Auntie Claire!

Auntie Claire came for a week, just in time for the girls birthday party. I also finished up the outdoor table just in time for their party. Not bad for under 100 euro and two days of work. We have been eating out there a lot this past week.

On Monday we all went to the zoo to celebrate the girls birthday. Tuesday and Wednesday we stuck around the house and I was able to fix up a little table I made for Claire a few years ago. We also took Abigail to the skate park, had a nice walk though the purple fields, ate ice cream, toured the castle, went rock climbing, and had lots of fun.

I picked up a new bandsaw as well since I broke my old one a month ago. The new one seems pretty nice. One more bank transfer and all the funds we need should be in place for the land. This is our last week of vacation and it is a hot one. Hopefully by Thursday it should cool down. Tuesday morning Mom will head back home. Sure has been a nice visit!

The new table.

Birthday Party!

A walk in the purple fields.

Skate park.

Trying on birthday presents from Auntie Kalia.

Rock climbing in Arnhem.

A visit to the castle. 

Grandma!

The girls were counting down the days until Grandma's arrival, and she got here right on time. Without any trouble. The girls have been having a ton of fun. I was also able to finish up a patio table top in two days and Naomi and I visited some friends and had a date night yesterday. We haven't had that luxury for a year. Sure is nice for us to have Grandma here too!

Today we are having a birthday party for the girls, so lots of cleaning up and prep work to do. We found some used chairs for the patio table, and when we got to Clifton and Karmen's place, they gave us four more! So we will have enough places for people to sit today. Hopefully it won't rain too much.

It was a lot of fun to be back in Rotterdam for the day. Nice to see the old neighborhood, downtown, and eat at our favorite restaurant. Brings back lots of memories from a simpler time. Reminds us that we are happy to live where we are living - out of the big city.

Finished up another small project.

Grandma!!!

Two days to make the top of the patio table from santos mahogany.

Our old house. Looks rough.

Favorite place to eat - African restaurant. 

An accessory Claire and Matt need! A sports car ready for adventure.

Tall Tomatoes

The tomatoes have outgrown their supports once again. It got a bit windy yesterday, and they were so tall, that a few of them bent or broke. I have to look up at the tops of the plants that are in raised beds.  Our umbrella for the sun in the backyard also broke. Not happy about that - I think a new one will be really expensive.

We had a nice visit with our German friends. Also had fun with one of my colleagues and his family last night. Grilled some burgers. On Thursday we went to Zwolle to see one of Naomi's colleagues, and tonight we have another guest coming. One of Naomi's friends. It has been really busy!

Nice to do all of these things and see all of these people, but I was hoping for a more relaxing summer. I think I need 6 months to take care of the stuff that needs to be done, not 6 weeks. At least the website is finished!

Found a couple hours to finish up some picture frames.

Hanging out with our German friends.

Fun inside the windmill.

An afternoon in Zwolle.

Visiting Great Grandma yesterday.

Leaky Roof

The heat really dried things out, and we noticed a couple holes in the roof once it rained a little. One was in the gutter and had been 'fixed' last year. I did a better job that the 'professional'. Hopefully my repair will last longer. The other hole had been there for a while, a small slow leak that rotted out the structural support and the plywood in front of it. I replaced the plywood and patched up the hole. Kind of a big job, but saved about 400 euros by doing it myself. Money that we need for the land!

I took the girls to the zoo this week, on Tuesday Naomi took them to Utrecht to meet her Dad and Edith, and yesterday she took them to The Hague. I got a chance to pretty much finish up my website. It has been a busy week. Sure helps that the temps have come back to normal again.

Last Sunday was our anniversary. We took the girls to some gardens where they grow medicinal herbs. Then we had lunch in a nice town called Elburg. It was a fun day!

Our anniversary trip.

Leaky roof.

Riding the bus in Utrecht.

Fun at the zoo.

Hippie Abigail.

Heat Wave

We didn't do much outside this week. After a slow buildup, we set records with around 100 degrees for three days in a row. No thunderstorms for relief, just a gradual cooling off period that we are in now. This coming week should be better, but getting the house cooled down at night is difficult since we can't leave many windows open due to burglars. At least it is comfortable this morning.

Today is our anniversary, 7 tumultuous but good years. Maybe this will be our first year of stability. We are going to visit some gardens and a nice town nearby. Finally get to be outdoors!

Since doing anything more than sitting with our underpowered A/C on wasn't really an option, I made some good progress on the website. We also renegotiated our land purchase and should be able to wrap things within 5 weeks or so. Sure wish I could visit it this fall!

We visited a model rocket launch to celebrate 50 years since landing on the moon. 

Then we went to the beach.

Dress-up time.

Fun with Mommy at the water museum.

So It Begins

I was feeling pretty wiped out from the last week of school, but Naomi insisted that we go to Zutphen yesterday for a celebration lunch at our favorite Moroccan restaurant. The girls had another good report, so it was a treat for them, and a celebration that Naomi is finally done with her unpleasant colleague and fully back to work. We even got a chance to see my school and have fun at a nearby skate park first. A nice start to the vacation. I am wiped out though!

This week is supposed to be super hot. Lots that we want to do, but it will be hard to do anything at all when it is in the mid-90s and humid! Maybe we will have to take a trip to the beach or something.

For once, we had a nice meal at school. Usually the food is terrible. This time they found some refugees to cook for us. Nice little cultural bridge that a former refugee set up. Great middle-eastern food. Moral of the story: if you want to eat well in this country, don't ask Dutch people to cook for you.

One of the neighbors filled up a dumpster with cedar siding. I turned some of it into usable boards this week.

Too much fun at the skate park.

A delicious celebration.