The Last Day

On Friday I finished up with my students! All the grades are in two weeks early. Summer vacation doesn't technically start until the 9th of July. All I have left is a few short report meetings and a goodbye drink. Sure is nice to be done a bit early so that I can focus more on other things.

No shortage of things to focus on! The branching bookshelf is a huge project. Also working on putting together the blog book and wrapping up my novel. Plenty to do in the garden and with the girls. Hopefully we can visit a museum today. Sure was sad to say goodbye to Auntie Claire though! We had another great visit.

Went on another good hike yesterday, but my hiking boots are starting to irritate one of the tendons above my ankle. I was afraid of that. Took a while before it happened though! 

Fun with Auntie Claire.

Auntie Claire!

Claire was able to fly up for a week. It has been about a year since she has been here! It has been a super busy week. Tuesday - Friday after dinner the girls walked about 5k. Community hike. They enjoyed it but it was very tiring! Claire got to join for the last two walks. 

Yesterday we went for a nice long hike it the forest together while Naomi took the twins rollerblading. We also went to the beach. Not sure if the goats on the way or the beach was more interesting. It was really hot! Luckily things cooled off today and we are getting some rain.

I got a special Father's Day breakfast this morning. Also some cute presents from the girls - they each colored a pair of socks for me at school and Abigail made a few drawings this morning. Will be nice to have some down time today after such a busy week! Definitely feels like summer already.

Abigail and Naomi rollerblading in the forest.

Making progress on the bookshelf! One layer down, four to go.

One of the four evening hikes.

Trying out special earrings from Great Grandma Harriet with Auntie Claire.

Distractions on the way to the beach. Enthusiastic Amélie kept getting her fingers bit.

The Sleepover

Amélie did not sleep at home last night! She went to a gymnastics camp where they slept in the gym. All ages of girls. She was one of the youngest. Very exciting. On Friday Naomi also got to visit the girls classroom which was fun. 

I have been busy making the first layer of the branching bookshelf. Fun project. Good to be back in the workshop! Also really nice to have the outside painting done. At some point we will need to get to the gardens. 

On Wednesday the girls had a korfbal tournament. Kind of a cross between basketball and ultimate frisbee. They had tons of fun even though it was raining! Amélie's team got first place and Abigail's got second. That isn't saying much though as I think there were only three teams, haha. 

Korfbal in the rain.

Working hard in school.

Amélie and Elin riding to gymnastics together.

Went for another nice hike. 

Painting the House

Almost finished with the painting project. Not doing a very good job, but it looks a lot better than it did before. Luckily the windows are in good shape, so I am just focusing on the trim. Less than half of it needs touching up. We have another day off of school tomorrow, so I should be able to finish then. 

The girls tried out a new sport this week! Korfbal. Kind of like basketball. They liked it. Sure is nice to be able to play outside! Plenty of rain on the way today, so that is a good thing too. Still a bit dry here. Yesterday we went to the Donkey Farm. It has been years! Quite something to see how the girls have grown.

Today we are going to Rotterdam to meet Clifton and Karmen and I have a meeting with a new woodworking client. They want a bookshelf shaped like a tree branch. It will be a big project! Pretty cool that it is so similar to my first official project as a business and it is likely to be my last in this country. 

First korfbal practice.

So much bigger than before!