houses were in rather rough shape. Old wooden buildings from, he lowers his voice, "the forties."
"Oh really," I said, "what part of the forties?"
"The bad part."

Apparently this compound was built and operated by the Nazi's as a work camp - they would roll over in their graves if they knew what it was used for today - and that is kind of the point. It is now listed as a historical monument. He explained that one half of the Germans think everything from that particular period in time should just be forgotten while the other half wants to preserve it all so that they never forget...

Still plugging away at the house. The workshop slowly comes together. Built a table for the joiner/planer today. The girls have been a bit fussier. Trouble sleeping at night again. Tomorrow we have more visitors, Wednesday I will be packing up and taking care of a few last things as we sweat out the heat, then Thursday will be 24+ hours of traveling. Bah.

The Workshop

Finally, it has come to the point where the space that used to be a garage is no longer in a state of chaos. It isn't finished yet, but at least one can get a feel for what it will be like. Quite some work, as you might imagine, from the before and after pictures below...

Each week we chip away at the house, getting a few more things crossed off the seemingly endless list. Now that school is out for the summer we will be able to get a lot more done. I leave for the States in less that two weeks though, so that will put everything on hold for awhile.

A little anecdote from daycare: Naomi dropped off the girls the other day, and a boy saw them and started shouting, "Amélie, Amélie, Amélie!"
Naomi asked, "Amélie, do you have a boyfriend??" Her question was not dignified with a response.
She tried a different angle: "Abigail, do you have a boyfriend?"
Abigail said, "yeah."
Naomi was curious, "oh really, who is your boyfriend??"
"Daddy."

The girls are doing well. Bedtime routines are becoming much smoother with the help of some advice from a lady who came to help with Abigail's hair pulling. The girls had a lot of fun with Clifton and Karmen yesterday, a couple of our friends from Rotterdam who came for a visit. We had a nice barbecue with them, and Karmen offered to help design a logo for my business which would be great!

Before.

After.

In between.

Raisins in the garden.

The West Wall

Finally finished up one side of the workshop (apart from a couple minor things) and prepared to start on the other side. It is looking more and more like a workshop and less like a dumping ground. Hopefully the East side goes a bit faster. I really hope to get it mostly finished this coming week.

Have also been working on getting some lights installed. Busy week at school though so we didn't have much extra time. Won't have much school this coming week though, and it is our last, so we are looking forward to the extra hours that we can put into the house. Yesterday we had some guys come to replace the boards under the gutters. Unfortunately they found a leak. One more thing for the list.

The weather has been a real bummer. Lots of cloudy, rainy days. Almost like we live in the Netherlands or something. The girls haven't had much of a chance to enjoy their sandbox, but they are doing alright. Abigail got sick two nights ago and threw up in her bed a couple of times. We notice more and more that they are entering their 'terrible twos' but we still have lots of fun with them.