Heat Wave

 Overnight it went from a cold, rainy spring to hot summer weather. Strange not to have any transition time. Sure has been nice to see the sun again though! The tomatoes were confused. They got all wilty in the sun even though I gave them plenty of water. Must have been too much of a shock for them.

The girls had to stay home from school on Monday and Tuesday morning until their test results came back, which were negative. Wednesday was a study day for the teachers, so they were home then too and we had fun at the skate park.

The museums and things are opening up again, so we will go to one this morning. Can finally schedule a time to visit the zoo again too! Maybe next weekend. 

The rhododendrons are having a good year!

Examining beetles in the forest.

Strange prints all over our car...just smaller than a cat.

Nice walk in the woods.

Each girl got to have a friend over and Naomi made pancakes!

Intensity

 This was quite the week for our new business. Informing some parents that our rates will be going up and informing others that their teacher is quitting. We also signed a new students and interviewed a couple new teachers. Scotty, my business partner, connected with them and they seem great. They are not happy with their current situation of working for a big ESL company based in Beijing, and they are excited about what we can offer. Nice to have enthusiastic teachers with some relevant experience. Hopefully they will work out better!

A classmate tested positive, so the girls are in quarantine until Wednesday. It will be tricky to teach with them around, but okay. They have been enjoying some down time with the beautiful weather that finally arrived.

The girls drew corona monsters on our windows with chalk markers.

The tomatoes can finally be happy again!

Rain and Cold

 Our tomatoes are not happy! It has been wet and cold all week, and this coming week is just more of the same. Sure would be nice if we could get a bit of sunshine! At least the leaves have come out, so things are looking green again.

Looks like we finally found a teacher to replace the one that quit on us. She has a terrible resume, but is really enthusiastic and seems reliable. Hopefully she will work out better for us! It is still strange to do everything online.

I had my meeting about my job for next year with my boss on Friday. That went fine. I will not see many changes to what I am doing, just a bit of extra work, so I can't complain. Looks like Naomi might have to be a mentor though, which would basically ruin her job for her. She will know more this week. 

Auntie Claire graduated, congratulations!!

First time inside for gymnastics.

Time's Up!

 Those three weeks of vacation (minus a half day at school) really flew by. It was a bummer that we weren't able to go to France, but we still got a lot done around here. The tomatoes are doing well and lots of other little sprouts have been planted too. Back to cold, rainy weather this week though. 

Making progress with developing the curriculum for our business. 2/3 of the way there with our program for the younger kids. Should be able to finish it up this summer. 

I also finished up all six of the new videos for the Dutch Domes website. Working on updating the site now, but it is a bit complicated to rework things. We also got some caterpillars, eggs, and pupae to watch their life cycle. Fun to do with the girls!

Kind of an outdoor museum...some old burial mounds nearby.

Enjoying our first meal back at a restaurant for our Dutch anniversary.

The girls had a fun lunch with Helene.

The first dance lesson back outside.

Finished up some tomato cages.

Lunchtime!

The butterfly house.

Happy Mother's Day!

 Naomi got to wake up to a massage and breakfast in bed this morning - along with the first day of May weather. We are finally saying goodbye to March. Plenty of work to do in the garden today! 

Last Sunday we got to visit some of Naomi's family in their new (old) farmhouse and then she got to see her Grandma for the first time in a long time. The girls and I went to a nearby skate park while she was visiting, but it was late and Amélie had had sugar, so she just melted down on the bench while Abigail skated.

Karmen and Clifton visited us on Tuesday and that was a lot of fun...even though the weather reminded us of Thanksgiving which is when they usually come to visit. I managed to finish up my 5th video of 6 and they were impressed with the work I have done. Who knows, maybe someday they will be a part of the project. 

Rijssen's skate park.

I got an appointment to get vaccinated! Too bad Naomi isn't eligible yet...

Fun at the castle.

Finally repotted a plant.

Last chance for the tomatoes to enjoy the great indoors!

Big Skate Park

 The stores opened up again this week, so we went to the sports store in Apeldoorn to pick up some things for the girls. Next to it is a skate park full of big kids. The girls had to give it a try and they did great! We thought they would be scared off by the crowd but they just jumped right in. We were very impressed. They were the only ones wearing helmets and pads...

The girls had to go to school for a few days this week, but now they have two weeks off. Naomi's birthday was on Friday so we had a nice relaxing morning with the girls at school then Ron and Edith came for the afternoon. Yesterday we baked Guinness brownies with Auntie Claire over the video chat before she and Matt went skiing. 

Claire just finished up her last test for her Masters degree on Naomi's birthday, so that was a bit of a celebration too. Sure wish we could visit with them! We decided to hold off on buying an investment property in Marquette this year. It might make things more difficult for Naomi's green card application, but the market is just too out of control right now. I wonder who is buying these places. I also finished up another video for the Dutch Domes website...two more to go!

The first tomatoes!!! Early this year.

The big skate park.

New safety gear.

Happy Birthday!!!

Time for a Break

 This week has been a bit intense at school. After the May holiday they are changing up all my third year math classes, mixing the kids up similarly to the way they will be in the fall. It is supposed to help with the transition, but I think it will just make things more difficult for them. Definitely not the right time to try messing with the routine - during a pandemic. As math teachers, we aren't really sure how or what to teach them for these next couple months, but at least we only see each class once per week. 

On the business front, our very reliable and trusted teacher just quit on us, so that is a bummer. Luckily we have a backup, so we can shift over her classes, but it is not good for the students or the parents. Seems like finding reliable teachers might be the real challenge here. 

The girls have a different schedule for the May holiday, which is really annoying, but not such a big deal as we aren't allowed to go on a vacation anyway. There will be a few days where we are at home and they are in school, and vice versa, but okay. It will work out this year. 

Our school also gave us new laptops, and they are quite expensive. I don't really like the idea of being responsible for such an expensive machine that I didn't get to pick out, but it will come in handy as I should be able to use it for my business as well. Not sure why people want the touchscreen/tablet option, but maybe I will find out!

Fun at Helene's house.

Abigail started a journal.

Dressed up for the King's day celebration at school.