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We can now count our final moments here in hours (65).  It is such a weird week as we pack up everything & try to get it all into the same 8 suitcases we came with.  Of course Bryan has been bringing things home every time he took a flight back to the states, but somehow our clothes & files ( ...for some people... stuffed animals??? ) managed to multiply over the past year.  I think we will be able to get it all zipped... thanks to the kind friends who have graciously received "donations" so we didn't have to throw away perfectly good art supplies, nail polish, hangers, rain boots, crates & baskets, paperback books, etc. 😉  You know who you all are!

We are lucky enough to see a few good friends again this week & have some final hugs, even as many of the families we know are vacationing elsewhere right now.  With the Americans, we feel pretty sure we will see them again 'on the other side'.  With the other nationalities, we are excited at the prospect of traveling to see them somewhere exciting in the future.  There is not too much sadness for what we are leaving, only joy at what we have been lucky to experience.  The kids are in the same boat with final playdates & swapping of email addresses.  I am really proud of the wonderful friends they have made this year.

I was starting to panic that I had missed too many sights & experiences here in Holland & thought I might need to cram in a bunch of excursions & museums this week.  As it turns out, we are all pretty exhausted & the fact that we are laying low, enjoying the torrential rains interspersed with sunny skies in the apartment or on the roof, in the Vondelpark or Beatrix Park, slowly biking around our neighborhood, sipping lattes & literally wearing the same clothes for 5 days (everything is clean! don't wear anything!) is coming as a nice relief these last days.  Dare I say, we have mastered the fine art of "leisure"??

It is Monday afternoon now.  I think the four of us will take a train out to the beach tomorrow & just chill at the ocean.  Wednesday we have a final walk-thru & Thursday morning we get up & out first thing in the morning.  We have a flight to London where we will store the biggie bags at Heathrow for 3 days & tour around, see 'Wicked' & meet up for a quick lunch with William & Kate.  Just checking if you are still reading along....🙃 

On Monday, August 4th we start making our way west at 2 in the afternoon, crossing all kinds of time zones to land in Reno by just 7pm.  So nice to time-travel.  This will put us back in the USA just three weeks shy of a whole year away from home.  I know I've said it before but I'll say it again: it was better than we could have ever imagined & we have grown as a family so much.  I can't stress enough how much I recommend doing something all crazy & wacky like this... no matter what it is!  If it feels right, decide! & then start figuring out the necessary steps to make it happen.  I always try to remember: No one makes your life happen but you.

Last night a plane from Amsterdam to Malaysia was shot down over Ukraine.  Several hundred lost their lives; many Dutch & over 100 were AIDS researchers heading to a conference.  Shockingly sad... everyone is stunned by the senseless loss of innocent travellers.  We are in Stockholm hearing the news & realize we were co-existing with those who died in the Schiphol Airport before they flew out.  Besides this, we also learn of Israel's invasion into Gaza.  .  .  there is nowhere to go . . . tragic scenes in every corner of the earth.   In the end, only kindness matters.  Let's see what we can do. . .

Here it is mid-July.... What?!!??!  I mean yes, there was a lot of excitement crammed into these past 11 months, but, it still feels really strange to think I'm packing up the apartment, shipping boxes to the U.S., selling my bike (NOOOO!!!!) and saying goodbye to so many new, wonderful, important friends in our lives.🤨

This past month has been a whirlwind of visitors & also a quick trip to Florence.  Tomorrow we leave for 5 days in Switzerland then we come back to Amsterdam for a quick visit from two of my nieces & re-pack for a week in Sweden.  When that is finished, we clean the apartment, settle up with the landlord & roll out of town!  We will spend 3 days in London as a little layover then on to the USA by August 3.  I'm pretty sure we will need at least another 12 months to recover from all this excitement!!!

Some of our dear friends Elizabeth & her husband Mike, her sister Christina & her husband Mark, as well as their son, Kai's good friend, Luc were all here for a few weeks recently.  And just today we said goodbye to Bryan's brother Gary & his wife Jen (they are the ones pictured here on Paap's canal boat).  We have been so unbelievably fortunate to have people come here to see what we are always blabbing on about!  I believe we managed some fairly decent weather as well as several World Cup wins while they were here!!  The boat I just mentioned is one of our favorite things we love to do with our visitors -- take them on this private boat tour of the canals: http://youtu.be/KFsUBTEMaZ0  Watch video to see our friend, Captain Paap & his solar vessel making its way around our adopted city!!

Yesterday was the last day of school for the kids.  How bittersweet!  Kai has really opened his mind & found so many new, different types of friends...not just mine-crafters & code-writing guys!!  Although, he is still super into all of that.  Last night's sleepover with his best bud was consumed with ipads & laptops, including the facetime calls with all the other techies in his class.  Sabrina also had a sleepover with her bestie & they were simply hilarious covering each other with zany makeup & making silly videos.  They are two little peas in a pod & I do believe both of our kids have made some friends for life.❤

The "Real Life in the Dam" title we have had for the majority of the blog posts is sort of absolete now because we have just moved out of the everyday alarm-clock awakening, uniform-ironing, bike-commuting, grocery-getting, dinner-at-6 lifestyle to a more relaxed, summertime mode with just the four of us, ready to finish this off in a big way. 

I really could not have imagined a more robust experience than the one we have had.  People will ask me all the time if it was just what we had expected or hoped for.   I cannot think of really one complaint & the kids never made a negative comment either.  While we laugh at the differences in the Dutch vs. American attitudes towards service in a restaurant or store, etc, we really wouldn't have wanted things any other way.  How boring would it have been if EVERYTHING here was just like home!!!!

Thank you again, readers, for taking the trip with us!  We ain't done yet so stay tuned for pictures from Switzerland, Sweden & London.  Don't forget to watch Paap's video & if you find yourself in Amsterdam, you be sure to book a tour on his boat!!!