Skydivers

On Friday I was sitting outside on our swinging couch, and I set down the book I was reading set in WW2. I looked up into the sky for a while. There are always multiple airplanes flying over our house, usually jets a bit higher up, but there are plenty of smaller planes and the occasional ultra-light and even a hot air balloon here and there. I saw a plane off in the distance, really high up, but not high enough to be commercial. It was just a white form in the blue sky. Even though they were small white dots to me, I saw it discharge two payloads. Made me wonder what would be on the news later that night. Later on, when I told Naomi what happened, she said they were probably skydivers. I suppose that makes more sense than the ideas I had in my head...

Yesterday we got to meet our friends from Rotterdam, Clifton and Karmen, at the dunes near Utrecht. It was a lot of fun. We went in the morning, and I thought I was being clever by leaving my sandals in the car. One less thing to bring. We set up some blankets under the tree and enjoyed the setting and the lack of people. Plenty of gliders around though. By the time it was time for lunch, I could have used those sandals. The sand was so hot I could only take a few steps, then make a hole to cool off in. It took a while to get back to the car.

I haven't been working much for my business, but this coming week I have an install. It will be nice to get that out of the way! It has been hot and sunny without any rain lately, so the gardens are drying up. We gave them a good soak last night. At least the tomatoes are happy. Everything else is looking a bit parched. Don't need to worry much about slugs at the moment though!

Soon we will have to take them to the skate park!

Happy tomatoes.

The longest picnic table ever!

Hanging out under a tree in the dunes.

Lunch at Charlie's

Stealing a picture from a wedding photoshoot.

The Visit

Abigail counted down the days until Thursday. That is when her best friend could visit her for the first time. They ended up having a lot of fun, of course. I was at work. Abigail has also seemed to reach the end of her need for naps. When she takes them, she seems to need them, but then tends to have trouble falling asleep at night.

I have hardly been working at all for my business lately. Too occupied with this dome stuff. And the garden. And the nice weather. And wrapping up the school year. Too much to do! I do need to make sure things are all set tomorrow for the install I have scheduled for next week though. This project has really been dragging on...

This week it is supposed to get ridiculously hot. We will bring down the air conditioner today. This morning it is just beautiful though. I got up early to let in the cool air and to work on the website for a bit. Great morning for the gym and the Bosrand and then we can eat our quesadillas outside. I sure do like Sundays!

Fun with a friend.

Flying Deer

Yesterday Naomi discovered something rather interesting on the side of the road. In Dutch, they call it a 'flying deer'. Apparently they are very rare, so we all went to look at it a couple hours later. The ants still hadn't made much of a dent. It would probably be like a hummingbird if we saw one flying by!

We went to the Zoo on Monday. Good to see how busy it gets on a holiday. Way too many people. Hopefully it is a bit quieter on a normal weekend. Naomi liked the aquariums. We didn't stay for too long, but I haven't been able to get any work done for my business this week.

It would seem that my Dad has found a way to access the land that we want to buy near Marquette! Hopefully the access from the other side can work out as well, that way we have options. Exciting news! Sure wish we could be there to check it out.

Naomi's first time at the zoo.

I started learning how to do some 3D modeling. My first attempt at a dome.

Amélie the witch.

The flying deer.

The Zoo

This week (and Monday) the girls have off of school. We have to work though. This was tricky. Thursday was the only day that we both had to teach, so Naomi's Dad and Edith came to watch the girls. They had a fun day.

On Monday I watched the last episode of Our Planet with the girls, and then told them to get on their shoes because I had a surprise for them. We drove to the zoo in Arnhem, half an hour away, and had a really fun time there. We got season passes. It is a pretty impressive place!

I haven't been able go get much work done for my business, but I did start building a website about the domes. Too many aspects of the project floating around in my head that need to be organized. The tomatoes survived their first thunderstorms, although I did need to stake a few of them up.

The last bit of strawberry from our garden.

Tried out the spray park - 5 min walk.

Our first trip to the zoo.

Got to visit a Canadian war cemetery with the school.

Hot Weather

We had our first taste of summer heat this weekend. Sleeping upstairs last night was barely possible. Might have to move down to the guest room tonight. Should cool off tomorrow though. On the upside, the tomatoes are happy! Got everything planted in the garden. Pretty sore this morning.

It has been really good to have Thursday and Friday off of school. I needed that. Was feeling pretty stressed on Thursday, but now things have calmed down that the garden is done. Still lots of work to do for my business though. Hopefully I can make some good progress with that tomorrow.

Naomi got a museum card for herself and the girls on Friday. Kind of expensive, but now they can visit most museums in the country without paying the entrance fee. Nice thing for her to do with the girls - I wasn't really interested though. I want to get a family membership to the zoo...

Tomatoes in the front yard - the best spot for them.

A little picnic we had after visiting Naomi's family.

Exhibition where the photographer mirrored the left and right sides of a person's face to see the differences.

Abigail's "Sinterklaas (Dutch Santa) in the Shower"

Our friends just had a baby.

Future spinach.