finally an update!

15-19 october

monday morning i traveled back to den haag in time for my dutch class and that evening i was able to skype with my little sister! 

tuesday was more classes and then a fun night out with friends. but the best part of the night was when i came home and found this waiting for me at my desk! 

total score! thank you aunt manjo for all the fun surprises! i've been sharing and all my friends are super thankful too! 

wednesday was a day of accomplishing tasks and getting assignments turned in. in the evening we went to a film about prostitution around the world. it was interesting to learn about the different attitudes and what the women involved think. it was also sad to see how some people are so trapped that they already know it is the only way for their children to go. after the thought provoking film we went to get some very yummy chinese food for dinner which was fun. anytime we can get together is a great time! 

thursday was a fairly relaxed day then in the evening i headed over to meet up with the others in the school. our school has a bar in it! the attitude concerning drinking is very different here and that is especially apparent when you realize that it is even in the school! it was a halloween theme for the night and it was fun to meet new people there and spend time with friends. later that night we went out to a classly little place named Millers which was opened specially for students. it's great to explore new places especially when you can get in for free! 

friday morning i had a meeting for a group project then meet up with my friend M and talked with her until i had another meeting with K. wow do i just sound busy! that afternoon M and B and i wanted to bike to Delft because we knew it was within distance. we set off a little later than we had expected and got a little lost along the way. 

we ended up getting there right about closing time so unfortunately there wasn't much to see. 

the church and all the shops were closing so we walked around the square for a bit and then promising to come back again, set off for home. we needed to get some rest as our big trip to Italy was next! 

school and family

8-14 october

this week was also a busy one! there is quite a large number of canadians that are on this exchange and so we celebrated canadian thanksgiving! everyone brought a dish so there was a large jumble of assorted foods that amounted to a unique, delicious meal. there were people from all over the world and it was fun to eat yummy foods like 7 layer dip next to crepes rounded out with traditional mashed potatoes then finished off with stroopwaffels and pie.

after a wonderful meal and even better friends we all headed home and i got the chance to skype with eric and my friend studying in London! A great start to the week to say the least.
i won't bore you with the remaining days of the week which all involved school and homework for a majority.
friday morning however i was able to take the train north to visit family! after 3.5 hours on the train i arrived in Groningen where oom Wim was waiting to pick me up. we stopped by the house to drop off my things and have a cup of coffee with tante Jenneka before they took me around Kornhorn. i was able to see the houses my grandparents lived as children, the church they were married in, and the house that my grandpa built. it was wonderful to hear stories and to see where they had lived. of course everything has changed since that time but it was still neat to be in touch with the past.
on saturday tante Bab came by to pick me up and we went into Groningen for the day. Annamarie came as well and we took a boat tour of the city. after the informative tour we stopped at a pub for some food. Annamarie knew all the best places to stop because she had moved there for school and simply stayed after. i could certainly see why! it was a lovely city - quieter than Den Haag but still with lots of activity and charm. we also did some walking around, shopping, picked up dinner from a delectable italian shop and also some ice cream. for dinner oom Onne and more family came over.
it was great getting to know everyone but also difficult as my dutch was still close to nil and why should everyone have to struggle with english? often i would try to listen and learn from conversations or someone would summarize for me what had been said. it was a wonderful time and i'm very glad i've had the chance to come here to meet these people. after a lovely time tante Bab and oom Onne dropped me back off at oom Wim and tante Jenneka's. oom Wim and i stopped by tante Kiki's to say hello. she is a very sweet lady in her 90's and she knew who i was! she knew that i was yvonne's daughter and told me that i should learn more dutch so we can talk when i come visit again! back at Wim and Jenneka's we watched a great music program and talked about all sorts of things. tante Jenneka even showed me all the birth announcement she had saved over the years. mom - she had yours!
the next morning i went to church with oom Wim. however it was all in dutch! i was able to understand a few of the songs because i had the words right in front of me but when it came time for the sermon - oh boy was i lost! i continued to try to find words i could recognize but it was rather difficult to do.
after church we went back home and all of grandpa Tim's brothers and their wives came over for tea.

the book of baby announcements  

looking at a very old photo of family

it was lovely to finally meet all the family from this side and to try to speak dutch and hear stories. it made me realize just how incredibly lucky i am to have the chance to come visit and be in touch with so much family! after tea i went to Groningen again with oom Onne and tante Bab to cheer for the 4 mile race and to spend time with even more family.
i'm so incredibly thankful to oom Wim and tante Jenneka for opening their home to me, feeding me, working with me to speak english and teach me dutch, sharing stories, and showing me all around where grandpa and grandma grew up.
can't wait for my next trip up north! 

day 19/20/21/22

WOW. it’s taken almost 2 months to finish telling you all about the final days of our trip?! That’s just sad. but life is busy so i’ll simply recap the end of our road trip for you all. we enjoyed one final day with the cousins simply relaxing and spending time together.

then the next morning it was time to roll out for home! we stopped in souix center and picked up donna to bring her to deadwood with us. we cruised into South Dakota making a quick stop at Wall Drug but we had bigger things to see! 

we continued on unto we came to Mt. Rushmore. here we stopped for a bit to view the landmark. 

