White Mountains

Last week we went away for a few days on a trip north to the White Mountains. It was a very nice trip and the scenery was absolutely stunning. We stayed at a cozy Bed & Breakfast for a couple of nights and enjoyed the beautiful nature.
We also met up with our old friends from Jakarta Tony and Jenny Simone. Tony was my principal at JIS from 2003-2006 and I always got along with him really well. It was really nice to see them again. They are currently in Moscow for one last year, before they will retire and move back to New Hampshire.

Aunty Kathy is Everybody's Hero!

Our kids just love to go out and spend time with Aunty Kathy. She will take them on hikes, she will walk the dogs with them or she takes them berrie picking in the forest.

We love Aunty Kathy too!! She gives us some much needed breaks from our kids......Ha!

Playgrounds Galore!

There are at least 3 very nice outdoor playgrounds in this area. Great places for the kids to hang out and to unwind.
For us these playgrounds are nice too....we bring coffee and just sit one of the benches and get to relax.......a bit.

At the Beach

The kids love to go to a lake, not far from Kathy's house. It has a small beach and great for them to get wet, to play in the sand or to catch little fish and snails.

Back in Derry!

Every year when we come to the States we stay at Kathy's house (Sue's sister). It is a big spacious house with a big garden in the middle of a forest. A great place for the kids and they absolutely adore aunty Kathy and her 6!!!!!! dogs.
Whenever possible she will take the kids out to walk the dogs, to go hiking or to pick berries. This is the time of year that Noah and Ayla can do all the outdoor things that they can't do in Jakarta.
There are also several playgrounds in the neighbourhood, there is a lake only 15 minutes away from the house and we have grammy with her 2 cats to complete the zoo.......

Reunited in the US

Noah and I traveled together from Amsterdam to Boston. We were picked up by Sue, Kathy, Maria and of course Ayla, who was thrilled to be reunited again with her BIG brother Noah.

Meeting an Old Friend

During our stay in Holland, when we were at my sister's place in Soest, Noah got to play with one of his best friends from Jakarta, Matisse. Unfortunately Matisse and his family are moving to New York. We will miss them a lot! It was nice for the boys that they had one final play date in Holland.

Rainbow

In Indonesia we don't see rainbows very often. Seeing this one in Zutphen (Holland) was pretty special. The colors were amazingly clear ...one of the coolest rainbows I have ever seen.
I am sure that my skywatch buddy Scotty can appreciate this shot.
If you look very closely, you can even see a second rainbow...on the right side above the first one.

Football Crazy

It's funny how kids can change over the course of a year. One year ago, Noah didn't know anything about football, He didn't play, didn't watch it and didn't really care about it. Now, just a year later, he has turned into a football 'maniac'. He plays every day, he watches everything on TV and reads every football magazine that he can get his hands on.
So you can imagine that he has been keeping everyone busy to play games with him. Especially cousin Laurens was often his 'victim'.....

Trip to Germany

During our stay in Holland we went on a 3 day trip to Germany. We took the train from Zutphen to Mainz and spent the night close to the railway station. The following day we took another short train trip to a small town called Bacherach. That's where we took the boat,for a great 2 1/2 hr boat ride on the rhine river. It was an awesome trip with fantastic scenery along the river banks with lots of amazing old castles and towns. The kids loved it!
We sat on the deck the whole trip enjoying the beautiful sunny day.
We went off the boat at a town called Braubach. This is where we visited Marksburg castle. This is the only hill castle on the rhine that was never destroyed.
We spent the 2nd night in a very nice hotel in the heart of Koblenz, a very nice old city.
The following day we enjoyed a wonderful German breakfast and 'trained' back to Holland. A really nice side trip to get out and someting we will definitely consider doing again!

Family Weekend

Every summer when we are in Holland we all try to get together for a long weekend. We usually rent some bungalows in a nice park with kid's play areas, swimming pools, tennis courts, etc...Normally that would be 19 of us, but this year there were only 17 . My dad only came over twice to visit for a few hours during the day and Anna (Joe's daughter) couldn't make it in time from the States.
Those weekends are always a lot of fun....especially for the kids, who just run and play all day long.
On Saturday night we all went out for dinner and my dad...believe it or not....speeched to the whole family.....something he used to do in the old days. It was hard for him ,but he did it and we were all very proud of him!

Back in Holland

Our summer break started very early this year and on July 6 we left Jakarta to go to Holland.
It was a special visit because the kids would be able to spend some time with my dad, who is recovering from a very serious heart condition. He is still not at home, but if he keeps improving he may be coming home soon. At the moment he is still in a home receiving serious physiotherapy to get him back in shape. We are very grateful that he is still around and that the kids got to spend some more time with their opa.