Our Summer in the Netherlands

It has been a while since I have written a blog update.  I've been posting a few pictures on Facebook, but I know not everyone is on Facebook.  I'll try to be better about writing these updates in the future!

We had a great visit to the US  in July!  We only stayed for 2 1/2 weeks though.  I wanted to have plenty of time here in the Netherlands to enjoy the summer.  For the first time, the girls did not swim this summer.  Although we miss them swimming, since our return, we had hardly any commitments until last week  - even on the weekends!! That was definitely a first for us.  In addition, we have had some beautiful weather lately.

SOCCER
Last week the girls went to soccer camp at Ajax!

When we signed up, I gave them the choice of going to the girls camp (in Dutch), or going to the international week that was in both English and Dutch.  The girls both chose the international week camp.  I think it was a good decision for them!  Each of their age groups had 4 teams of players. There were only 3 girls in Grace's age group and 4 in Amanda's age group, so they basically attended a boys camp.  They are both used to playing with boys.  They had fun as well as were challenged!

After the last day of camp, we went out to dinner with some friends from their school.  Love how so many places here are along the water!

As far as an update on the girls' club teams (SC Buitenveldert), we just found out yesterday Amanda's team for the fall but still are not sure about Grace's!!  The tryout process is quite different here.  The club does some general grouping in June at tryouts, but for some teams they don't determine the specific rosters until after the new season starts.  Practice begins the week of August 11.

The girls will also be attending ODP-Europe (US Soccer) tryouts in Germany at the end of August.  So nice that they have that here.  The girls attended an ODP camp in Germany in May and enjoyed getting to play with some other American girls and having some coaching in English!

KAYAKING
Twice in the last few weeks we have gone kayaking at the Amsterdamse Bos (the Amsterdam forest).  The first time it was just the girls and me.  We enjoyed it and had to go back so Dave could join us!!
That time we rode our bicycles to the Bos and then went kayaking.  The park is about 7.5 km away from our house.  It is a great way for us to do something active as a family!!

After the last time we went, we ate at a cafe in the forest.  I had wanted a salad but didn't see one on the menu.  I saw a person with what looked like a salad, but it turned out to be their ham and cheese sandwich!  Below is my ham and cheese sandwich!  It was very good but you obviously ate it with a knife and fork.  

CASTLES

The girls and I recently visited Kasteel de Haar.  It is a restored castle and is only about 1/2 hour away by car.  We brought a picnic and then took a tour of the castle.

The tour was in Dutch but they did have an audio tour that we could hold up to our ear to hear about each room as we entered.  We were the only people that didn't speak Dutch on the tour.  One woman on the tour was really nice and translated a few things for us that the tour guide mentioned that were not on our English version.  You only get to see a few rooms but it was very interesting.  Loved that it had an actual moat with water.  The family that owns the castle still returns every September and hosts others there.

BEACHES

Being a girl from the midwest, I love having a chance to be close to the beach!! So far we have visited two of the many beaches in the Netherlands (one side of the country is along the North Sea).

One was Zandvoort ann Zee and the other was Scheveningen.  We enjoyed both!  To Zandvoort, we took the train.  It took about an hour.  We have been there twice.  The beach is long and there are restaurants right on the beach.    In addition, closer to the water, tractors pull food stands that stay in one spot for a few minutes and then continue down the beach.

The girls and I then visited a second beach, Scheveningen.  It is near The Hague.  We drove and it took just short of an hour.  It has sort of a boardwalk area and the beaches are very wide!  It also had restaurant after restaurant right on the beach.  We enjoyed lunch there as well.  The North Sea is cold, not going to lie, but after you get over the initial shock it was nice to get in the water.

We have had a few beautiful days of weather.  In general, the summers here are not as hot as in Ohio.  Most houses here do not even have air conditioning!!!  Anytime we get a very warm day here, my favorite activity is to go to the beach!!!  Many other people feel the same way so there are tons of people on the beach.  Even so, we had plenty of space and loved going!

As for beach apparel, at Zandvoort, supposedly there are 3 km of beach where nudity is allowed but we didn't go there.  There were a few topless women where we were but not many.  There were some interesting men's swimsuits (sometimes they just wore their underwear), but for the most part it wasn't too different from what you would expect to see in the US.  One difference, though, was that most women, regardless of age, body type, or fitness level, wore a bikini.  I found it interesting and different from my experiences in the US at the pool and beach.  People here are comfortable enough with their bodies to let it all hang out even if they have several pounds they could lose.  I actually found that attitude refreshing even if I am not sure that I am quite there myself!!

TILBERG KERMIS (FAIR)

We went with some friends (the Bacas) to the Tilburg Kermis.  It is a fair about 1 hour and 15 minutes from where we live.  Dave read somewhere that it is the largest street fair in Europe.  The fair was right in the middle of the street and we were there for hours and didn't see all of it.  The girls enjoyed some rides but didn't go on some of the really big ones!  Some of them seemed pretty close to the buildings as they went through the air!!  The food choices were good and I always enjoy seeing the differences of what is offered compared to what I have experienced in the US.

On the way home, we kept seeing people lining the bridges and the sides of the highway.

We figured out that they must be there to watch the procession of some of the victims from MH 17 being transported from Einhoven.  We pulled over and were able to see it ourselves.  It was so sad to see the individual hearses.  This has been such a tragedy for the Netherlands.  It was very moving to see as well as to see all the people that came out of respect to the victims. The video I took of it is below. 

Well - that's a little bit about what we have been doing this summer!  Hope you are enjoying the blog!!