One more thing... given this blog's name, I should include a few shots of the Rotte.

Hard to keep this current, but I finally have some time. Going waaay back to early April finds us at the NECIS swim tournament in The Hague. One of my favorite pictures is of my U16 medley relay team which featured AI swimming as a U12 and Moi as a U14. They managed a bronze medal in the face of some very stiff competition. Also couldn't resist a picture of Moi receiving her gold for the 100m fly.

Later in April, we drove over to visit our friends in Bochum, Germany. There AI was reunited with Alexandra, her friend from back in the days of kindergarten at Bryant E.S. in 1999. Pictured are Moi, Alexandra's youngest sister (she has another younger sister and a brother), AI, and Alexandra.

In early May, I hosted noted folklorist, librarian, storyteller and author Dr. Margaret Read MacDonald. Had a barbeque more or less in her honor at our place. Kinda cool mix of folks: Finns, a Kiwi, a Slovak, a Dutchman, and a smattering of Yanks (by the way, another Dutchman told me that the term "Yankee" is Dutch in derivation, but I'll save that story for another posting...)

More sports rounded out the month as our varisty and JV coed softball teams headed over to Dusseldorf for the NECIS Tournament. Varsity managed a silver while my JV's brought home the bronze. Not at all bad for our little school. (The Dutchman who related the story of the origin of "Yankee" was our bus driver for the trip. He's at the far right in a shirt & tie standing by the wall...)