Surprise!!

Back in October, Nolan and I came across some crazy deal for tickets to Amsterdam. Twenty minutes after hearing about it, we had purchased tickets for a trip to the Netherlands in February, to arrive on February 4th, my mom's 65th birthday. We decided not to tell anyone, and kept that up until my dad came up with the same idea. We told him about our little plan, and he thought it was a great idea. In the end we included my brother as well, just to make logistics a bit easier. It turned out to be a good thing, since he was able to pick us up at the airport. We were going to take the train, but due to some snowfall on Friday, the trains were off schedule until later this week (more about that later...).

The trip over was good but long. We had a six hour wait in Frankfurt, which I spent partly sleeping :) By the time we arrived in Amsterdam, we were pretty tired, but also excited to find out my mom's response!
When we got to Amerongen, my mom was upstairs, and when my dad said there were visitors for her birthday, and she saw us downstairs, she was speechless for a bit! Definitely a great surprise, that went over really well. I'm glad we were able to surprise her like that!
They had their annual party Saturday evening (it's my dad's birthday two days before, and they always celebrate it on the nearest Saturday), with relatives coming on Sunday. So within a couple of days, we were able to see some of the people we wanted to see.
The rest of the week we wanted to keep it pretty easy. We went on a great run Monday morning in the fresh snow, and quiet woods. This week has been very cold for Dutch standards, but since we're used to it, the shock wasn't that big. The people, however, found a common topic of discussion: the cold, snow and Elfstedentocht (for the non-Dutch, google it :) ).

On Tuesday we were hoping to head to Amsterdam to visit some relatives, a museum and have dinner with Gijsbert. However, due to the cold and snowy weather (there was snow 5 days ago...), the trains were still not running on a regular schedule. Add a broken train to the mix, and Amsterdam all of  a sudden became a difficult place to get. We decided to turn around and just head home. Just as well! We met up with Renée that afternoon, for a nice walk and cup of tea, and then went out for dinner together afterwards. A little treat :)
Wednesday we took it easy, slept in and had pancakes for lunch!! Today we saw Anja and Sjoerd, which was really nice and so good to catch up.

Tomorrow we'll see the relatives from Amsterdam, before a visit from our nan. And then Saturday we're heading back home! So fast already, time always flies! Luckily, this time we only have an hour and a half lay-over in Frankfurt, so hopefully that trip will go a bit faster! But, first one full day to enjoy with the folks!

Flying over Amerongen

This past Saturday we returned, once again, from the Netherlands. This time it was a trip that we had planned a long time ago. But the timing was well suited, since we had a chance to see everybody again, were able to witness the slow but steady improvement of my dad, and to meet my sister’s new boyfriend for the first time (approved!). The trip really felt like a vacation. Sure, we spent quite a bit of time around Amerongen, with my parents, but we also had lots of time and opportunities to do our own thing. We spent a day in Arnhem, had lunch with Anja and Susan, and absolutely enjoyed the wonderful weather: mid-twenties for the most part, lots of sun, and really no rain to speak of. So all in all a really good trip.

Saturday we flew back via Frankfurt, Germany. A bit of a detour, but Air Canada flies directly from Frankfurt to Ottawa, and it’s so nice to Ottawa, rather than Montreal. On our flight from Frankfurt we actually flew just a little south of Amerongen, but since had seats facing north, we could see Amerongen, the castle, the ‘Lonely Oak’, surrounding towns and the forest we had walked in many times during that week. Really cool to see! And what are the chances you fly over the area you just spent the last week! Ok, maybe not that impressive for some people, but I thought it was rather cool.

When we came home, the cats were completely relaxed and happy. I think we found the perfect cat sitter! Our neighbours kept an eye on the house, and their middle son looked after the cats, actually befriended them (which is not always easy to do with Murphy), and spent time with them while playing the Wii. When we asked if he would do it again, he said yes without any hesitation. It’s just really nice to see it worked out so well. Definitely one less thing to worry about.

When we returned we had to shift back to ‘spring that is about to come’; quite a change from the full blown summer feeling we had experienced the week before. However, slowly but surely spring is finding its way to our area as well. That is to say, the grass is getting greener, buds are about to burst and daffodils are popping up. If only the temperature would rise a bit, and perhaps the rain could hold of for a day or two? Is that really too much to ask for??

Our running mojo is gone, but we decided that now we’re back in Canada, we’ll get back at it. Although we won’t run the Ottawa half marathon, we will start training again, and aim for lots of trail running this summer. So May will be our ‘getting back to running and eating healthy’ month. Our vacation definitely made us fall off the wagon a bit, so many delicious foods, cheeses, and wine! Which we made sure we enjoyed…

This week, we also moved back to our totally refurbished office on Booth Street. I’m one of the lucky ones that got a cubicle with a window. That is the good news. The bad news is that is somewhat chilly here, so I might have to bring a sweater in next time…