just being normal. don't worry about it

from there we continued to Deadwood! we stopped by her friends house as they had gracious opened their home to us for the night before heading into town. we were treated to a delicious Chinese meal made specially for us before donna hustled us to where the re-enactment of Wild Bill’s shooting was to take place. tim and derek were the first to volunteer to be part of the re-enactment but when the gentleman came over to get them, he took brooke, tonka and i instead! something about better looking? not sure. so i was cast to play the role of Charlie Rich the man who was unwilling to give up his seat at the table because he was winning. brooke was the part of the bar owner and tonka was the old washed up military man who is hit by the bullet in the arm. 

we played a rousing game of go fish as the scene played out and did a great job of trying to chase down the killer.

after our stunning performance we moved down to the courthouse to watch the trial of McCall for killing Wild Bill. now the younger boys were enlisted to be jury members. there were also various people pulled from the audience to act as witnesses in the trial.

tonka was pulled up to play the part of a past employer. unfortunately his script was lost and he had to wing it.  

his first question was “How many years has McCall worked for you?” Tonka answered confidently, “19 years!” 

ummmm no. not quite. 

after slowly working to the correct length of time {5 months for those who are curious} *ta da* his script was found! however from there things only got worse for him. he was found out to be Shelby the Snake Boy! also known to be of an evil nature but not to be tried today.

mom was also pulled up to be a witness in this trial! the court clerk was quite smitten by her charming looks! 

he even fashioned a paper rose for her and tried to sit next to her in the audience. but do not worry dad was there to be sure that she was not stolen by any men missing a few of their teeth.

after the show we had just enough time to compete with each other on the go-kart track! 

tim was spun around a few times and derek was stuck with the slow kart so everyone passed him but it was a total blast!

that night we had our last shower of the trip and a nice warm bed before the last two days home.

the last full day of driving started at a decent time with everyone rolling out of bed and right into the rv. we quickly came to Wyoming, only stopping to snap a photo. 

then it was into Montana once again only stopping to snap a photo to round out our collection of state photos. 

we drove all day until we finally came to a stop for the night at a Jellystone Park themed campground. i’m sure many of you remember Yogi Bear and this camp certainly loved it!  we enjoyed ice cream and time together on our last night with good ol’ Abner.

LAST DAY of our adventure was actually quite unadventurous actually. we didn’t even stop to get out in Idaho and almost missed Washington because we are not conventional in our state apparently. 

instead of having the welcome to Washington sign on the right side of the road like every other state we entered it was on the *left* side! luckily we were able to pull off and take a final state photo with Abner. we made it home at a decent time and quickly cleaned out the rv from our wonderful trip. johnny had a friend waiting for him on the back door and eric even came to help. 

it felt good to be home but wow did we have a good time on the road!

day 18: sunshine and summertime

just another lovely lazy day. it was a hot one! 

i got to try out the moped and check that off my list! 1 down, 24 to go! 

we stayed inside to stay cool and dad needed the computer to do email. however he hasn't been on there in a very long time because he uses his fancy phone to do everything, so he didn't know how to operate the trackpad. after watching him struggle for awhile derek finally came over and helped out. 

after lunch everyone loaded up the cars and headed over to the van ginkel house to play for the afternoon. jordan managed to get tonka upstairs and a little while later he came down dressed like this...

so precious! 

we played plenty of card games and enjoyed tacos for dinner. we played outside while the fireflies came out and until the bats scared mom inside. 

then all the kids settled down to watch cinderella until it was time to head home. 

only a little bit longer until we have to leave 

day 17: water fight!

what a crazy day! 

brooke and i took the opportunity to head into town to drop some postcards off at the post office and then stop by the library. hehe. when we came back we were ambushed by nick and tonka with water guns!! we threw on our swim suits and all chaos broke out! what started with just a few kids and buckets of water being thrown around quickly moved to the dads joining in and unhooking the sprinkler to use the hose and then the moms joined in after a mastermind attack from emery on onita. it was parents versus kids and it was fun! the kids were constantly running back to the side of the house to fill up buckets and ambush the parents as the moms stood guard around the edges of the lawn trying {and failing} not to get wet while the dad used their hoses to get anyone within reach. 

it was fun and certainly helped to cool off the hot day. after everyone was tired out we left the sprinkler under the trampoline and just lounged and dried off before getting ready to go to derek's baseball game. 

he played a great game! 

ignore tonka - he still doesn't understand how to smile

after cheering for him we went home and a fun game of bs all around the dining room table. 

so far it's been a perfect vacation :)

day 16: take me out to the ball game

it's odd to spend a whole day relaxing without needing to drive anywhere. 

brooke and dad tried out the moped... 

neither of them crashed! we enjoyed a relaxing day and the Van Ginkel girls came over to play for awhile and had dinner before going to cheer at nick's baseball game. he certainly had the loudest cheering section when they announced his name! 

they did a great job and ended early because of the 10 run mercy rule. way to go nick! 

after the game the whole gang headed back and enjoyed sitting around the campfire again.

great way to end a great day.

day 15: we are family

we all bounced out of bed and took off the last few hour across illinois and then the 7 hours across iowa to get to Rock Valley to see family! 

it was a lot of driving and *lots* of cornfields. we were having withdrawals from being tourists so we had to take a few photos by the cornfields. 

then as we were kept driving we found this! 

of course we stopped :) we had to satisfy our tourists needs but they were closed so we just looked around and then hit the road.

we finally made it by 7pm to the Elgersma campground! they made a yummy hot dog dinner and the Van Ginkel family came over too! we all had a blast of a time playing, talking, and sitting around the campfire. it's so great to see family again!