June and July

The kids ended school with a couple of fun events:

V and his class walked about a mile and a half to a local lake and had a half a day filled with sport and swimming (BRRRRR)... He has come such a long way. He really likes the school, as do we, and I hope is looking forward to starting again in the fall. He is our creature of habit and having moved SO many times, we worry that he hasn't"found" himself or his identity yet. He really is very secure within himself and could absolutely care less about what other people think or about trying to fit in. But, he hasn't found a friend that he totally identifies with yet. Maybe he just doesn't need one. He has started a workout routine at home which he loves and hates at the same time ;-)

S ended the school year with a great trip to Ayers Rock - an outdoor survival course here. The kids had an amazing lunch provided by the parents. I was a little nervous about S knowing how scared of heights he is. He started out fine for the first 2 minutes and then...

Tears and "I can't do this, how am I supposed to do this?".

To his credit and my amazement - he finished the whole thing. He freaked a little again when he hit the (freezing) cold water. But he did it and has proudly proclaimed:

"I NEVER want to come here again in my whole entire life!!!"

S also "stepped up" to the middle school. They had a wonderful step-up day where the 4th graders crossed the bridge over to the middle school. They received their certificates and a special lanyard to hold their new ID badges that they get at the beginning of the year. It was really special - I was more emotional than I thought. It was a tough 5 months since we had moved and I was so proud of this kid for coming into a new school (again) and jumping in head first.

Then the BIG one - we made a trip back to Houston. Wow - the kids had an AMAZING time. It was wonderful to see friends and family. I ran around like a crazy woman the whole time, but I was happy that the kids were happy. Totally enjoyed the heat - I am a southern girl. The time went by so quickly, I didn't get everything done that I had hoped.

We have some friends coming into town at the end of July and then we are off to London the first week of August. As soon as we get back - orientation starts for school!

If the weather would improve - it'd be close to a perfect summer!

C's Visit!!!

June started out with the BFF coming out to visit :-)

It was AMAZING to have her here as I have missed her terribly!

We were able to tootle around The Hague. I took her to the open market and no surprise... She loved it as much as I do. We feasted on falafels, herring, sandwiches, Indonesian, fresh fruits and veggies and good ole homemade Indian.

We went to Kinderdijk and saw the windmills. The windmills are susceptible to the weather and fires, so very few of them are standing compared to before. We were able to go inside one to see how people actually lived in them. There are actually a few that people still live in. Pretty cool :-)

Next stop - Amsterdam. We took the train up and spent most of the day walking around the city. We visited the market there, stopped by the Anne Frank house, ate dim sum, poffertjes, pannenkoeken, the most amazing blackberries, and sampled some wonderful gouda. It rained for most of the time that we were there, but we made it!

Wish we could do it all over again - Miss you C!!!

Medieval Day

Mid-May started like a shotgun - fast and furious...

It started the beginning of end of year school activities including a fun-filled day called "Medieval Day". The kids drew "jobs" out of a hat which included jobs such as king, barons, baronesses, knights and squires, and peasants. S drew the "Knight". I think he was pretty happy about that. The knights competed in a jousting competition where S made it into the semi-finals. The peasants were broken up into various jobs including merry makers, carpenters, cooks and woodworkers. At any time, one of the teachers could grab you and make you a leper. S's best little buddy got pulled out.

The kids were given money to "buy" their snacks - and quickly realized how unfair the system was back then. The peasants could barely afford the snacks that they actually wanted. The kings had too much to spend. S's friend made out like a bandit because S gave him most of his coins since he was allergic to half the food on the table.

During recess, if the peasants stepped out of line - the knights and squires could take them to be put in the stocks which the carpenters actually put together.

The cooks made a lovely homemade vegetable soup for lunch. The peasants were allowed to have this plus bread slices and cut vegetables. The knights and squires dined on that as well as fresh homemade bread. The kings, barons and baronesses were able to feast on pizza for lunch. You can imagine to "No fair"'s that were muttered throughout the meal ;-)

It was a really really long day for the kids and some said they never, ever wanted to do that again. Even S being a knight said that he didn't want to do it again. He felt really bad for his friends and hated that he couldn't eat his own lunch!