Down to One

Only one day of teaching left. Already said goodbye to two of my four classes. One of them surprised me with some really nice gifts! It was a special way to go. After I am done teaching tomorrow, just a few meetings left, and that's it for my Dutch teaching career! 

The seller of our house in Marquette keeps sending us pictures of wildlife that wanders into his yard. Sure is different from here. Hard to imagine living in a place where we see albino deer instead of people. It will be quite something to not be able to see the street!

The girls had another busy week with lots of play dates. Naomi has been working hard on getting rid of more stuff. The movers come on Friday, so we still have a long way to go. Luckily today is the last hot day in this long streak of hot days, so that will help. 

A parting gift from one of my classes.

Our future back yard. 

Future front yard.

Susan

We finally got a chance to see Susan! Our schedules have been too busy. She is happy with her new job (for a change) and looking for a place to live. She spent the night on Friday, the last night of the girl's hikes.

They participated in four consecutive nights of hiking. About 5k per night. Late bedtimes and tired girls, but they had a lot of fun. On Friday, they even got to swim with Elin in her grandparent's pool. It was a very special day.

Was able to get our health insurance sorted out this week. That was a big task. Nice to have it out of the way. Hopefully next week the home insurance can be taken care of. Naomi has been slowly finding homes for our furniture, so the house is starting to look like we really are moving. Less than two weeks and we need to be out! 

Last piano lesson! The girls made cards for their wonderful teacher.

Four nights of hiking.

An afternoon in the pool.

Naomi's wrapping up her dance class.

A fun visit with Susan.

Auntie Claire

We had a great visit with Claire! It is sad that this is our last one with her in this house. On Wednesday the girls had a korfbal tournament. Glad it wasn't raining this year! Sort of like basketball and soccer combined. Yesterday Abigail had her big dance recital. 

I managed to get the workshop sorted, and the rest of the tools sold. Now it just needs to be cleaned up. Along with the rest of the house. Claire is leaving today, so we have the next couple weeks to get rid of a lot of things that won't be coming with us. 

It hasn't rained in a very long time, and we are now in the middle of a heat wave. Very uncomfortable. Bad air quality. Ron and Edith are coming for their last visit today. They should be able to see Claire on her way out. 

At school, my boss doesn't agree with the decisions I took in regards to two of my students, but I am sticking to my choices. Unfortunate to end the year with a conflict, but oh well. One of the many reasons why I am happy to leave Dutch education. 

Korfbal tournament. 

Matching colors.

Sleeping in the fort.

Abigail's dance recital. 

Goodbye Tour

We have had a lot of fun with Auntie Claire this week. On Monday, there was a holiday, so no school, but the swimming pool was open. The girls swam with Auntie Claire for about four hours! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were more normal days, but I don't have to go to school as I was able to take a few days off to prepare for the move. 

On Friday, we took the girls out of school, and visited some friends in The Hague, our old colleague and first friends in Rotterdam, Ans and Peter, then made it to the lake to spend the night with Clifton and Karmen. Fun to be their first guests. Our girls stayed with Thessa and Erik. It was a really special visit.

Immediately upon our return, the girls gave a quick hug and a kiss to Auntie Claire, we grabbed their blankets, and the headed over to Heleen and Jan's house for another sleepover. This afternoon we will have to watch a movie. Tomorrow they have a school trip to a big playground. Hope they can cope with all the excitement!

From Tessa and Erik's deck - the girls had so much fun on the beach.

Clifton prepared some towels for us.

Heleen reading a goodnight story to the girls.

We had a great dinner together!