Leiden Race

Ashlynn is participating in a "circuit" race, which means that she does multiple races and then at the end, she could win in her age category. It was pretty cold as we left for the race in Leiden on our bikes. That cold weather took an impact on our runners. Ashlynn claimed that there was "no oxygen in the air" and that David had "stolen it all when he ran past." 

Ashlynn and Andrew with the balloon dogs that they made

David

Daddy 

Andrew

Ashlynn

Just hurry up, take the picture and let's get back up to the warm tent.....

The title may give you the idea that we were freezing, but it was surprisingly not cold. Okay, it was cold, but not as cold as I'd thought it would be. Daddy dove right into the water, but Mommy, Ashlynn and I only got in to just above our knees. As we were walking back up the beach, Ashlynn and I were already contemplating doing it the next year. We came up with the idea that we should bring a fold up coat rack so that we could hang our clothes. 

 :)

New Year's Dip

I guess those crazy Dutch have really influenced us because we were up and out of the house by nine in the morning after staying up till about 2:30 the previous night. (or would it be considered morning?) We rented a Greenwheels car and drove out to Scheveningen to participate in the New Year's dip in the North Sea. After getting warmed up by dancing, we ditched our clothes and waited to begin the run into the freezing cold sea (fine then, not freezing, but 8 degrees C so pretty cold). Daddy had the go-pro camera to get these shots: 

Running towards the sea with the 10, 000 other people who got tickets

Happy New Years!

One of our favourites, the "Roman Candles."

At midnight the fireworks started going off and we drank our kiddy champagne (fizzy apple juice) in plastic glasses next to the bonfire. Eventually we went back to David and Andrew's house to light off our own stach of goodies. 

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Crazy Daddy

Daddy decided that to get the best photos, he had to get as close as possible to the mass of burning wood and christmas trees. At the start of the bonfire, we were able to stand quite close without feeling burnt, but soon we had to start backing up so that we weren't to be burnt to crisps. However, Daddy managed to get closer to get some pictures. The experience ended well, with him almost getting blown up by a firework that some stupid kid had light off really close to Daddy. 

New Years Eve Bonfire

Our New Years Eve was drastically changed when the tram never came. We were meant to go to one of Mommy's friend's house for a party, but after standing for over forty minutes at the freezing cold tram stop, we decided that we may need a change of plans. I suggested that we call David and Andrew and see if they were doing anything. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out that they were at home and that we could do something with them. So, we stuffed our massive bags of fireworks and firecrackers into our bike bags and cycled over. One of the main things that I had wanted to do on New Year's Eve was to the see the massive bonfire in a parking lot near our house, (turns out it was tiny compared to others in the Netherlands) so at about 11:45 we started walking over.